Losing one of the scout drones just like that was one thing, but knowing that this place wasn't as safe as Zachary had expected was another issue altogether.
The Master Seargent turned serious as he replayed the video multiple times. No matter how many times he played the video over and over again, only one such creature came to mind. It was a dragon. A legendary existence that only existed in humanity's ancient folklores.
Be it games, novels, and the like, this creature was so overused in a way that even the mythical space creatures in the galaxy were not its match in regards to popularity.
Dragons are beings of a supernatural or spiritual force in a sense that represented either the good or the wicked, especially in ancient times, so it was understandable. In this world though, for Zachary at the least, it was just a drone killer. A hateful creature that ate his drone.
He sighed in consternation. He only had two such top-tier scout-type drones brought, and one of them was already turned into dragon poop at this point.
Zachary's curiosity was piqued though. Such a majestic flying creature that he thought only existed in storybooks was present in this world. He felt that he has only scratched the surface of this mysterious planet, and he wanted to know more about it. He sat at the commander's seat for a while as he stared at the paused image of the dragon with its maws wide open, at the ship's monitor screen.
He sucked a mouthful of air and breathed out as his eyes sharpened. He finalized the list of things that he needed to do in an instant.
1.) Relay his coordinates to the mothership.
-- First and foremost, he needed to do this as soon as possible. But it was easier said than done. Zachary may need to do an aerodynamic probe first, then launch out a lightwave transmission satellite to orbit. Reliable continuous communication was the key here in such a predicament. Depending on the circumstances he may need help. Worse comes to worst, at least the others would know where this planet was currently at.
But to do this, he may need to make a base of operations. He needed to lay down all the equipment for the aerodynamic probe and satellite launching. Plus Zachary did not feel safe with dragons flying around the vicinity where his battlecruiser was buried at.
"Could dragons breathe fire though?" Zachary mumbled, his eyebrows interlinked with such a thought. He dared not jump to conclusions, as for him, it was simply illogical. A creature breathing out fire simply leaned to the supernatural of sort in his views. But not preparing was out of the question as well. One thing that he did not want to see is all the equipment he brought turning into cinders.
To counter this, Zachary looked up at the armament list and checked the types of air defense weaponry he has and may need to use. Looking at such a long list, he nodded with satisfaction.
'The Supply Department did well in loading all these babies in. So it all comes down to building the base.' He thought.
2.) Building a standard base that could protect the launching of satellites.
Rechecking the data he currently had, the fifty-kilometer radius where his battleship cruiser was located was devoid of any creatures. They were probably scared off with such a ruckus he caused while crash-landing.
Zachary may need to let out worker bots to clear out at least a five-kilometer vicinity for the base. This was to have a bigger and better workplace on the get-go, he may need to construct walls for additional protection as well as the installation of defensive structures be it land or air. He only had one transmission satellite. So Zachary only had one attempt. There were no second chances in this. Building a base that could do multiple aerodynamic probes before launching the satellite for a 100% risk-free flight was needed. A secure base was a must as failure is out of the question. Be it dragons or whatever, Zachary needed to be prepared and avoid any mishaps that may occur.
What worried him though was that worker bots had nonexistent fighting capabilities. With how big most of the creatures that exist here, a few worker bots may not even fill the gaps of these monsters' teeth.
Zachary did have an army of automated patrol bots available of use, but these models were only programmed to decimate any intruders in an area they were set to monitor and protect. Seems that he may need to go out there himself. A fearless smile crept in on the Master Seargent's face.
__
Two weeks have already passed, Zachary's base was at the last step of construction.
There were a lot of problems that he encountered in the passing days.
Clearing such a wide vicinity was harder than he initially thought. Cutting the trees here was like logging a huge metal chunk disguised as a tree. These metallic evergreens were so sturdy that they needed five work bots just to cut a single one down. Transporting them to the newly built storage house was also problematic, as they were constantly attacked by monsters from time to time. Zachary did save all the corpses and preserved them well though. Later after setting up the laboratory, studying the composition of these monsters would be easier.
Speaking of sturdy trees. At first, he intended to use an electric fence to surround the area. Sadly, he did not have enough to cover everything up and he was not certain as well if a 20,000-volt shock could render these creatures incapable of anything as it seemed they have quite the strong vitality, so killing them with electrocution may be hard.
Catching a monster to try it out was out of the question as well as the only ones that were attacking were the medium-sized monsters that were fearless enough to offer themselves up. They could easily be dealt with by the patrol bots. So catching them alive wasn't that important in the meantime.
The bigger ones he saw using the scout drone that was eaten by a dragon were nowhere to be seen. Seems that those creatures have their territories, so unless threatened they may not leave their dwellings, which was a good thing for him. Without ample preparations, he did not dare go deeper into the forest. Zachary also felt that leaving the base, for now, was a bad idea.
Going back to the main point, with the sturdiness of the trees here, it fits the criteria for a temporary wall around the base. Zachary may need to replace the tree wall, later on, so he made use of the mining bots to set up an underground mineshaft connected to the burrowed battlecruiser. This was to gather rocks for building use, maybe collect types of minerals that may exist on this planet as they may prove useful be it for research purposes or manufacturing purposes. The passage for the mineshaft can later be constructed into a secret underground bunker of some sort so it was hitting two birds in one stone. With this in mind, Zachary went back to the base together with the last batch of worker bots that was dragging a huge tree.
Riding his mecha--a 7-meter high Macross 8.86 model, he then stopped at the center point of the base-- a towering building was constructed there Zachary nodded at the look of the Energy Reactor's beauty, as it gave a consequent release of energy from time to time. This reactor was made to store lunar and thermal power. It was currently the one running the whole base, providing all the types of machinery with fuel, including his mecha, the work bots, the patrol bots, and the miner bots altogether.
The security array here was also the strongest in the base located aboveground. With multiple land and air turrets in place, and 20 patrol units protecting the area.
Zachary climbed at the shoulder of his mecha and stood there enjoying the view of the entirety of the base. It was a bustling place filled with mechanical robots working to the extremities. Since this place was finally secured, he could finally rest and appreciate the place.
'If a dragon comes, then a dragon comes.' Zachary cheekily thought. He didn't mind having a meal out of it if it really dares pass by. It was not like he was still mad about the loss of his prized scout-type drone. He really wasn't mad. Really.