[center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/19806d5a-6377-446d-b646-84d6154ed104.png[/img][/center] [hider=Status Report][code] ++Stellar Engine++ Operational Status: Nominal Collector Count: 4000 Power Generation: 100 GW Collector Output: 25 MW each Collectors Needed for Total Star Coverage: 5.58E16 Dependent Systems: *Teknall's Workshop *Goliath ++Teknall's Workshop++ Operational Status: Nominal Might Output: 8/Turn Might Reserved by Workshop: 8 Total Might Available to Teknall: 22.5 Manufacturing Outputs: *Stellar Engine Collectors, 2000/Turn[/code] [/hider] The Workshop drifted in its lonely pocket of space, orbiting the only star on the plane, and occasionally jettisoning a batch of large metal plates. Rockets strapped to these plates fired, dropping their orbit closer to the star. The small chemical rockets were inadequate to get the Collector plates all the way into their required orbits, so as the Collectors orbited closer to the star and began producing power, they powered electromagnetic coils which coupled with the star's own magnetic field, providing thrust and orbital realignment without the use of rockets. And this steady stream of metal plates had doubled the population of Collectors in orbit around the star since last time, doubling the Stellar Engine's output. And it was this power Teknall was hoping to harness in more diverse ways. The Stellar Engine was always going to produce far more power than the Workshop needed. Most of the energy produced went to waste, for the Stellar Engine Core could only hold approximately an hour of energy production from the Stellar Engine, so any excess energy was rejected into space. Teknall did not have any plans for the present which could make continuous use of that energy, but he did have a couple of devices planned to use it some of the time. So Teknall entered the Workshop, followed by Goliath, and was greeted by the clanking of machinery, the roar of furnaces, and the buzz of electric motors. What he was making today would not require the full manufacturing capacity of the Workshop, though, just a small portion of it. He walked over to a forge and anvil, turned a few dials on the side of the forge to request the desired ratio of metals from the Elemental Siphon, then picked up a hammer. Teknall was now in his element. To take raw resources and fashion them into a something complex was what defined him. In the beginning he had favoured stone, the sturdy matter of planets and the ground. Then, as life emerged, he had adopted wood, the versatile flesh of plants. Now, as mortal civilisations advanced into the Bronze Age, he would adopt metal, strong and malleable refined elemental matter. Metal, the most important material in the advancement of civilisation. Metal, essential to most great technologies. And with metal he would work today. The alloy was mixed in the forge and he poured it out into casts. A robotic arm came along the railing and deposited a few freshly extruded metal pipes onto a nearby workbench. With expert hammer blows he shaped and moulded the metal to his whim. The device he was constructing looked like a metal nozzle and hose. The interior of the pipes was lined with highly refractory material, giving it heat resistance. The nozzle had an adjustable aperture. And the device was covered in radiators. The hose was equipped with actuators to allow it to move of its own accord, and the nozzle had a clip on it which would attach it to something such that it hung firmly about 15 centimeters below it. This device he installed into Goliath. He cut a small hole in Goliath's back where the hose would emerge, coupled the start of the hose to Goliath's core, and then installed a hatch over the opening. The hose would spend most of its time retracted within Goliath's torso, but when needed it would emerge, coil around, clip to the underside of one of Goliath's arms, and be ready to use. Teknall had made a flamethrower, powered by the Stellar Engine, which could emit plasma so hot that the flames of a Realta would look like a mere candle in comparison, or flames so broad as to engulf a whole army, although at the Stellar Engine's current capacity not both at once for any extended period of time. The capabilities of this flamethrower would grow with that of the Stellar Engine, and was another weapon to add to Goliath's already-diverse arsenal. This was not all that Teknall planned to build today. Although Goliath had access to the Stellar Engine's power wherever it went, Teknall currently did not, and he planned to fix that. He needed a highly versatile device with capabilities for very high energy transfer which would be a conduit for the Stellar Engine to his environment and to his gadgets. Teknall did not have to design such a thing from scratch, for someone else had already made something which possessed half the desired features. From his apron pocket Teknall pulled a live Needle Fae he had collected earlier, the tip of its blade anchored with a lump of iron, and set it down on his workbench to study. The Needle Fae's ability to absorb and channel near limitless power was what he hoped to replicate, and then adapt that to his own purposes. So Teknall studied the Needle Fae and experimented for many hours, until he was finally able to replicate its abilities with divine machinery. Teknall constructed his conduit from a combination of metal and carefully harvested Other-matter, derived from more Needle Fae. The end result was thirty identical geometric elongated tetrahedrons, about thirty centimetres long and eight centimetres wide, with the brassy-gold lustre of orichalcum. To connect with the conduit, a device of similar materials was plugged into the Stellar Engine. But while the physical components of the conduit had been built, it was not yet complete. By Teknall's will, the shards floated in front of him, and he imbued them with his power, implanting an intricate network of divine instructions to program them and govern their operation. As the shards were granted power, they arranged themselves into a circle, their points all pointed inwards. In the centre of the circle grew a mote of incandescent yellow light, like a tiny sun. The circle floated to hover above Teknall's outstretched palm, slowly rotating as he inspected it. Then Teknall closed his hand, and the conduit did likewise, the shards folding together into a quasi-tetrahedron and the tiny sun disappearing. The conduit then folded further, disappearing away into higher dimensional space until it vanished entirely, stowed away for later use. The conduit was a success. With that device Teknall would be able to unleash the power of the Stellar Engine wherever he went. He could use the conduit itself as a tool or weapon, or attach it to another device to power it. An additional feature the conduit had, inherited from the Needle Fae Teknall copied, was that the conduit could absorb energy just as easily as it emitted energy, putting the energy into the Stellar Engine Core. Construction finished for the day, Teknall and Goliath departed the Workshop and returned to Galbar. Teknall had places to visit. Goliath had the other half of Logos' invasion to deal with. Goliath flew over Galbar at a relatively leisurely pace before touching down in front of an Aclaya forest. This pathogenic crystal endangered Galbar's entire biosphere. The efforts mobilised by Jvan had helped stall the advance of Logos' plague, but it was hardly a permanent solution. The spores still carried across the burned trenches which had been established, and the beings who fought against the spread were not themselves immune to infection, and could not carry out such arduous work forever. Goliath, however, was different. Goliath was a robot, and thus completely impervious to infection, and the Mirror Armour prevented any contamination by the crystal spores. Goliath was powered by the Stellar Engine, and thus could use up to 100 gigawatts continuously, without ceasing. And with Goliath's new flamethrower, it was well-equipped to eradicate the Aclaya forests. The flamethrower hose snaked out and attached itself to Goliath's lower right arm. Goliath then stretched out that arm, the nozzle adjusted its aperture, and a blinding white glow and ferocious roar echoed across the landscape as the full fury of the Stellar Engine was poured out upon the Aclaya forest. Over fifty gigawatts of heat, unceasing, washed over the crystal forest in front of Goliath and melted dozens of square metres every second. The trees melted, bubbled and even burned, and the ground was turned into a tortured landscape of igneous rocks. Coldly Goliath walked along the perimeter of the Aclaya forest, systematically destroying it. Some of the crystalline guardians emerged to confront the robot destroying their forest, but they were dispatched by crossbows, railguns or the flamethrower itself before they could even exit the forest. This process of extermination would take many years at the current pace, though, for the Aclaya had already spread virulently and affected a huge expanse of land across Galbar. So the work would be incremental. Proper exclusion zones of a few hundred metres width could be established, which would further prevent the spread of Aclaya. Then, once that had been achieved at all the outbreaks, the longer task of destroying the forests completely could be undertaken, by expanding that border kilometre by kilometre, until no trace of the dreaded crystals remained. It would take decades of continuous work for the Aclaya to be destroyed entirely. The land would be scorched, although given time it would recover. But robots did not tire, did not grow bored. To enact methodical tasks without rest was their purpose. And the Stellar Engine's power was inexhaustible, running off the long-lived power of a star. It would be a long task, but it wasn't as if Goliath had anything better to do. [hider=In which Goliath becomes a Realta] In his Workshop, Teknall constructs a flamethrower for Goliath, coupled to the Stellar Engine. (-1 Might, from Workshop) Teknall also constructs a device, with some biomimicry of Needle Fae, which allows him to channel the power of the Stellar Engine wherever he goes, as well as absorb energy into the Stellar Engine. (-1 Might, from Workshop) Mechanically, this allows Teknall to remotely access Might reserved by the Workshop for appropriate actions. Teknall also formally claims the Smithing Portfolio (free gift from Kho). Goliath is sent to eradicate the Aclaya forests using its new flamethrower. It should take some days or weeks for Goliath to extend the borders of scorched earth preventing the Aclaya's spread to a more appreciable size. The total eradication of the Aclaya by Goliath's hand alone would take decades of continuous work, but this is something Goliath can do. [/hider] [hider=Status Changes][code] ~ ++Stellar Engine++ ~ Dependent Systems: + *Shard conduit ~ ++Teknall's Workshop++ ~ Might Reserved by Workshop: 6 ~ Total Might Available to Teknall: 20.5 [/code][/hider]