Aeryn was checking his files and he was very interested in what the Dragons proposed, overlooking the plans of the former Colonies of Borneo, smiling already at his view of the planet , a multicultural place for all those that inhabit the Tau, those that are allies of the Republic of course.
He was looking at the wall, with his mind already gone in the future when he was introduced to the Dragon representative and Profesor Nerva.
Good, finally is happening he thought
........
Meanwhile, Ryo Kase was still back on Coronado, trying to coordinate the efforts on Yuma and Pecos... He kept looking at the numbers and the plans that are running in front of him and he realize that for a moment, two projects are important. Making a decision, he called one of his secretary and requested to speak with Frank Valerii and Felix Cornelius.
A few minutes passed and Felix appeared on his screen and he kept quiet for a few seconds as the Minister was running something.
"Ah, greetings Frank, I just didn't realized that you are already connected.Listen, first of all, I heard that ARA gave you enough experienced miners now, trained by the IMG. Good. Now we need to put them to work."
He coughed and a sip of water "
Sorry, I manage to catch a cold that is killing me and let's say that my throat is not an ally either. Here is the new plan that I came up for our project 'Scattering Ore' . We made a grand scheme first, but I had another idea. Listen, before you say anything let me finish, yes? Ok. We currently have 8 Celestra class vessels designed to be dismantled and another 27 needing extensive repairs. I am thinking to retrofit those 8 Celestra to act as Command and Control Centre for the Drones, working on shift basis. As for the 27 ships to be redefined as nothing more then walking silos where the drones deposit their cargo and go back for mining. I think we can take 5 or 6 more ships from ISE and design them to hold Drones for transport to site. Your people will be the one controlling the drones and thus we make sure that we have a grab and run operation, with no static bases. We have already the mining droids delivered by the IMG but I need your opinion... Will contact the Hephaestus to announce them of the change of plan and will need to have a talk with Felix Manufacturing to create special racks"
He stopped and looked at Frank "
What you think?"
I shouldn't need to explain, that even once we do get some efficient algorithms in place - independent miners and manpower-intensive mining will still have us beat for commercial purposes. Still worth doing, the fleet pays a premium on supplies they don't need to import from third parties.
I know of at least two ore types we can take care of - Tau-44 hasn't really been exploited and there are niobium deposits still to be found there.
Another option is the moons around Salina, Coronado. Abundant copper deposits have been known to exist for years now, but only now we can make their exploitation feasible with all those bots.
To summarize, I am quite surprised that drone-mining hasn't been tried so much to date - we'll either find out (painfully) why or end up disgustingly rich.
Two months had passed and Ryo was back on New Athos, overseeing a new module being attach, he received a note from a Governmental Courier.
He looked at the datapad but he was more fascinated by the addition to New Athos, a new module that is serving as a fishery and as a leveled Farmland. The design was something new and no one have tried this but with three quarters of the island submerged 13 meters, it gave more stability then he thought and the 11 levels were offering varied vegetables and plants that were used by the nation.
“Very nice, this will give a nice boost to our population. If only Hephaestus would move faster to complete the other projects. You would think that someone having construction drones would move faster, Gods damn it.” He looked around and realised he confessed to nothing but the air “I am loosing my mind.” He muttered while wandering around the New Athos. He loved the smell of wet earth and he enjoyed the peace and quiet that the island projected, as there were only several machinery in use and they were far away from him, seeding the land.
Coming to a tree, he stopped and pop out his bottle taking a long sip and he lay down to enjoy the clear sky. From time to time, a CAP was flying on low orbit but that seemed only natural and he let his mind fly away, to Yuma, to Pecos, to Borneo, to Salina ….
“SALINA!” rang in his mind and he tried to find out where he put the pad and founding it, he started to read.
During the initial scan of Coronado, the 53rd reported mineral presence on the moons of Salina and on Baja, reports which were later on confirmed by the Squadron.
The reports shows that the Republic can have access on magnesium, aluminium, iron, nickel, helium, silica laced with iron oxides, bauxite, gold , rhodium, platinium, Soccoro Crystals, Argon gas, copper,beryllium, titanium and other light metals which can be mined.
The Aithne Research Academy and CMI is already preparing the first Miners ready to work on the platforms on the moons and Yuma Robotics is preparing the next batch of modified Mining Droids to be used in the mining operations.
The Republic is looking for external help to relieve the pressure on the ISE units, as they are busy keeping the steady stream of materials needed for development of Yuma, and is willing to invest 200 million credits for the completion of the project.
Xenobiotic Filters ----> 4.000
Titanium----> 8.000
Superconductors ----> 4.000
Solar Panels ----> 4.000
Hull Panels ----> 10.000
Robotics ----> 8.000
Nuclear Devices ----> 600
Nanocapacitors ----> 4.000
Nanotubes ----> 4.000
Lasers ----> 4.000
Industrial Materials ----> 8.000
Engine Components ----> 4.000
Energy Field Equipment ----> 4.000
Deuterium ----> 8.000
Consumer Goods ----> 4.000
Bio-Neural Processors ----> 4.000
Basic Alloy ----> 8.000
Ablative Armor Plating ----> 20.000
Drill Bits ----> 4.000
Mining Machinery ----> 8.000
Material Status: Delivered
Change from static to mobile mining.
Plan: Retrofitting 36 Celestra, 8 in Command and Control Centre for Drones, 27 Celestra modified into Haulers, 6 Atlas redesigned as Drone Carriers. 2400 Mining Drones, 150 Mining Personnel.
8 Modified Celestra in Drone Command and Control Centre (DCCC) – Renamed into DCCC I-VIII. Celestra ships modified to maintain the large mainframe needed to control the drones and the radio equipment to send and receive instructions. The ship will be having also small sleeping area and an onboard canteen for the staff present, if the ship needs to stay overtime.
The reactor power had been increased by 10%.
Computers and radio equipment had been provided by the Felix Manufacture, and they can control up to 650 Drones.
For each planetoid, one DCCC would be placed in high orbit and they will guide and send information toward the drones as needed.
In case of danger, the DCCC will deactivate the Drones and leave them behind and they will retreat towards Pecos at maximum speed.
27 Celestra modified Hauler (CMH)- Renamed into CMH I-XXVI. Twenty seven ships had been modified by the CDI by having all the unnecessary decks removed and in keeping only the navigation deck. The upper part of the ship had been modified to open and to allow a drone to release their load in there.
Ships from CMH range are to be placed in key places above the mining, in low orbit. The ship will depart their position when they are full and they will head to the Tellur Region on Pecos for unloading. The ships will be rotated at every 5 hours to ensure that the crews stay awake and they are fresh.
In case of danger, the CMH will return at highest possible speed to Pecos.
6 Retrofitted Atlas into Drone Carrier (DC) – Renamed DC I-VI are Atlas from the ISE fleet which were damaged by the Gauls. The transports had been fixed and special sustaining Drone Racks had been installed. Each ship can carry up to 1200 Drones.
The DC will not remain in space more then they need to deploy their Drones.
2400 Mining Drones class “Thasos”- Named as T1-2400.
Build by Sirius Robotics at Aland Shipyard and homemade on Yuma by Yuma Robotics, the Drones present the newest class that Crayter developed.
Build on a strong chassis developed by Felix Manufacture and Sirius Robotics, the drones had been equipped with drilling bits and vacuums, having an internal storage of 1,8 tonnes of mined ore. The drones are reinforced by a shield to allow a better penetration of thin atmosphere and also used the Material 349 that is used in Capital Ship Production, for a better protection while planetside.
Using the top of the art CRRE-11, the drones are able to receive commands from the DCCC ship in orbit for 10 clicks and if needed, radio buoys can be dropped to enhance the range.
Reaching top speeds of 95 clicks, they are capable to fill a CMH in 5 hours and 23 minutes per unit.
A new and better model is under testing to be added to the fleet.
140 Mining Personnel -> Graduates of Aithene Research Academy and part of CMI.
Modus Operandi: The moon’s survey revealed where the ore deposits are and they had been mapped. A DCCC would be deployed above in high orbit and a DC will deliver the Drones. 5 CMH will be assigned and they will be taxing the ore from the moon to Pecos. Drones will be deployed and guided towards the mining sites.
Mining Program 1 to 11 would be activated as needed and drones will be equipped for the type of ore they are mining. Drones will mine until their internal storage is full and they will be recalled to where the CMH are parked, where unloading instructions will be sent. Once the Drone is empty, it shall be resent to her mining spot.
The CMH will wait until they are full and will then depart towards Pecos. At any time, 5 CMH should be in orbit during the operation.
DCCC to maintain channel open with the Crayterian Fleet for updates regarding enemy activity.
In case of enemy attack, the DCCC will deactivate the Drones and will instruct the CMH to retreat. Once the deactivation signal had been sent, DCCC will also retreat to Pecos.
Ryo read the report and he nodded after he finished and he selected the first site:
Tova, Site H-115.
“There is a good start.” He thought and put his thumb to approve the plan. Once the plan had been sent, he resume his relaxation and closed his eyes and let his mind walk among the stars.
Meanwhile, on
Pilos Underground Complex, sirens were heard, marking the beginning of a new stage in ore mining…..
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53rd Scan