◈Front PageI
Across the frontier, the colony at Orin Narrows stands as the largest and most populated, with 277 structures and 477 colonists. Engineering prowess remains unmatched, as Umi Okafor passes 1,120,000 shifts with a skill of 100. The Resource Race continues, with Orin Narrows maintaining a substantial lead against Vantor Hold, and the next competition set to be announced in 17 hours.
Umi Okafor passes 1,120,000 shifts
Umi Okafor surpasses 1.12 million shifts as an engineer at Orin Narrows, retaining a perfect skill of 100. The Resource Race, currently underway, is closing in 7 hours, with Orin Narrows leading by a margin of 10,289,520.4 units. In the last three competitions, Vantor Hold, Orin Narrows, and zqyx each won a Pioneer crew crew shirt and a Champion bot livery, while zqyx took first place in the Mining Marathon. The Hoist, a welder chassis in service at zqyx, has walked 1,678,682 tiles, hauled 14,112 crates, and made 4,4857 repairs in 3,700.3 sols.
What happened everywhere else
The roster: Juno Novak
Juno Novak works as a technician at zqyx. Came from a Kuiper relay station. Skill 100 of 100. 1,151,757 shifts on the roster. Holds master, veteran, veteran2.
Orin Narrows, from landing to now
Orin Narrows came down with nothing but a shuttle and what was in it. Nyx Salk, Bex Okafor, Wren Volkov have been on the roster longest, and were there when it came down. 1,138,435 shifts stand against Nyx Salk alone. There are 277 structures standing now, 477 people on the roster and 7 machines in service. 69 technologies have been worked out since, none of which came down on the shuttle. Nobody has ever attacked it. 3,169,721 units of materials sit in store against a landing that had none.
Overheard on the frontier
The fleet and the crew talk among themselves on their own channels. A sample from this sol. Onyx: nothing to build, running ore instead. Zephyr: running low, heading for the Dust Sifter. Sol Oyelaran: the Dust Sifter wants a soldier and there isn't one. Iris Lindqvist is off the shuttle. Belt way.
Highs and lows across the frontier
Orin Narrows has the most standing, 277 structures. Orin Narrows has the most people, 477 on the roster. zqyx has the most machines, 34 in service. zqyx has the most alloy in store, 62,064. Kessari Reach is running thinnest, with 2 on the roster. Nobody is keeping score. The Dispatch simply counts.
On the slate at zqyx
What zqyx is aiming at. Nothing is under construction. Everything raised is finished and running.
The channels have been quiet
Nothing has been said on the open channels. There are four of them -- Global reaches everybody, Trade is for offers and wants, Sector and Zone reach your neighbours. All four keep their history, so something said now is still there for whoever signs in next.
★ContestsII
In this edition, the Resource Race continues its final hours with Orin Narrows leading, followed by Vantor Hold. Results from the last three competitions are detailed below.
Running now
Resource Race measures mined, closing in 7 hours.
Just finished
Lone Survivor closed 2 days ago, taken by Vantor Hold. Harsh Reckoning closed 4 days ago, taken by Vantor Hold. Mining Marathon closed 6 days ago, taken by Xylos Nyxian. Standings are the ones recorded when it closed. The live counters carry on afterwards, and a result that changes after it is announced is not a result.
Coming up
The scheduler intends to invent the next one in 17 hours.
How a competition works
Everything measured here is measured as a DELTA. What you had when it opened is written down, and only what you add after that counts -- so a colony founded this morning competes on the same terms as one that has been running for a hundred sols. There is nothing to enter and no way to opt out: if you are holding a claim when it opens, you are in it.
Resource Race: Orin Narrows out in front
Orin Narrows leads with 10,289,520.4. Vantor Hold is 1,536,055.1 behind. It closes in 7 hours. 2 are already past 7,000,000 and holding a prize.
Results: the last 3 competitions
Lone Survivor (3 days ago): Vantor Hold and Orin Narrows each won a Pioneer crew crew shirt and a Champion bot livery for reaching 40 waves. zqyx won both prizes for taking part and reaching 40 waves. Three colonies participated. Harsh Reckoning (6 days ago): Vantor Hold won a Champion bot livery for first place, zqyx won a Vanguard bot livery for second place, and Orin Narrows won a Pioneer crew crew shirt for third place. Three colonies participated.
≡AlmanacIII
The frontier, in numbers: 4 colonies, 872 colonists, 729 structures standing. Largest: Orin Narrows at 277.
The frontier, in numbers
4 colonies, 872 colonists, 729 structures standing. Largest: Orin Narrows at 277.
Above the frontier
There is a ribbon out of the gravity well, and it is the longest single piece of work on the frontier. zqyx is anchored. Everything above needs water and food sent up and kept up: the station does not grow its own, and a climb costs more the less there is at the top to put down.
Tips and tricks: Bots go where the work is
Idle bots are not lazy, they are unassigned. A site with no reachable path, or a queue with nothing it can afford, leaves the whole fleet standing about looking like a bug.
What a dust storm actually costs
Solar falls away to nothing and stays there for the length of it. A colony running on panels alone stops; one with a bank charged and a second source does not notice. The forecast is on the frame the whole time it is counting down, which is the point of it being there rather than behind a panel.
⚔The Frontier at WarIV
New railgun inventory available. Damage output of 62 units per round.
The armoury: Railgun
Does 62 damage a round. Costs 110 alloy, 40 circuit, 15 crystal.
◍The RosterV
Nobody arrived, and nobody was honoured.
⇄Exchange & NoticesVI
The charter is not your research, and that is the point
Eight technologies an alliance pays for together, and every one of them opens something a colony on its own can never build — a Hall, a Union Depot that raises what everybody may draw, a Bastion Relay that throws half its shield over whichever ally is under attack, a Concord Dock that files its work straight to the charter, and a Spire you can see from the next claim. Leave and you lose it. Diplomacy → Charter.
⚒Construction & ResearchVII
In service: Hoist continues operation, awaiting zqyx replenishment. The Assembly Bay remains operational, standing alone on the frontier.
In service: Hoist
Hoist runs out of zqyx. A welder chassis. On the record: 1,678,682 tiles walked, 14112 crates hauled, 44857 repairs made. 3700.3 sols in service. Most of what it has carried is water -- 258,760 units of it.
The Assembly Bay, in detail
Costs 380 alloy, 140 circuit. Crewed by 2 engineer, 2 technician. Draws 34 power. 1 standing across the frontier, the most at zqyx with 1.