Year 4 was a fucking nightmare. Alright, first something about colony wealth I didn't explain before. It influences the number and quality of raiders and others Randy can throw at the Ediots, but it also influences the colonist's mood. The colonies usually start with around 15K wealth, which gives the colonist's "very low expectations" (+24) bonus to mood, so they handle hardships easier. When the colony reaches 30 or 40K, this bonus is reduced to "low expectations" (+18 mood). At the start of the year 4 all the walls and expansions and bells and whistles have brought the colony to 80K, moderate expectations (+12). The first, failed Ediot colony was still at 55K in year 6 when it was killed off, so I really went off the brakes. In case of leaders, the expectations are 2 levels above the common folk, so commissar Heidi expected a lot and had no mood bonuses (sky high expectations).
So, the more the Ediots have, the more they expect, and the more they are pampered, the less they are happy. And the less they are happy, the easier they mentally break.
This affected Lurk more than others. The revival wasn't flawless, so he ended up with dementia, often going Biden around the colony and outside of the walls, which especially exposed him to dangers
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The pyromaniac was chill for 2 whole years, became the best surgeon and farmer when Lurk went down, a really valuable member of society, and then he started lighting the barracks on fire.
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It was managable with the beanbag shells, but Commissar Heidi knew that sooner or later he'll light up either the ordinance or the flammables used for its production. How to remove this threat to the community, especially since he is loved by many?
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The toxic waste was walled off in a freezer. A big mistake was not building double walls, one of the raids later broke in and some of it leaked out, but not enough to cause serious damage. Still needs a clean up, but the Ediots are short on staff right now.
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Mechanoids employed a fog machine that reduces accuracy by 50%. Could have been worse, a sun blocker that would make everything green on the map die. An Ediot expedition can be sent to try and shut it down, but the Commissar has no idea what is there, a tesseron? No thanks, 50% accuracy is a glass half full, and fine with him.
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A biggest mechanoid raid the Ediots have seen so far landed in transport pods (23 shotgunners, I think), and it was time to test the walls and the effects of the fog. The defences are nothing special, just a corridor with barbed wire to slow them down and direct them straight in front of the Ediot's barrels
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Completely wiped out. Cheap and boring strategy, but better that than facing 23 shotgunners out in the open and burrying everyone at start of year 4. Doesn't matter. The Ediots know there will be threats from which they can't hide behind the walls, and they will take the wins they can, and take them dirty if necessary.
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Commissar Heidi didn't plan for this, but he won't shed any tears over it. But it was a blow to the Ediot's morale. He was burried next to Demonic.
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His death marked the beggining of the hard times. First came a divorce which left minty shaken
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Then came the ceremonies that should have pleased the masses, but seemed mundane and boring to now pampered and spoiled Ediots.
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A part of the blame lied with the newly appointed firekeeper, BayaRae, whose lacking attempts at charisma and showmanship fell flat in front of the jaded Ediot audience.
The mental breaks became more and more frequent, caused by either divorce, or by the beloved silly little pyromaniac imp of the colony being killed by a stray bullet, by this or that reason. People wandered around the colony dazed and confused, would go on chemical binges or violent antisocial sprees. This led to a chain reaction and a downward spiral. The fields are not being harvested if the farmers are busy getting high all night, which means that the food isn't being made, which means people go hungry, which means the people go angrym and turn against each other. The threes grow unchecked and obstruct the windmills, leading to power failures, frozen food spoilage and production grinding to a halt.
During one of the mental breaks, the esteemed firekeeper went berserk and attacked an arctic fox. Commissar Heidi decided that it would be best not to intervene, let the man have his fun and blow off some steam. However, to his disbelief, for a neanderthal, BayaRae turned out to be really incompetent when to came to hand-to-hand combat.
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He too, was burried next to Demonic.
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The death of the firekeeper, and Comissar's refusal to appoint a new one out of the need for every capable hand to stop the colony from further sinking, was another thing that weighed on every Ediot's mind.
The breaks continued
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and again
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and again
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Despite his sanguine personality, not even the Commissar was completely immune
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Some people went unhinged to the point of desecrating the remains of the dead, and ploping them on the dining room table
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And some gave up entirely
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She was brought back to the colony at gunpoint, and reminded that an Ediot is an Ediot in all times, not just the good ones.
The commissar observed in desperation.
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Normally he'd at least arrange for an execution and lift everyone's spirits, but the raids dried up. All that he could do now, was try to keep the colony running at the bare survival level, and hope that the time will bring respite , and that the people will eventually let go of the grief.
Lurk had his last breakdown, getting hooked on the go juice, which would have been OK if the production could satisfy it, but in current situation, all he was, was a threat to the survival of the colony hussars. He was placed in a deathrest coma so he can sleep through going cold turkey, and recovers from the dementia.
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Slowly and painfully the recovery process started. The genetic research has been completed, and the first piece of vital equipment has been built:
the chicken grinder
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While Commisar Heidi was busy trying to manage the mental health of his people, the chicken population growth has been left unchecked, and they multiplied
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and multiplied
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so much that a local muffalo population developed a replacement theory that the government worked hard to suppress (350 chickens). Fortunately, the merchants finally showed up, and the chicken legions were offloaded to them, reducing the numbers to a managable 16.
Commissar Heidi and the new waster recruit, DIAF, raided an impid farming site, more out of need for taking prisoners (and her ideological need to raid) than out of need for food, which was a nice bonus to a still struggling colony. Their lives and potatoes belonged to the Ediots now
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And finally Commissar Heidi could arrange for an execution, lifting the spirits of the Ediots and showing them that the authorities are doing their best to protect them from the devious outsiders.
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A child was born into the colony, and the name "Demonic" was ready to be bestowed upon it... but nature had other plans. It was not a masculine child.
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@Demonic87 , do you still accept this child as your avatar, do decide the direction of its development, so it may become a great meatshield?