Scanning for Technology

The first set of drones we created were made with technology similar to the derelict ship we had encountered. I knew the technology would be outdated but we didn't want to exceed the current technology for fear of being discovered. The scanner wouldn't be very sophisticated yet due to this, however we made most of the functionality in the drone's temporary memory so that when it was destroyed it would all be lost. The drone was deployed in a remote location near an area that had a few robots in it but far enough away from them as to not draw their immediate attention. The first part of this mission would be to get some robot scans in order to replicate their technology. Our drone set off in the directions of the robots we had detected and did its best to remain hidden from view. As it drew near the real robots took notice of it and began advancing, I knew we had precious little time so I had the drone start taking as many scans as it could, we received a signal from the machines and then the drone was shot down. The data we received was very little, but it should help us make a more realistic drone.

The ship set out to decipher what the signal was from the robots while I worked on our next generation of drone. We had a visual of their current looks so that made it easy to make it look like them and the scans were able to tell us what alloy they were made from. With this information we had the remote probe start constructing the next drone. This one was going to have a particular target in mind and from what I remembered drones did not occupy this area very much, so this drone was set to explode upon termination leaving few if any traces behind. The drone was deployed to the desired destination, very near the eastern side of the largest contaminated zone. The first thing it needed to do was make sure there were no humans nearby, with none appearing on radar it set off to find the robot attackers.

They actually weren't terribly difficult to find, their numbers seemed to be up as if they were anticipating something. I had the drone get as close as it could safely, they didn't seem to take much note of it. I then had it start making scans of them, getting as much of their technology as it could. It had to be the scans that set them off, as soon as we had taken a couple good scans they turned towards the drone and started shooting. Luckily the new drone had better armor than the last and so we were able to get two more scans before it was destroyed. From what we could tell the explosion of the drone when it was terminated took out about three of the attackers with it. I knew this would be the last robot scan I could get.

I wasted very little time constructing our own version of the attacker, the scans had been good and we would be able to make it indistinguishable from the ones that are normally in the area. At this time the ship informed me that the robot's signal to the first drone had been an inquiry as to what it was. The shots fired shortly after the signal had been because they had realized they were being scanned and were trying to prevent their technology from being discovered. This also had been the reason the attackers had destroyed the second. The ship also informed me that there appeared to be robot presences appearing in other star systems and they were scanning, most likely looking for us. My time was running out and I needed to complete this plan quickly. I had the probe orbiting Calypso create several more attackers and then leave the area, we could not afford to have our technology discovered. The attackers were made to explode upon termination as well and were fitted with a few more sophisticated pieces to allow us to control them without the probe near by. They were deployed to the same area as the last drone, my goal was to take advantage of the malfunction in the human technology caused by the radiation and get a good scan of the contents of several colonists' PDAs.

Finding some colonists out in the contaminated zone wasn't difficult, the resources to be found there were far too tempting for them to leave alone and I knew it. The attackers set off in many directions, trying to find as many colonists as possible and get scans of their data. They were very successful in this endevour and found a few things I had been hoping to find. They however didn't last too long once the colonists saw them and were all destroyed within an hour. Among the technology they had been able to get scans of was the chips I had been hoping to find. A complete translocation chip and a wormhole chip. These devices were going to compliment our current technology very well and allow us to find better ways of navigation, not that the gravity drive was slow, but I needed to ensure we had different means of movement in case the gravity drive failed. With this done we recalled all the probes we had sent out, the robots were getting closer to finding us and we needed to leave the galaxy as quickly as possible. I knew this meant I would not be able to return to Calypso, not for quite a while. I bid my former home goodbye and the ship performed its jump, we were heading to a different galaxy, one that was hopefully free of robots and definitely devoid of humans. I knew the trip was going to take awhile, and I was saddened that we had only been able to map 64% of the galaxy before we left it. I suppose I would eventually be able to send some probes back to finish the map, but it was too dangerous now with the robots actively looking for who was mimicking their technology.