Mystic Machinery: Industry is Magic

by Conglomerate

Chapter 4: Subterranean

In only a few hours, the stockpile of Titanite I had harvested from the moon was now down on the surface at my base. That, along with some other materials I had gathered while waiting allowed me the perfect amount of resources to build something big.

Specifically a tunneling machine.

Now this tech was massive, with a wall of drills up front, several channels to process the raw material, tracks on all sides for guaranteed traction, and all the commodities you could imagine, it was ready for action. I did notice one thing during its construction however, and that was that the only resource I was really lacking in was Fibrewood. It made sense, now that I was in a new area, one that was arid, flat, and most importantly not smack dab in the middle of a forest, it meant that I couldn’t just get more Fibrewood whenever I wanted, and the same went for Rubber Jelly.

Of course I could still travel to go get some, but that meant I had to travel, as there were only a few trees in viewing distance from my base. A worrying thought, but once the underground transport lines were active, it wouldn’t be a problem, and that was about to become a reality.

I took control of the tunneling tech. It was easily the largest one I had built on this planet so far, and looked to hold that record for a good while. Starting up the drills, I prepared to plunge beneath the earth and start digging away. Then I realized one major problem, I still didn’t have a way to angle my drills.

Just kidding.

With but a single thought, the massive bore head shifted downwards, the bottom part of it cleaving into the surface rock. The multitude of tracks started up a moment later, pushing the whole thing forward and further downward. The tech lurched as it cleared the initial bump, but continued slowly yet steadily, a cascade of dirt and broken stone falling out the back.

I had chosen to start digging in the center of the plateau, and you may think that is a silly idea, especially if I was planning on building a base on top. All in due time, as I knew for certain that I couldn’t fit everything I needed for my plans atop the plateau, so what better way to go than down? I was trying to stay hidden after all.

I reached the point where I was level with the plains around my base, and continued downward still, steepening my angle to the point where the tech was almost vertical. I wasn’t just tunneling under the surface, I was tunneling underground, and I intended to go well beneath the bedrock.

Unfortunately, it looked like that wouldn’t be an option for me, as it didn’t take long for my progress to slow. A layer of stronger stone awaited me at the bottom, and while I wanted to go deeper, digging at this level would’ve added weeks of time to this project.

Security or speed, a tough choice.

Hollowing out a small area at the divide, I set up a few supports I had brought with me, then waited for the stream of loose material to pile up from the hole in the ceiling. That was another problem of mine, I would be tunneling through miles of terrain at a time, and all that rock and stone had to go somewhere. I hadn’t really planned for that, but I had a few ideas.

Simply letting it pile up around my base could work for a short while, allowing me to extend the plateau or construct simple defenses. However any excess would quickly become noticeable, especially when I travelled far enough to pull up differently colored stone. Another option was to dump it somewhere out of the way, but the main issue with that was actually transporting it, repeated trips with any land based tech would leave tracks, and the plane was nowhere near efficient enough to be considered an option. Digging a tunnel seemed redundant, but it might be viable in the long term.

For now though, I had space, but not a lot of resources, so it was time to fix that. I angled the drill tech in the general direction of the Plumbite hills I had spotted earlier, and just started drilling.

Compared to flying, drilling was much more boring. It was definitely slower, though the steady march of progress was nothing to scoff at. My main gripe was the lack of visuals, all I got to see was rock passing by, with a trail of rubble at the back. Every once and a while the drill would hit something, whether it be a fault in the stone or a small deposit of resources, I actually managed to gather a fair share of Plumbite and Carbite that way, but it wouldn’t have even put a dent in the total amount I needed.

Thankfully, I had already acquired all the resources necessary for an A.I. Cabin. With a few simple commands it would continue to tunnel at a certain depth while aiming towards a specific point, with a few failsafes just in case. The only problem was that I had to physically set the waypoint, so I quickly flew over with the plane and planted a beacon.

As soon as they connected, the drill tech sent me a ping: a reading of how far it had to go, and how far it had already gone.

467 km : 6 km

Just over an hour of drilling, and not even two percent done. About three days worth of digging just to connect one resource location.

Of course, it wasn’t like I could only use one drill, once this first line was finished, I could set several, if not all of them along their paths. Given its current pace, the entire system could be excavated in under two weeks. That was certainly nothing to scoff at, and was better than any alternative that I could come up with, and once all the proper tracks and train lines were put into place, the whole network could probably supply enough material to complete the planetary defense system in only a few months.

That was only part of the final product however, logistics didn’t mean anything if you weren’t producing anything, and storage is a whole other issue in itself. Though right now I was happy with the progress being made, and though it would take a couple of days to dig the tunnels, I was already planning on what to do next.

For now.

There was no guaranteeing that everything would go to plan, and just looking around the Plumbite area made me worried. It was nearly barren, with only a few shiny rocks glinting in the sunlight. If I was operating like I was in the forest, then I wouldn’t even give this place a second glance, but these rocks didn’t just fall from the sky, the real money was hidden down below, and that was something I could get full access to now.

It was hard to gauge exactly how much Plumbite - or any resource for that matter - was waiting underground, but simple surface deposits meant there was more to harvest.

On a lighter note, there was a decently sized forest nearby, and while it didn’t have the massive trees of the last one, it would certainly provide the resources I needed for now.

There was also a road. Albeit a dirt one that was heavily overgrown and almost washed away, but a road nonetheless. I had mapped out the area beforehand, and there was a town a sizable distance away, but the road lined up with it, which meant there was a chance that ponies would come down it. It didn’t lead directly toward my future mine, but it was close enough that it would be within proximity to any more noticeable operations.

I would have to be careful with how I do things in this area.

Thankfully, the other areas were in the clear, with the only other issue being that Canterlot itself was visible from the Oleite fields. It was only a speck in the distance, and due to its position on the mountain it was partially facing away, but if I built anything large there it would be within view.

That was unfortunate, as when the tunnels got here I would have to keep most of the work subsurface, and refrain from constructing anything larger than a small outpost up top. Envisioning it, I could tell it wouldn’t pose much of an issue. Autominers existed because most techs didn’t work under the ground. They were developed to efficiently access any underground reservoirs of resources. Since I would already be approaching from the underground, I could probably access the reservoir much easier, I just had to be careful not to flood my tunnels with Oleite.

I marked a spot a fair distance from the Oleite for the next beacon, then checked the progress on the drill.

466 km : 7 km

Great, looks like I was going to be waiting for a bit again. At least I had some things to do in the meantime.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note:

So I have a question. In previous notes, I have discussed how the updates of the game have contradicted my story. I alluded to the fact that I had come up with an explanation for these developments, but more time has passed, and some of those developments have been undeveloped, on both sides.

• Reticule Research will be making an appearance later on. I planned around it back then and the plan is still relevant.
• Block collection in game has been reverted to a version more consistent with my storyline, so that remains unchanged.
• Proper base building blocks have been added, which kind of invalidate previous and future methods described.

All of this brings me to my question. At the time of conception of this story, the only flight blocks that Geocorp had available were an uncontrollable hoverpad and a giant booster. As of now, there are wings and propellers capable of making gigantic planes. My yet to be detailed explanation for why they have yet to appear in the story can still apply, but I can also veto it at any moment.

Would you prefer for certain game content to appear sooner or later in the story?

Comments

[Aiwhisper]

I would say don’t worry about when you add parts or what parts you have since you’re already going to mix Factorio with Terra Tech but why and how you add stuff. You already gave a great reason for the underground trains ‘to avoid detection’ so maybe add in some underground factory building now or maybe show us how the ponies and changelings are reacting again?

I actually like that you’re just using concepts from the game but not keeping it 100% accurate like having the ability to make other corp tech from the incorrect fabricators.

[Dagon M Dragoon]

It doesn't matter to me, i don't know about anyone else.

[Heretics Everywhere]

I think the best way to describe this story is what if terratech in mlp with factorio and mincrafte create mod buildings

[Conglomerate]

11764854
I LOVE the Create mod! Unfortunately, it's a bit too "primitive" to apply to this, but you never know what might come next.

[Booster Spice]

The SRN 4 was a giant passenger and cargo carrying hovercraft powered by giant plane propellers.