Battle of Pioneer Base

Commanders| * Captain Jack Roberts (tactical supervision)
* Commander Venom
* Ryan
* BB

Strength| * 1 Pioneer-class Landing Ship
	+ CSS Pioneer
* 1 Mobile Base
	+ CSS Bison
* 1 Praecisio-Unguided Bomber
* 2 Hover Tanks
* Pioneer Base Defense Grid
	+ 4 Turret Emplacements
* 3 Hedgehog-class Tanks
	+ Red Shirt
	+ Daybreak
* 2 Scarab-class Light Speeders
* 1 Utility Ship
* 7 Dog-class Rover Drones
	+ Bob
	+ Floof
	+ Steve
	+ Doreen
	+ Wolfie
	+ Nibbles
	+ Linda

Casualties| * CSS Bison
* 1 Praecisio-Unguided Bomber
* 3 Turret Emplacements
* Heavy damage to Pioneer Base
* Light damage to both Hover Tanks
* All Hover vehicles
* All Dogs

The **Battle of Pioneer Base** was a battle fought during the Colony War between the Colonist Survivors (CSS) and the Drone Reactionary Force (DRF), and one of the first major engagements between the two sides during the second half of the war. The DRF attacked the Colonists' ground base on P3-X2, Pioneer Base, with a large attack force, and despite losing most of their units, dealt heavy damage to the base.

## History

### Prelude

Around the midpoint of the Colony War, both the CSS and DRF teams had set up presences in the orbit of and on the ground of the desert planet P3-X2, respectively. The DRF established their base camp in an abandoned mountain outpost, into with they dug a large cavern to house vehicles and production machinery. At the same time, the Colonists built an expansive asteroid base branching off of their existing space station, Watchtower Station. Soon, Captain Jack Roberts began constructing a landing ship, the CSS *Pioneer*, to land on the planet with supplies and vehicles to establish an alpha base. A small force landed on the planet and set up a base in the desert, dubbing it Pioneer Base.

Some time later, both the CSS and DRF investigated a seemingly-abandoned bunker near the DRF Hive Base 2.0, although neither side knew the other was there at first. However, the base was not abandoned; a being known as The Controller, the sinister leader of the Green Drone Armada, lured them in and revealed himself to both factions, attacking them with a battalion of A-Bot drones and forcing both sides to fight their way out of the facility and make it back to their respective bases.

Afterwards, half of the Colonist team returned to space via the CSS *Arrow*, while the other half remained at Pioneer Base to continue building up its defenses. The DRF also constructed multiple tanks and other ground attack vehicles of all sizes, including almost a dozen Dog-class Rover Drones, with each member naming one as if they were real dogs. The DRF also sent a scouting party to Pioneer Base, but were chased off by warning shots. Nevertheless, the DRF had now located the Colonists' base, and soon mounted an attack.

### The Battle

The next day, the DRF launched their attack, deploying most of their ground vehicles to attack Pioneer Base head-on. Three Hedgehog-class Tanks, designed by Papple, led the charge, alongside a large Hover Tank built by Finchy and two Scarab-class Hover Speeders. BB piloted a flying vehicle with a pickup mechanism designed to carry and drop the Dogs into position, and landed seven Dogs a short distance away from the base.

However, the CSS ground team, led by Commander Venom, spotted the approaching vehicles' antenna signals and prepared their defenses. Heavy MK2 Battleship Cannons opened fire on the DRF units from afar, and a well-placed shot from the CSS *Bison*'s Magnetic Coil Cannon disabled one of the Hedgehog Tanks, *Red Shirt*, almost immediately. The automated turret emplacements surrounding the base also took down Finchy's Hover Tank and damaged *Daybreak*, another Hedgehog.

Meanwhile, Arron, leader of the DRF, piloted a Scarab, darting around the base and firing at its defenses before being taken out and crashing into the main ramp leading to the *Pioneer*'s hangar. Arron climbed out and infiltrated the base, planting a warhead inside the main room containing cryo chambers for the crew. Outside, the final Hedgehog, driven by Ryan, drove in circles around the base, constantly firing at its defenses. It managed to destroy the *Bison*, but not before CSS member Lyderian escaped to his atmospheric bomber and took off in the nick of time. Venom eventually managed to turn on the main base's defenses, including four M-61 Vulcan PDCs and two massive MK3 Battleship Cannons, but Arron detonated the explosives, leveling the building and damaging much of the *Pioneer*'s starboard side. Arron then proceeded towards the bridge and took down Ler, but was taken out by Venom and respawned elsewhere.

Arron then ordered the retreat, and the remaining Hedgehog attempted to escape. However, it had taken significant damage, and with a final barrage of missiles from Lyderian's bomber, it was destroyed. However, when Lyderian flew over the hill to pursue the other signals, he located the Dogs and went in for a strafing run, only to be annihilated as the Dogs all self-destructed. The *Daybreak* also managed to let off one final Coil Cannon shot, which decimated the remaining portion of the *Bison*, before it was finally destroyed for good.

### Aftermath

In total, both sides had taken significant losses. The DRF had lost most of their large ground vehicles, although they had succeeded in dealing substantial damage to the CSS equipment and base. The *Pioneer*'s atmospheric thrusters and main reactor had been damaged, and the ship could no longer take off from the planet. Captain Roberts, who had provided tactical supervision and surveillance during the battle, ordered Venom and the ground team to begin repairs at once, prioritizing the *Pioneer* over their pair of mostly-undamaged hover vehicles, which had been under construction when the battle began. The Colonists began salvaging the wreckage of the DRF vehicles to repair both the *Pioneer* and the hover tanks in preparation for a counterattack.

Meanwhile, at Watchtower Station, the other half of the CSS crew had been building an orbital bombardment platform, the CSS *Crossbow*, while the battle had been going on. Designed by Commander Craz using old Crazy North Logistics (CNL) blueprints and technology, the vessel was soon completed and used to attack the DRF Hive Base 2.0 from the lower atmosphere, although it was destroyed soon after causing heavy damage to the DRF base. Both CSS hover tanks were also lost in the attempted counterattack, leaving the CSS with virtually nothing left on the ground.

Soon, the Green Drone Armada took the opportunity to attack, sending a squad of A-Bot drones at the *Pioneer*. Although the landing ship was able to detach from the main base and jettison into space, Lyderian stayed behind to manually jettison the ship and detonate the self-destruct warheads, destroying himself along with the base and the GDA drones. The *Pioneer* was quickly found and recovered by the Colonists in space, who then began working on a fleet. The DRF also evacuated their ground base, for fear of future attacks by both the CSS and the GDA, and took off in multiple ships, leaving their ruined base behind.

## Behind The Scenes

The Battle of Pioneer Base takes place during 'Space Engineers: Colony Wars', Episode 54.