Alan finished attaching a wire bundle for the fourth time today. “How’s that?”

“That fixed it. All seven of the fliers are now registering as controllable.”

“About time.” Alan set the cover plate in place and welded it back up. “How are we doing for manufacturing materials?”

Sara rattled off a list that was getting low. Mostly metals, which made sense.

“All right, time to do a test run. Let’s start with a 25 km radius starting from the southeast and working counterclockwise. It's about time we get a good look at our surroundings for a change.”

“I feel like I’m actually getting to do something useful for a change. I like this.”

Alan had built a small tracked platform that was about 1.6 meters long, 0.9 meters wide, and 0.3 meters tall at its highest point. It had control and radio equipment sticking up near the back of the vehicle. The mid section and front had six docking stations. Attached to each docking station was a simple spy drone.

The spy drone was a blueprint he had used often to scout out locations for base setups in less than friendly places. It was quiet, quick, and fairly simple. Weight had to be kept to a minimum to keep the blades from working too hard and making noise. The rotors for the blades were also power hogs, which made putting anything other than a camera on it impractical.

A seventh drone was on the very back. It would not be used unless there was a mishap with one of the spy drones. The seventh was a utility drone that could launch and retrieve a downed spy drone and return it to its docking station. This drone was about as silent as a nest of pissed off hornets. Needless to say, it wouldn’t be used unless absolutely needed.

Alan watched as Sara powered on the drone carrier. She tested the movement controls before activating the vehicle door. The drone carrier sped off across the floor and into the wilds. The doors stopped before completely opening and reversed to seal shut.

“Sara, add a drone carrier access door to the list of things to be built. I don’t think it’s a good idea to open the main door for something so small.”

“Done. ETA to first deployment one hour and seventeen minutes. Flying would be much faster. Even if I had to stay low to treetop level.”

“I know. It would be much louder than the carrier, though. I want the intelligence of what is around us without tipping everyone off that we are here.”

Alan looked over the mess that was the rover. He started work on it by cutting off the remains of the destroyed cargo boxes and removing the track that was twisted. He would have to budget his projects to the limited supply of his resources. He could go out in person to retrieve the caches that his automated miners has likely gathered by this point.

He decided against it. He would build a drone for himself to do that very task. It would be an excellent test for his first utility drone. Alan also needed to convert the rover to a large drone carrier to bring all the raw materials back.

“ETA to deployment in two minutes.”

The time had slipped by so fast, he thought to himself. He put his tools down and went to the holoprojector table. He pulled up the current 3D topographical map and looked for the indicator of where the recon drones were. He found them and zoomed in. The path the drone carrier had traveled had been updated with much more detail.

He watched as the indicator of the drone came to a stop.

“Deploying spy drones.”

Alan just continued to watch as one by one, new indicators activated. They fanned out, searching the area. As they got further out, they began to zigzag back and forth. They overlapped the search patterns of the drones on either side of them so that nothing was missed. Information poured in, and the map fleshed out.

A potential ore deposit had been flagged. It was a deposit type that Alan had grown concerned that the current mine was nearing being mined out soon. The farther out the drones got from the drone carrier, the longer the searching took. The initial zigzags quickly turned into arcs. Alan watched until drones got to about two kilometers out. They would only go another two kilometers further before making a beeline to the carrier to recharge.

At that point the carrier would move to its next location and start again. Satisfied with how it was going, Alan returned to work on the rover conversion.

Over the next few days Sara had completed the first round of scans. The pattern was obvious on the map. The details on the map were like a string of pearls in a perfect circle. The next round would be just inside the initial pattern, offset to get into the gaps the first scan missed.

Alan had made fine tuning adjustments to the drone carrier on a couple of its returns to base to recharge and refuel. It had run into some minor problems during its assignment that were fixed easy enough. Alan had given in to going out into the wilds himself to get resources. He needed things to go faster.

When he returned he went straight for the medical supplies and took another pain killer. The wound in his side had cauterized, but it still hurt like hell from the damage it did. He really needed a medical module from Aurora Outpost. If he could just get his hands on one of those modules Sara would be able to doctor him up on the medical bed using its surgical nanites to repair his side.

He offloaded the raw ores into the refinery for processing. He then went to Bob and set it up to build three sets of the drone carriers and spy drones to equip them with.

He thought about the past encounter with the little ant like creatures. He ordered up Bob to build another device to handle that potential problem.

Alan had finished refitting the rover. He added an armored skirting around the tracks. Four smaller 7 mm rotary cannons had been added to the sides, and two at the rear. He modified the undercarriage so there was space for eight containers. Each container had a small combat drone in it with a 4 mm turret mounted to it. These were simple enough Sara would be able to control them. They were cheap enough that losses wouldn’t be horrible either. How effective they were, or not, remained to be seen. Like so many things, Alan knew all too well how brilliant concepts looked in print only to prove to be awful in practice for some unforeseen reason.

He had also started on building his utility drone. It was a large flier. Mounted to the underside were two mechanical arms that would normally rest folded up against the craft. To counter balance the arms, Alan mounted two mini dual laser pods. Here he wished he had access to the advanced ship weapons module to help automate control of the weapons.

Alan added dual cameras to give himself depth perception, and other sensors to help him perceive what was going on around him out in the field.

By the middle of the next day the two other spy drone carriers were completed. Alan took the special package that he had Bob build and plumbed it into the system of the third carrier now dubbed SDC-3.

“What is that for?” Sara asked as soon as she realized what he attached to it.

“Care package just in case.”

“How friendly of you.”

“Take SDC-3 and send it near Aurora Outpost. Time to inspect what is left of the place and make sure no dinos have built a nest in it. Take SDC-2 and double up exploration on the outside of the 25 km ring.”

The drone carriers started up and left the cavern. Alan took a painkiller and got something to eat before laying down to rest. He wanted to be awake and alert when SDC-3 got within range of the outpost. It took a while before he eventually drifted off to sleep.

“Alan! Wake up!”

He bolted upright. His mind was alert, but his body was still groggy. “What’s happening?”

“Better come see for yourself. You need to tell me what you want done from where I parked SDC-3.”

Alan relaxed a bit. “Have I been out that long?”

“You’ve been asleep for nearly 6 hours.”

Alan, half awake, walked over to the kitchen area to get the new concoction that he discovered that could remotely pass as a sort of coffee. It was sick looking color of green but, palatable.

“Alan!”

“Just let me get some coffee, will ya!”

“Those things are nearby!”

Alan stopped, “Which things?”

“Those nasty insect like things!”

Alan ran to the holoprojector as adrenaline fulfilled his need for the coffee. Sara had pulled up the map for him. She was still two kilometers out from where Alan had told her to deploy. She had two spy drones deployed that had gone out head of the SDC-3. He hadn’t told her to do that, but it was a smart move that paid off.

He pulled up another display that relayed the visual feed from one of the spy drones. The green night vision revealed the time of day. Looking carefully, he saw it. One of those centipede things and the two scorpion ones, one on either side of it. They didn’t look to be in any hurry.

“Look at the path they are following. Looks like they have established patrols that have beaten something like a game trail into the ground.”

Alan slowly nodded his head as he looked. “You’re right. That might be to our advantage. Map out their patrol paths and see if they have a gap someplace. Don’t get too close to them though. If they see you, this entire thing will be a bust.”

Alan was glad that he had instructed Sara to take a wider path and approach as if coming from the Neri’s Opportunities crash site. He watched as the two drones fanned out and searched. Trails were everywhere. Without having to be told Sara began tracking the patrols she could see and timing how fast they moved to determine when they would be on any given path.

“Try to get the carrier closer. Send a drone above the tree canopy. Let’s not get ambushed from above.”

Alan watched the indicator for SDC-3 move forward at a silent pace. She positioned it under cover of some boulders that she had found earlier. The spy drone flying above the canopy couldn’t see any threats as it pressed forward.

“So long as there aren’t any real changes to their patterns I should be able to navigate along this path so long as I keep on the move. If they spot the carrier at any point, they will swarm it. Do you want me to risk it?”

“Is the actual outpost still too far away for the drones to reach?”

“Yes. The drone above the canopy is nearly max range already.”

Alan looked at its position compared to how far they had to go. The carrier needed to get at least one more kilometer in for the drones to reach.

“Do it.” Alan had a sinking feeling at what they might find. He wanted to know for sure, anyway.

Sara recalled the current drones to be recharged and deployed fresh ones to keep an eye on things. All while silently keeping the carrier drone moving in a pattern that would hopefully avoid detection. The carrier had gotten close enough. Sara drove it to a spot that somewhat concealed it from view in between paths. She changed out the drones one at a time with the newly recharged ones.

She launched them low to the ground to find a random place to climb higher to get a better view.

Alan realized right then they hadn’t encountered any nighttime predators so far. Either they had a way to drive them off, or they had already killed everything off in the area. Alan looked over the displays of the three deployed spy drones.

The drone flying above the canopy was the first to reach the clearing, not having any obstacles to dodge. The drone glided to a stop at the edge of the clearing. Alan frowned. The castle looking outpost had obviously been engaged in a battle and lost. The slagged remains of rotary cannons told him Paragon Fabrications had decided on cheap for defenses.

The satellite dish and the building attached to it seemed to be intact still. The dominant structure that would be a mining facility was busy with insect activity. The insect like creatures had added to it for their own purposes. Some sort of alien looking metal pods were scattered here and there near the walls.

Slow moving patrols left and returned. There were so many of the insect like creatures everywhere. Hundreds of them.

“Sara try and get this drone down here to this building. That looks like it might be the main control, cargo, and living area.” Alan pointed on the 3D map where he wanted her to go.

It took her a long while to find a way down there unseen. Getting into the building was no issue. There were ragged holes everywhere, as if the Paragon crew had taken a last stand here. The spy drone navigated its way through a broken window. Alan breathed deep. He hadn’t realized he was holding his breath.

“You want me to locate the cargo boxes that Paragon wants so badly?”

“Don’t care about the damn cargo. Find the medical area. Try to find the medical module.”

The facility still had some power as the few lights that worked flickered on and off. Fire from multiple weapons had shredded the walls, ceiling, and floor. Occasionally the remains of a large blood stain could be found. There were no bodies from either side, though. Something had done some housekeeping in that regard.

Alan had an idea. He had built two modules ready to receive their programming sets. He had intended to use them for the advanced drone control programing. He picked up one of the rounded capped cylinders. It was a little bigger than his thigh and was heavy. He set it on a bench near the servers and plugged it in. Power indicators lit up on the device.

Alan hurried back to the displays. “Any luck yet?”

“Not yet... wait... maybe.”

Alan squinted as he looked at display. The flickering lights were annoying with night vision. The signal was also degraded being inside the building. If it could be counted as fortunate, the building was full of holes which helped reception.

Alan’s head dropped, and he closed his eyes. “Shit,” he whispered. Alan felt as though the damn planet was out to get him. He looked back up and stared at the slagged remains of the medical module. A tear ran down his cheek, and he clenched his teeth.

“Go ahead and explore the rest of what you can so we know what is there. Let me know if and when you get spotted.” Alan walked away from the displays.

He went to one of the benches and picked up a metal tool and threw it across the cavern as hard as he could. He yelled out in frustration even though it made his side hurt massively. It added fuel to his anger.

“WHY DO I BOTHER!!! WHAT’S THE POINT!!!”

Alan felt as if his blood boiled as he heaved breaths.

After a little while Sara spoke in a soft voice, “Alan, they just shot down the first drone in the complex. I think we successfully stirred a hornet's nest. The insect like creatures are pouring out of the mining building. They are searching.”

Alan tried to pull himself back together. He went to his control seat. He put on his headset that gave him a VR type of visual aid. He took control of the carrier drone. He disabled the limiters on the speed. All the drones had already been deployed save the utility drone that didn’t have a purpose at the moment.

Alan jerked the carrier out of its hiding spot and went full throttle towards the outpost. The nearby patrols must have seen as they started to swarm in around him.

“Come on, you little shits! Gather around!”

Weapon's fire was coming at him from all directions, but somewhat conservative. They must have some sort of self preservation to not hit each other. As fast as Alan was driving and evading as much fire as possible, he was proving to be a hard target to hit. There was a massive swarm directly in front of him where patrols were adding up from the outpost. The ranks of aliens behind him broke apart to allow the front line to open fire more aggressively.

The drone carrier was taking several hits despite the weaving. “Close enough!” Alan triggered his care package.

He had expected all the screens to go blank. Sara had amped up the base radio range to cover the outpost and in doing so still controlled the two remaining spy drones. The explosion was epic in Alan’s mind. It wiped out one of the two remaining drones. The carrier no longer existed. In its place was a shallow crater nearly 50 meters in diameter. The carnage of insect bodies was incredible.

The last drone surveyed the damage for as long as its power held out. Eventually it ran out of juice, or was shot down, Alan realized.

Alan replayed the footage over and over again. He watched with a sadistic smile, taking pleasure in every death he inflicted. Damn insects were the reason he was stuck on this planet. A thread of despair hit him as he realized they might breed faster than he could kill them off. It was probably a pointless and endless war.