NationStates Jolt Archive

The wind blew across the desolate landscape, kicking up dust and sending smaller animals to scurry under rocks for cover. Stunted trees dotted the land along with shallow rivers and parched riverbeds. It was not terribly hospitable to the naked eye. But life still stubbornly clung on to this remote corner in the universe.

One lizard cocked his head after sunning on a flat rock to the west. A distant humming could be heard, although the lizard would not know what to make of it. Perceiving the sound not to be threatening, it rested again, oblivious to the thrum thrum thrum in the distance.

If the lizard did care to look, it would see a gleaming white wall with no discernable purpose but seemingly out of place in this barren land. The wall seemed that it was polished but not by the elements but rather by some type of machine. Or perhaps the wall itself was constructed out of some material that was highly resistant to the environment - perhaps nearly any environment since it was originally designed to withstand not only the harshness of deep space but also high powered grasers and missiles from invading enemy ships.

A portal opened in the wall, and out from it rumbled a colossal machine. It has massive wide treads, two sets of three tracks each that held the stunning tonnage of what bestrode them. An armoured skirt wrapped around the tracks, giving them a measure of protection, with the blocky main body of the vehicle came into view as one would look up. Certainly the lizard would have to look way up.

The skin of the machine was nearly featureless, as if carved from the same material as the wall. It was not white but brown and no windows, lights, or other kind of equipment could be readily observed. Still, the machine had a purpose as it rumbled out from the wall, and when it cleared a certain distance, the portal closed with an indistinguishable seam and quiet whispering sound.

The machine rumbled on for several kilometers, apparently without purpose until it slowed to a halt. It discovered what it was looking for.

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ooc: This is merely an introduction thread. Feel free to post if you want to make some kind of contact - although I can’t guarantee what kind of response you will get if any.

A thrum thrum thrum could be heard from the machine, although relatively quiet given its enormous bulk. Between the two sets of treads a robotic arm extended down from the belly of the machine and rotated slowly in a complete circle. Then, a soft pop and a laser extended from the arm, clearing and leveling the surface. After a few minutes the arm withdrew and a large drill, resembling that of equipment used on a modern oil derrick, plunged into the earth. A low rumbling emanated from the churning drill and the machine sat for hours passively waiting. Suddenly, the churning stopped and after a few minutes, more arms extended, lowering a base and wellhead on the site.

As the arms withdrew, the machine began to slowly move ahead, the distance between the tracks being wide enough to not crush the wellhead and base. It stopped about five meters clear of edge of the base and a portal opened in the rear of the machine. Some kind of cube-shaped contraption floated out, and after hovering over the base and wellhead, settled slowly and neatly on top. Phssssst went the jets as the cube rested and sharp clanging rose from inside the cube as it locked itself to the base. Presently, a small light popped out from the top of the cube and began to blink.

The massive machine appeared to be satisfied and then, after a small whine, began to head towards another direction.

Another portal opened up in the gleaming wall. Another large tracked machine emerged, closely resembling that of the first in terms of size. It too thrummed thrummed along, but presently stopped as soon as it cleared the wall. From the front of the machine, a portal opened and a relatively large arm extended. On the tip of the arm extended various appendages with presumably different purposes. The arm bent downward, and presently a flash of graser power blasted into the earth, carving out a path. Other appendages then activated and a precisely measured trough was being formed. Unknown material was squirted into the through, giving it shape and finish and the material itself hardened almost instantly. The machine slowly grinded forward, easily straddling the trough and from the back end a pipe was being laid, carefully guided with another robotic arm.

The machine headed towards the cube, which appeared to wink in anticipation.

The machine drew near to the cube until it was only 10 meters from the cube. Then, abruptly, it halted while the graser still cleared a path right up to the side of the cube. The path took shape and shortly the pipe was laid down until it was a meter shy of the cube. Then, one arm withdrew a boxy looking thing, resembling a seal of some kind and placed it between the cube and end of the pipe. With a short hiss, the parts then connected to each other, creating a connection. The red light on the cube stopped winking and presently a green light emerged that popped out beside the red one. It began to blink, as if signaling the second machine that all was fine and that it could leave - which it did.

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The first machine, like its counterparts, found another site and began to drill.

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Back at the city itself, a discussion was taking place among the Hierarchy. Well, it was more of reporting of resource levels from one of the brains to the others and the news wasn't terribly good. It was decided, after another brief discussion - which took place in seconds rather than hours or days, that the Imperionicron needed to establish a presence within the strange world it found itself in. How to proceed was the next, perhaps more difficult step.