Clusters of mountain ranges are just those tall thick jagged points that reach into the clouds. Their size and density spanned into the zeros by many times. Synthesis had morphed his plans to fit these in.
More so they were the center of it all, recall that superfortress he mentioned? The one he was supposedly building? Well, he had halted that.
After mulling over his plans and the creation of blueprints he had decided to use the space for convenience. However he realized unknowingly he was trading defense and integrity for more space and convenience. To which he has stopped and given it a good look over.
Synthesis realized his mistake and quickly changed his mindset, he will not allow such a thought process to occur again. His new plans were merely a change of location. Which is the mountains. They will serve as a shield, an integrity to his systems and in later plans, the forefront to greater things to come. It's supposed his original thought stemmed from the location of the reactor and clear cover a centuries-old vessel could give. That's flawed thinking.
It would have worked, but not in the long run. His superfortress would be a literal towering target blaring signs of an HQ. The enemy could easily blast his superfortress to kingdom come. Wipe it out where it stands by nuking it from orbit without facing the brute of its might. By extension he would be a failure to the machine race, an idiot. In turn a forever humiliating stain.
Although they do not care for such images, they do care for IQ. Especially if that machine is leading them! Maybe he was being too harsh on himself. But he felt it was necessary.
That said, he had a quarter of the construction machines pull resources over here and lay down the foundations deep in the cluster of mountain ranges. It would take someone coming down and staring closely within the mountains to realize the HQ was right in front of them. That's how much cover it gave him.
You see the mountains had these nitrogen clouds that always hung near the mountains. Although it could be left up to the exact climate, it was still a marvelous cover. Like fogged mountains.
Compared to most of the planet being sandy dunes with some areas having deep ravines and canyons other areas just rocky outcrops. While this was the only part of the planet containing so many mountains. There were others around the planet, but only in groups of two to seven and/or by themselves.
Synthesis had some miner drones excavate a small area for him to personally work, he had used a temporary power of solar panels to change the large lithium batteries that were built here. Even machines cared for personal space, not in the same sense as organics, but nearly the same terms.
He really should have done this first, scout and place the superfortress, I mean. He had took many areas into consideration, but only now did he really start to care for the biome or terrain on this desert planet. At least now he had marked down the terrain. You see, the reason he should have done this sooner is…
Terrain in certain circumstances is very important both in a military aspect and in resource extraction. Like mountains could hold higher quality materials than the dunes do they could be exposed or closer to the surface or there could be more of it even if he dig deep. The canyons could hold bare rarer materials as they are closer to magma.
Synthesis didn't just change the superfortress location, he changed his system as well. With the entire cluster of mountain ranges serving as his base of operations. He had also edited his system. With the super fortress in the middle he had eight main hubs situated closest to the fortress. Each would contain a ridiculous amount of storage, a small factory, charging stations, security and large array towers. By themselves they are literal forward operating bases, both self-sufficient and heavily armed.
Each one controls a dozen refineries. With a few outposts within sight of each refinery for security. Each refinery handled large mining hubs, each controlling hundreds of mining sites. Respectively the sheer number of machines has used up two quarters of the large wreckage and of Resources on board.
Not including resources collected from mining. He has yet to bite into his savings. And yet this was all for the superfortress foundations alone. The foundation would extend underground and above ground. It will not be one level but a multitude of many levels, sub-levels and so forth. This is the foundation, the core of this great fortress.
It had taken quite a while to sort out the math for this construction. He could put organisms to shame.
Synthesis had decided that space is now in reach. Before it still had been in reach, but reasonably with all measures counted. It was now in reach for sure, he mostly thought of this planet's protection and using a net of space probes as an early warning system to a possible reaction or action of any group he considered an enemy, which happened to be everything. He wasn't aware if any machines were still out there.
Granted after extracting "Tin Can's" data he did find a few points of interest, but he was in no rush to personally investigate these. He only noted them, can't just rush out and discover if any machines still exist; the three races don't need to know of his existence. When that time comes, only then will he dare announce his return and the Rise Of The Prism Collective!