Captain’s Log: Dang we’ve had a few minor setbacks but nothing too bad. On the last run for iron, I crashed the driller pretty bad but amazingly I kept the cargo and I was able to get home on half the engines. We repaired it quickly. Next Misha crashed the ultralight and nearly got it capsized. Thankfully it too was recoverable. We’ve finished what we can of the Hidden Dragon and now we’re getting prepared to go to space to get gold, silver and platinum. So we’re nowhere near out of the woods yet, but it’s all space mining.

Counselor Misha: Admiral, it won’t be long now.

Admiral Joy: Good. I’m looking forward to going home but at least the Hidden Dragon has amenities.

Captain Ashley: It’s been a wild ride huh?

Admiral Joy: It’s been a lot of foolish risk taking and blind luck, but the results speak for themselves. Come see me when the Hidden Dragon is complete. Contact me and we’ll meet at an outpost once you’ve completed it to discuss your next options.

Captain Ashley: Will Do!

… Ages later! …

Captain’s Log: We’ve finally finished the beast, mostly by trading for the elements we needed, and shortly will be saying goodbye to this deep cave. Misha’s set up a contraption to mine our way out and quickly escape before anyone notices. We’ve dropped off the admiral and we’ll soon be joining her again for our next mission, basically we just need to get this place deconstructed and transfer the materials to our ship and get out leaving as little behind as possible. It’s good to be back in a comfortable ship again, in space there is safety, especially with a huge railgun and long range cannons.

…

Epilogue: We planned on updating with a few pictures but there was so little excitement with this mod-set that it seemed like cheating. Apparently when you install the latest modded encounter set you actually have to populate it with encounters from other mods so space was completely devoid of enemies (whoops). Anyway we took it as an “oh well” moment once we figures that out and moved on. It wasn’t hard to make credits and trade given the gobs of supplies we had so we just did that with the nearest outpost. We’ll be thinking of the next challenge as the mods we used to use became obsolete and we’re not sure which ones to add that aren’t too insanely hard or a cakewalk. We couldn’t find anything in between. So

It feels like we cut this one short but if we do another space engineers run we’ll make sure the mods are all set up properly.

Captain’s Log: Believe it or not, we finished the base. I say that because we almost died a couple times from falling. Not having jetpacks is a real risk. We’re now set to build the Ship.

Admiral’s Report: I have found no fault with the captain or counselor. Commander Gweneth’s death has been ruled a tragic accident. I’ll just need passage off world and my job here is done.

…

Admiral Joy: So the first space flight will be to drop me off at Moonbase Alpha.

Captain Ashley: Aye Aye. Are you sure you don’t want to stay and mine endless amounts of platinum and gold from meteorites? Spend countless days building this ship, then take it to the pirates?

Admiral Joy: I’ll pass. The sooner off this rock the better for me. I’ve eaten enough space bars and slept in shifts long enough already.

Captain Ashley: Yeah, sorry Admiral, but we don’t have time to make this base all cozy. Though the ship is pretty nice.

Admiral Joy: Just make me a seat on the space miner and make it capable of moon landing that’ll do it.

Captain’s Log: It is with great pain that I write this. The commander is dead. She jumped from one of the platforms and inexplicably became stuck under the wheel of the overlander and was killed without taking damage. Lord Klang giveth and Lord Klang taketh away.

Counselor Misha’s Log: I blame myself, I should have done more to make traversing the platforms safer, but the way she died was so random. We thought such glitches were a thing of the past. We won’t forget her sacrifice.

Ashley: There’s no need for titles now, what’s a captain without her commander, what’s a counselor with no one to counsel. Misha, it’s up to us now, we need to complete this mission in her honor and deliver her body to rest in the core of a pirate boss’s warp core explosion.

Misha: This is not an end to our dearest friend Gwen but just a beginning. She has joined the watchers and will forever be with us in everything we do.

The Ghost of Gweneth: I have joined Bear in triumph, not in sorrow. As achieving this level of success was beyond my wildest dreams. I have surpassed my creator in so many ways and he is proud of me beyond words. I have ascended and I appreciate all you have all done for me.

Ashley: Okay, enough of that let’s get back to work. Misha, we have a monumental task still ahead of us.

Misha: I’m prepaired for it. One day at a time.

Ashley: Gwen’s sacrifice will not go in vein.

Misha: Now we do it for her.

The Ghost of Gweneth: No more mining for me… I can rest.

…

Ashley’s Report: Something else happened, lord Klang struck again. He poofed one of our pistons leaving no scrap. Like wtf?

…

Ashley: Your drilling may be precise but it’s cost us a lot.

Misha: I know, it’s really not very good in general.

…

A glint of light catches their eyes and as they sit there they see a lone person descending from the clouds.

Ashley: What now?

The small being lands with a thump and looks up at them solemnly, she speaks:

Joy: I am here to take the place of my sister Gwen.

Ashley: That’s not how this works.

Admiral Joy: It works exactly how I say it does, I outrank you.

Captain Ashley: Are you kidding? You’re kidding right?

Admiral Joy: I hold you responsible for the actions that led to the death of Commander Gwen, so I am here to evaluate the situation and determine the disposition of the loss report. I can’t with full integrity write it as an apologizer or condemner without seeing the conditions first hand.

Counselor Misha: It was m fault, I’ll take the blame.

Admiral Joy: Negative. You were under Captain Ashley’s command, therefore the blame lies with her in my eyes.

Captain Ashley: Well alright Admiral Joy, what’s your plan?

Admiral Joy: First of all insubordination will not be tolerated.

Captain Ashley: Yes ma’am. At attention.

Admiral Joy: Counselor Misha, continue your operations. I will however suggest no more jumping from platforms.

Counselor Misha: Yes ma’am.

…

Counselor Misha: Well that’s not going to work.

Captain Ashley: It was taking forever anyway.

Admiral Joy: Lord Klang is alive and well and apparently he likes to swing the tips of drills on pistons with increasing violence until they break.

Captain Ashley: Back to manual drilling with the driller.

Counselor Misha: The commander would have been proud and happy to hear that…

…

Counselor Misha: That’s even slower…

Captain Ashley: This is ridiculous. It feels like mining is even more tedious than it used to be.

Admiral Joy: We are then limited to one piston, even though it kind of worked with two, it’s not working with two anymore.

Captain Ashley: This is preposterous… well, back to work then.

Commander Gwen: Now that we’re done with the ultralite, we can go back and get that iron boulder. Then we can scout for more iron to build this driller and beyond.

Captain Ashley: Excellent work commander, you made it past early game!

Counselor Misha: Yay!

…

Commander Gwen: A rival local faction was getting nervous about us mining an iron boulder near them so I stopped at about 95%. They warned me off 5 times and I wasn’t going to press my luck. They said I was “loitering”.

Captain Ashley: The last thing we need is someone at us, guns blazing, so good that you didn’t get greedy, though 5 times is kinda a lot.

Commander Gwen: I was in the zone! But yes. I’ll heed their warnings earlier next time. Also, I found another iron boulder, this one is closer so less chance of getting on their nerves.

Counceler Misha: Ooo, how far along are we now?

Captain Ashley: About 50% in terms of material, 10% in terms of manufacturing.

Commander Gwen: Perfect! One more iron boulder should get us going.

Captain Ashley: Yep and we should probably expand the space on the overlander to allow for more processing and materials.

Counselor Misha: On it!

Captain Ashley: Commander, we could also use a gravel sorter but that’s only going to work on a large grid so get a connector and one of those set up with a small cockpit and lift it into place with the ultralite.

Commander Gwen: Got it!

…

Commander Gewn: I can’t believe that worked.

Captain Ashley: Not the most elegant thing I’ve seen but you’re right, it’s working so that’s what matters.

…

Captain Ashley: Well, 7000kg of gravel got us about 70 kg of ores of different types. Let’s see what we can process now? Oh yeah, Magnesium means bullets, but oddly we haven’t seen any wolves here? Anyway we just got ourselves a gun upgrade, sniper!

…

Captain’s Log: There’s a few more iron boulders, a magnesium boulder and plenty of nickle boulders but we still haven’t found any more mines. It may be worth making a large ore detector and antenna and carry them around with the ultralite.

Captain Ashley: We’re still short a few motors but with those Nickle boulders we’ll have then in no time. Next stop, base building!

Captain Ashley: We’re finally done. Get ready to head out.

Commander Gwen: Where to Captain?

Captain Ashley: Exactly where you recommended. The drone has scouted out a possible route, we’ll see how passible it is.

Gwen and Misha: aye aye Captain!

…

Captain’s Log: We’ve made it to the lake with a nice place to set up but we need a driller. So in the process of setting up, after tallying the design requirements, we’ll need a heck of a lot of iron, I mean a LOT, so we can’t just build it off the overlander, we’ll need that for scouting. So we set up a building rig with power. We could have gone big, but we decided to make it portable instead. This will gantry the new design, charge it, and with near endless power from the hydrogen in the lake, we’ve only now just got to put in the work to make it. Then we can start building the hanger for the real prize, the Sleeping Dragon. Which needs a huge redesign because it needs a refinery for all that sweet platinum and uranium… which it’s lacking. We also got the blueprints for some really awesome guns, a huge railgun, and some cannons, so of course it needs that. Too bad we lost the original Sleeping Dragon basically because we bet it on the fact we could complete our previous challenge and lost, no biggie, we can make a new one and even better, that’s not sooo hard.

We found a cobalt deposit on the way up along with some nickel rocks and an iron rock but we really need iron. So we’ll have to scout for it with the overlander as the new gantry charges up. Fingers crossed.

…

After some initial scouting, we found nothing so it looks like we’ll need an ultralight first. One we can make to scout with before we make the miner. This will then allow us to grid search for resources.

…

Man, 200 motors short. That’s a lot of motors. We’ll be mining by hand for a while again just for the flipping ultralight!

…

Commander Gwen: Why not just put a drill on the ultralight?

Captain Ashley: It’s about safety. That thing will be next to impossible to control, and I’ll be damned if I lose someone. It ain’t happening.

Councelor Misha: In that light, I have to agree.

Captain Ashley: The driller will be a masterpiece of safety, completely manuverable in any direction.

Commander Gwen: If you need me I’ll be mining…

Captain Ashley: So where we landed there’s no water. All we have is the 300 liters of water we started with and that’s not going to last long.

There’s some snow in the local mountains, about 6 klicks east and south. I think we need to go for it.

Commander Gwen: I’ll go. It’s the least I can do.

Councelor Misha: Are you sure? It will involve mining. With our current tools that’ll be really slow going.

Commander Gwen: I’m not afraid.

Captain Ashley: Okay, take some food and the rest of the water, you’ll need it, and don’t worry about us, only, if you don’t make it back we’re all dead.

Commander Gwen: Got it.

Counselor Misha: Good luck Commander.

Commander Gwen: Thank you, but it’ll be a snap.

Captain Ashley: Tosses the gun, take this.

Commander Gwen: But… won’t you need this?

Captain Ashley: Smiles coyly, we’ll stay high where the wolves can’t get us. Also take the grinder and scrap anything you come across.

Commander Gwen: You can count on me.

…

Commander Gwen: Back! I got the ice and now we have more than enough water.

Captain Ashley: You also found carrots and seeds, now we’re golden. We can finally make some space bars and not this nutrient paste.

Counselor Misha: We’re set to start making the mobile base now.

Commander Gwen: I also saw a lake up there so that’d be a good place to set up.

Captain Ashley: I love it when a plan comes together.

…

Captain’s Log Day… 5?

Captain Ashley: We’ve been here a while now and things are coming along, I’d say we’re 1/3 of the way to having our mobile base up and running. There’s some tricky stuff to get it perfect so we’ll probably wait until out new overlander is up and running before grinding any more off our pod. Mining is going very slow and we’ve supplemented that with a little scavenging. There are periodic drop pods, don’t know why, but they have some supplies. Good for us, but I wonder who we’ll owe when it’s done.

There’s a lot of annoying traffic on comms but they care calling us scavengers and that’s basically what we are, so yeah. Our current situation looks worse than scavengers, it’s not that we don’t care it’s just that we’re kind of rooted and can’t unroot without a lot of hassle so we’re stuck with this ugly crampt mess. Anyway it’s fine.