Four months after planetfall. 

The machinery hummed in motion as Julian watched the geothermal pipes slightly shake, carrying raging clouds of steam that surge into the turbines, spinning the blades to unimaginable heights.

The generator started and steam rose from the circular cooling tower.

"Geothermal power plant construction is completed, successor. Energy output is growing. Excess energy detected. Transferring excess energy output into the energy storage cells." Intellus reported.

"Villum ore deposits obtained... Energy problems are down... next are the automaton factories." Julian was thrilled about this progress.

"Successor, I recommend that we pursue Automaton I for the next research project. This will provide the successor with the capability to design and create Tier 1 automatons."

"What about Tier 0?" His face darkened to the extreme. "I should be able to create Tier 0 automatons, right?"

"That is correct. However, their firepower is minimal compared to Tier 1 automatons."

"I'm not at war with this planet yet, Intellus." Julian snorted. "I don't think I have enough materials to craft those Tier 1 automatons anyway. Leave it hanging for now."

"I understand. Then shall I focus on the Ballistic Ammunition I research, successor?"

"Yeah, that'd be better." Julian focuses his vision on the digital map.

The west, north, and eastern expanse have been explored. Now it was time to extend his reach out of the zoning barrier's influence.

Far to the west lay a dangerous snowstorm, thought to be the birthplace of an enormous extinct volcano and potentially the dwelling of terrific creatures.

To the north lies an odd desert, with waves of sand dunes stretching to infinity and concealing the mysteries that lie beneath.

And to the east were valleys and plains, volcanoes non-existent, contrary to what Intellus had previously reported.

Julian stood atop the cliff, providing him with an overview of the eastern expanse in front of him. "Can we really find titanium in this area?" 

"The presence of a geothermal vent indicates a high probability of volcanic or tectonic activities being present near this area, successor."

"Hmm... That seems to be not the case..."

The ground far away into the east trembled in distress. The trees shook violently, swatting the perching birds out of the tree branches. 

The shockwave towers situated below emitted a siren.

The crown-like object flashed a red light, charging the six arches attached to it. The energy swooshed into the ground, converting into a seismic wave colliding with its adversary.

Julian's eyes widened as the ground was ripped apart like a tiger ripping the flesh of its prey.

The seismic discord concluded with a massive bang, fissuring the earth up to five meters broad. Its depth was unknown, yet it opened up a tear that led to an unforgiving abyss.

Another seismic wave arrived, circumnavigating through the fissure, and struck again. The shockwave tower responded accordingly, a loud blast filling Julian's ears and numbing his consciousness to the point of forgetting.

The wake of the aftermath revealed several ground fractures that no sane man would ever approach.

"Hehe... I'll stay clear of this place for a while..."

Julian immediately vacated the area, heading back to where his HQ Building was. He shivered as he exits the PMS-MD-102, clearly reminiscing about that dangerous event just now.

"Intellus, tell me. Should we go to the snow, or to the desert?"

"Both choices offer their own advantages and disadvantages successor. The western expanse may contain valuable mineral ore deposits that can be utilized in various cases. However, the presence of Tier 2 creatures is highly probable, and their numbers are higher compared to the other expanses. The northern expanse may contain more precious mineral ore deposits that may not be found in the other expanses. However, the lying mysteries in that area may prove to be a hindrance to the successor's plans."

Julian was quickly running out of new ideas. He understood how difficult it was to expand his area, far more than he could have imagined.

A transmission arrived at his VNI and Hesab's portrait shows up. "What's up, Hesab? We're in a kind of a lockdown here. Mind some help?"

"I am here for that exact reason, my dear successor. I can see that Intellus can sometimes be very limited in his ways." Hesab teased.

"I am only limited by the current situation," Intellus responded. "If you were not as slow as I am and provided me your research results in advance, then the successor and I would not have been obstructed by a simple problem."

Julian scratched his head. Hearing these constructs argue against one another was... refreshing. "Okay, stop it you two. Hesab, go straight to the point please." 

"I have conducted countless simulations about that big black spider creature you have found in the villium ore deposit, successor. It has naturally used its body's inbuilt crystals to defend itself from any type of light energy attack and absorb it into its body, transforming the energy for its own needs or even reflecting the attack back to the attacker. The only downside is that it is rather very brittle when exposed to ballistic gunfire and explosive blasts."

"A wearable energy shield, that doesn't sound bad," Julian contemplated about the matter.

"That is not the only case, successor. We can integrate this mechanism into our automatons, mecha suits, and base defenses."

Julian frowned at his suggestion. "Then won't I lose all my villium ore for that thing only?!"

"We can strategically apply these defenses, successor. Nonetheless, the energy retained in the crystal armors from energy-based assaults or inputs can be utilized to power up our automatons while also giving them some stealth properties."

"Can we disperse other sorts of signal with that?" He curiously asked. 

The Federation's technology was a bit more advanced than what he and his AIs were currently in, and there were certain' scanning' operations that were very foolproof and could be described as a low-level civilization's god's eye.

"I have not yet experimented on this field, successor. However, most signals should be refracted but not reflected back to their origin."

Julian sighed in disappointment though still holding up his praise for Hesab. "Heh, aren't you teasing me to go to the desert, you cheeky bastard?!"

"I am not suggesting anything, successor." Hesab 'digitally' shrugged.

"That's good to hear then, Hesab." Julian turned to Intellus' portrait. "Okay, Intellus. Will I design those automatons, or will you do it yourself?"

"I will require inputs from the successor to customize the automatons that I shall design. I will then submit a draft based on your suggestions."

"Then I'll need some lightweight combat automatons that can handle a ballistic or energy gun. They should not be weighing more than two hundred kilograms, with stealth modules and crystal armors that Hesab said earlier..."

While the three 'humans' animatedly discussed their preparations for the northern expanse...

The big screen in the Control Room at the top of the HQ Building suddenly flashed a digital aerial image of the entire territory.

"Detecting unknown signal approaching. Attempting to identify the object. Error: Unable to precisely identify object composition and structure."

"Reading energy output. Fluctuations are extremely high. Comparable to Stage 2 evolutionary creature.  Classified as an extreme threat."

"Error: Extermination protocol cannot be executed. Object is outside of zoning barrier boundary."

"Estimating object vector."

"..."

"..."

The entire room buzzed in static as Secturus spectates over the entire process. 

"Estimation completed. Target, northern direction. Unable to precisely calculate landing vector."

Secturus blared out a small alarm in the Base Complex Facility, alerting Julian who was immersed in discussing with Hesab and Intellus.

"What's this image, Secturus?"

"Successor, unidentified signal appearing 20 kilometers above the Base Complex Facility. The object's target vector was calculated. Direction heading to the northern expanse. Nature of object is unknown. Energy readings reaching above normal Stage 2 Evolutionary creature. Extreme caution is advised."

"It's not a meteorite?" Julian had a strange look on his face.

"Improbable. The object has unnatural vector trajectory."

"It must not be the Hive then. Their 'worldly' invasions are very grand if I remember. They tend to block the skies with an endless rain of disgusting cystic creatures."

"The Federation." His eyes glistened sharply, a cold intent rising from within. "Heh, Intellus. It seems that I may have a ticket out of here."

"Shall I change our plans, successor?"

"Change? Hmm... Let's wait for a bit, Intellus. If nothing goes wrong, another shuttle from the Federation should land not far away from their current location in two months' time." Julian advises.

"May I ask the successor of the Federation's possible actions? I am planning to analyze the situation and attempt to produce a preliminary conclusion of our territorial expansion process factoring the new variable that has appeared."

Julian was intrigued about Intellus' sudden interest, but he indulged himself in telling Intellus all he knew about Federation exploration protocols. 

"They must be planning to build an outpost that far in the desert. There are several reasons that I can find but the main ones I can think of is that they saw a bunch of materials in that area which could sustain them for a long time while also having the proactive ability to defend themselves in any angle possible.."

Intellus' eyes flickered, jotting down digital notes. 

"This must be their response to the loss of my company but I can only hope that much from them for now."

"Shall we actively engage them in warfare, successor?" A red gleam beams on Intellus' eyes. 

Julian was taken aback. When did the Federation oppress this guy? Thinking about it, Intellus must have been swayed by his hatred against the Federation as well. 

He blushed in embarrassment, ignored by Intellus.

"What are you talking about? It's pointless to engage them with hostility. Hesab, you go ahead and finish that signal thing I talked with you earlier."

"Intellus, prep the automatons as quickly as possible. Can we train their AI constructs just like human soldiers?"

"That is possible, successor but that will take a while to be completed. It may also require the successor's intervention in training for the AI constructs to be fitted with at least competent combat experience and protocols."

"Doesn't matter, just do what you can make. Sooner or later, these bastards will greedily explore everything within hundreds of kilometers in every direction." Julian cheekily grinned. "Once they approach within the vicinity of our base, I'll give them a big surprise."