Planet Cracker
Hypervelocity kinetic bombardment platforms, originally designed as weapons of mass destruction during the Domain's most violent insurgencies. Each 'cracker' accelerates a tungsten rod to relativistic speeds on an impact trajectory calculated to maximize tectonic disruption. The result: localized earthquakes, volcanic activation, and upwelling of mineral-rich mantle material that can be mined once the dust settles. The technique is crude, environmentally catastrophic, and brutally effective—exactly the sort of solution that appeals to desperate colonies or unscrupulous mining conglomerates.
Enabled by default: No (use LunaLib settings to enable)
Build cost: 75,000¢
Build time: 30 days
Monthly upkeep: 500¢ * (colony size - 2)
Supply: (none)
Demand: (none)
Effects:
- After 200 days of uninterrupted operation, adds the tectonic activity condition to the orbited planet and improves its ore and rare ore availability by one tier.
- The cracking project length is configurable in LunaLib settings.
- Once cracking is complete, the structure can be deconstructed without risk of regression.
AI core effects:
(cannot install)
(cannot install)
(cannot install)Improvement bonus: (none)
Notes:
- Can only be built on orbital stations.
- The station must orbit a solid planet; gas giants and stars cannot be cracked.
- Cannot be built if the orbited planet already has tectonic activity, or is already at ultrarich availability for both ore and rare ore.