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[ragnarok97071]

Remember that due to our caste, we shouldn't be focused too much on technological fixes for problems. We have too many people to nightproof them all, therefore that was the fastest solution.

I'm with modifying for cold resistance, burrowing, and stealth. They're our biggest assets at the moment.

[Ukrainian Ranger]

I got an idea for a little experiment

6)Take 5 larvae, immobilize them in some way, feed them nicely, create separate room for them and - plant 5 flowers right inside their bodies.

I'm with modifying for cold resistance, burrowing, and stealth. They're our biggest assets at the moment.

And smaller size. That adds to stealth and will help with food problems
But digging and stealth should be a priority over cold resistance, underground is much warmer than surface

[ragnarok97071]

I got an idea for a little experiment

6)Take 5 larvae, immobilize them in some way, feed them nicely, create separate room for them and - plant 5 flowers right inside their bodies.

Hmm... This could be interesting, and we're kinda the mad scientist caste, so why not.

I'd wait until we're sustainable first, though.

[Ross Vernal]

As it stands, the native environment for the planted Flowers is "a dark, dirty hole in the ground", which will mean these plants will eventually adapt to become mycoheterotrophic (read: functioning without photosynthesis) plants that prefer Ph-neutral-leaning-towards-basic soils.

While the Body can indeed do a variety of adaptations, the overall efficiency of each additional change decreases considerably.  It is very plausible to be cold-tolerant and adapted for digging from a single Jelly, but adding more traits beyond that have a greater and greater chance of making some changes less relevant.

[Ukrainian Ranger]

Than I say go for digging all the way, it's not our last unit of jelly we'll ever get and we have much digging to do, first generation of our children on new planet should be adept diggers... than we may adapt queen back to the surface

[Noxes]

Hmm, I still say going bigger is too our advantage as being principally underground for now is plenty of stealth.

I am intrigued by UkrainianRanger's 'Science' project though, perhaps only 3 drones sacrificed though, and maybe not all immobilized, one or two should still be able to move freely around and go about his business. If the plants can adapt to their conditions and so can we, perhaps we can adapt to each other and form a more interesting symbiosis. Also, Royal Jelly + Flower of Life graft = ?

For now though perhaps we should provide conditions for the flowers more like that of the surface with the plan being that we are eventually going back aboveground.

[Ross Vernal]

As it stands, the proposed course of day-actions are:

- Armor and seal entrance tunnel with heavy armor plate
- T-caste begins system integrations, focused on Flowers and heat
- B-caste and soldiers begins mining operations, some distance away from the main hive
- Pollinators tend plants
- The Nurse begins hybridization efforts with 5 Larvae and finalizes healing of L2 Soldier
- The Queen uses Royal Jelly to adapt to digging and underground conditions, with some consideration of increased insulation
- Grubs consume displaced soil and begin excreting valuable elements / "night soil"
- Corpses are eaten in lieu of Flowers, with priority going to high-intelligence Kai, followed by larvae!hybrids, followed by T-drones, followed by B-drones, followed by Pollinators, followed by S-soldiers.


Is this correct, and/or any other suggestions?

[10ebbor10]

I'd say we'd do the mining in the hive itself. Just branch out some tunnels from the primary hive chamber.

[RAM]

I would rather not completely seal the entrance, leave a door or something that wouldn't involve digging a new tunnel or dismantling our barricades to get to the surface. We really should send a raidning party back to the ship for more resources, although we could wait until the 'heat' dies down...

[Ross Vernal]

The first thing to do is seal off the Hive from the outside. A small transmitter device is situated and concealed on the edge of the pit to allow the remote detonation of the scuttling charges on the Hiveship; after this is completed, a piece of the Heavy Armor Plating is dug in and set to block the entrance to the Hive. You decide it would be a waste of resources to make a full-out blast door, but nonetheless create a system of cables by which to physically manipulate the "door" should physical exits be required.

The reason why it is a waste is because the Tech Drones are busy performing integration of Your systems. While You are not the expert at technological pursuits, You nonetheless have a basic knowledge of engineering, fabrication, and other such things that would be expected for a industrialized spacefaring race. Grubs are dispatched to dig heating and vent tunnels designed to provide additional heat for the Flowers of Life while the Tech Drones assemble basic fans and temperature probes.

The next part of the heating system is much trickier - the telemetry computers are re-purposed to serve as a reader and controlling device. Fortunately for the small gathering of Tech Drones, Your Ancestors were forewarned enough to understand that these computers would need to serve multiple purposes. After the parts and wires are installed, the Drones test the jury-rigged system, which starts with a clickwhirr and causes the heat to flow. As a result of the temperature control, the Hive's temperature changes from "Survivable in the short term" to "Uncomfortable but tolerable."

While this was happening, You ingested the Royal Jelly after tearing off very small chunks to facilitate the experiment. After feeling the nutrients and essences in Your stomach, You enter the body-trance and guide Your purpose. Your instincts tell You to grow and strengthen Your mandibles to grasp and tear at the soil, for Your carapace to harden, especially about the legs to furrow through the soil, and for the small "hairs" on Your legs to thicken and grow into spiny rakes to move the soil.  You envision Your digestive system changing to safely accrue and excrete soil elements. Lastly, You envision Your assorted sensory antennae to become sensitive to seismic vibrations and assorted stimuli. After exiting the body-trance, You are pleased to find that not only are Your changes successful, but that Your carapace is mildly warmer than it was before Adaptation. You sense that Your body has changed reproductive cycles to allow Mining variants of the standard Kai.

The Nurse finishes the nutrient slurry for the L2 Soldier, and moves to work on the Hybrid experiments. It administers a small amount of paralysis toxins to two of the Larvae, while leaving three as regular. After a careful moment of studying an immobile Kai, a groove is cut into the flesh of the back, a miniature dose of Royal Jelly applied to the inside of the wound, and a Dormant Flower of Life implanted. This continues for the remaining four, and after an observation period, two of the mobile Larvae remain alive with the Flowers in a stunted, premature state.

The Pollinators observe the plants, and periodically perform certain dances and make assorted noises of varying frequencies. During this time, the Flowers sway back and forth, their growth increased noticeably - at least an inch taller and several centimeters thicker.

In the meantime, You oversee the mining tunnels with B-caste drones and several Soldiers to move soil. You lead the digging and carefully dig a tunnel as deep as You dare to allow geothermal heat to seep into the Hive, while Drones periodically split off to search for minerals. In this, You find your attempts to be for naught, although it is getting warmer in the Hive.

Night falls.

Now what?

Spoiler: You Are: (click to show/hide)

Fully Independent
1 Queen Kai (B-Caste, Mining-Adapted, Minor Cold Tolerance) (Not Hungry)
Independent
1 Level 3 Nurse Drone (B-Caste) (Not Hungry)
2 Level 2 Navigation Drones (T-Caste) (Not Hungry)
Intelligent
1 L2 Heavy Soldier (S-Caste) (Not Hungry)
8 Drones (T-Caste) (Not Hungry)
4 Soldiers (S-Caste) (Not Hungry)
5 Armored Soldiers (B-Caste) (Not Hungry)
Dependent
6 Pollinators (B-Caste) (Not Hungry)
10 Drones (B-Caste) (Not Hungry)
Unthinking
15 Larvae (B-Caste) (Not Hungry)
2 Grubs (B-Caste) (Full)
2 Hybridized Larvae (B-Caste) (Not Hungry)

Spoiler: Your Eggs: (click to show/hide)

80 Fertilized Eggs (B-Caste)
20 Grub Eggs (B-Caste)

Spoiler: Your M-Caste Breeding Variants (click to show/hide)

Grub ----> Bore Worm
-
Drone ---> Digging Drone
Scout ---> Seismic Scout
Soldier --> Mining Soldier
-
Predator -> Spined Predator
Nurse ----> Spined Nurse
Command-> Spined Commander

Spoiler: You Own: (click to show/hide)

Weaponry
1 Queen-Sized Light Energy Machine Gun
4 Ship-Based Point Defense Lasers
5 Soldier-Sized Light Energy Machine Guns
10 EMG Batteries

Armory
3 Drone-Sized EPS

Technology/Utility
1 Badly Damaged Navigation/Telemetry Computer
1 Badly Damaged Stasis Chamber
1 Badly Damaged Nursery
1 Miniature Refinery
1 Biorecycler
1 Internal Combustion Spacecraft Engine

Parts/Resources
7 Large Heavy Armor Plates
9 Units of Universal Spare Parts
1 Unit of Nursery Parts
1 Unit of Stasis Chamber Parts
3 Partially Damaged Xenobiological Samples
2 Xenoflora Samples
Water
Titanium
Gold
Copper
Superalloys
Universal Elemental Supply (Hydrogen, Helium, Oxygen, Neon, Iron, Nitrogen, Silicon, Magnesium, Sulfur)
Iron Spheres
Large Iron Spheres
Scrap Metal
Scrap Plastic

Agriculture
2/3 Container of Fertilizer
1 Bacteria Vat
25 Dormant Flowers
8 Barrels of Refined Pollen Fuel

Spoiler: Your Food Supplies (click to show/hide)

Dead:
1 Dead L1 Commander (B-Caste) (2 Units of Food)
6 Dead Drones (T-Caste) (6 Units of Food)
1 Dead Pollinator (B-Caste) (1 Unit of Food)
3 Dead Xenobiological Samples (Mammal-Caste) (6 Units of Food)
3 Dead Hybrid Larvae (3/10ths of a Unit of Food)

Food:
3 Dead Flowers of Life (1.5 Units of Food)

Synthetic Food:
0 Units of Synthetic Food

Drones - 1/10 of a Unit of Food
Soldiers - 5/10 of a Unit of Food
Levels 1-4 - A Unit of Food
Predator / Nurse / Commander - 1.5 Units Of Food
Queen - 2 Units of Food / Reabsorb 20 Eggs
Level 5 - 3 Units of Food

Your Nest
Location - Here
Visibility - Extremely Hard To Detect

Spoiler: Inside (click to show/hide)

Heavy Improvised Door
Oversized Insulated Hive Chamber
- Climate Control System
- Fusion Plant
- Computer-Aided Design System
Flower Garden with 10 Immature.2 Flowers of Life
Queen's Chamber with 0 Queen's Flowers
Unsecured Geothermal Bore Hole
-Mining Tunnels

Spoiler: Outside (click to show/hide)

A Hole
- Scuttle Charge Transmitter

[If you want to know the general appearance I have in mind, imagine this crab and this wasp combined. Fair warning that you really might not want to imagine that, of course... The Queen is different in the sense of her looking like this wasp, at least with the leg spikes.

They're almost cute in a horrifying sort of way.]

[RAM]

Attempt to cook up some mining drones.
Focus on securing a food supply.
Build a deeper, somewhat remote, lets say 36 metres away and similarly distant from the surface, chamber for your own chamber, the nursery, and another 10 flowers.

[Ukrainian Ranger]

Create low-tech digging equipment for our soldiers, that can work as a melee weapon, too. Titanium pick like instruments can speed up the digging considerably and soldier's strength will get better use

Also, try to fix the stasis chamber. That's a good way to save some food

[Cheesecake]

Attempt to cook up some mining drones.
Focus on securing a food supply.
Build a deeper, somewhat remote, lets say 36 metres away and similarly distant from the surface, chamber for your own chamber, the nursery, and another 10 flowers.

+1

[Ukrainian Ranger]

Make queens chambers considerably less warm (maybe to the point of ventilation shafts to the surface), that will aid us both in making more cold resistant flowers and more cold resistant offspring

Also, we may consider digging narrow "light" tunnels, to let sunlight reach us at noon for a brief period of time ( If we can find mirror equivalents, that can be increased)

[RAM]

Heat emissions will reveal our position if we do that.