🍉 [MELN] 1UP Operator Weekly Lab Report: eXode

Greetings, eXode pilots and civilians! Welcome to the eighth weekly eXode #oneup report! This morning, just in time for the report, I made a hefty purchase from a certain someone liquidating their collection. It cost me a small fortune but it was worth it! Thank you, kind pilot!
In other news, Commander Elindos is now working on the much anticipated Colonization scene! He also just deployed a new Galactic News Network (GNN) article and video. The video is very cool and it's obvious there was a lot of passion poured into it. It feels very real; I think you'll understand when you watch it.

What's New With the Away Teams?

I have slowly been running out of claimed food and mission tickets while sending out teams to investigate Casrarene's many ores. Investigative ore missions are the best to send Material Gatherers along with (there is a penalty on how much they can gather when you send such on a flora or fauna mission). A single successful mission yielded 5 materials! Further missions came back fruitless. After the Colonization scene's Research Update, our scientists will be able to analyze the specimens we brought back! There's still lots to learn, even about the resources we've already investigated!
I don't think I will be spending any time searching for energy sources (at least not any time soon). I'm pretty sure I'm all set in terms of energy production thanks to the prefabs I loaded on my ship (namely the TR-100 generator).
Hopefully my next two missions come back with more resources. They generally take a little less than 2 Terran sols to return. With some luck, they may not run into any
angry wildlife like the Abeausa, which has been repeatedly attacking our scouting missions of late. I switched Oksana from Scout to Materials Gatherer, which she is also very good at. She is my jack-of-all-trades.

New Acquisitions!

These are the packs I obtained as of this morning. I'm proud to say I am now the owner of all 3 Alpha Contracts. That Rekatron weapons drops contract will surely come in handy and, now that I have it, I have a chance at getting that other new contract card, Fireworks! This contract is probably the most expensive of the bunch (for more information on Rekatron drops and the other alpha contracts check out this post) but the Drachian Colonel is probably the most sought after. The pack contains a single card of the same name and was part of a promotional event in the eXode discord (link below). During that time, you could have cast your vote for a promo card from either the Drachian, Nomad, Suntek, or Genetician (my favorite) faction. Unfortunately, I discovered eXode a day after this promotional event and missed my chance to get a Genetician card.
The Drachians are a militaristic people that gained their independence from the Federation in what I imagine was a short but brutal war. I think I will leave this pack unopened, at least for now. I will be opening the rest of these!

The KB-119 'Kilbot' Assassin Droid is the polar opposite of the social robot, Galvin-4. This is a literal killing machine! I was surprised to find that the pack also came with a set of Robotic Parts. He will probably need them after all the combat that will come his way. This robotic crew member is versatile, so it can be included with any faction/deck build. The "Locked Actions" means he can attack and guard and that's pretty much it. You won't be able to make him do anything else such as fix something or do a research activity. It's just not in his programming. Killer Instincts will allow him to act fast in the face of danger, which is perfect for wildlife ambushes. The **Toughness** skillgrade and bound armor will also make this robot a force to be reckoned with. Expertise in Heavy Weapons? I'd like to see how he fares with the **Galactic Peacemaker** Gatling gun!

Now let's have a looksee at the escorts I got, which are the Ion Guards and Vega Security.

Let me first say that the artwork on these cards is amazing, especially the Ionguard card with the gas giant in the background. That one has frigates and cruisers with a whopping 44 and 95 Starfleet Strength respectively. This far outmatches any of the other escorts available in booster packs! The Cruiser Task Force, for instance, only has a strength of 60. The Vega squadron's Starfleet strength is two more than the epic Sabre Regiment escort and, furthermore, comes with a swarm of 20 interceptors! Both of these cards also have synergy bonuses that work well when paired with more escorts! I never noticed how powerful these cards are. I will ignore them no longer! I think these will buy me enough time to actually be able to load some passengers (no one I pick is ever fast enough or good enough to appease and escort passengers from the station halls).
Each pack also came with an additional 4 Emergency Orders. After competing a game loop (when Colonization ends) or if you fail at Evacuation, the cards you used are put on cooldown. The emergency order removes the cooldown and lets you use the card again immediately.

Last, but certainly not least, we have a care package from my favorite corporation, TOM Settler. What's inside?

Wow! I'm getting that thrilling feeling that I remember from opening booster packs (and the first few times I opened contracts)! Once again, the artwork has me captivated, even the Soup and Cook, which gives me neon sign vibes. Did you say 200 Happy Food? It will go well with the Happy Sodas! I will surely put that card to use when I make a large Civilian colony after escaping aboard The Columbus, if I'm not detected that is.
Beauty Air has a wonderful rendition of a tetrahedral molecule. I wonder what "Gas Construction Materials" are... I'll soon find out what I can craft with gases I guess.
I'm particularly excited about the Survivor CO5. It will likely prove indispensable in the future when exploring planet Casrarene and I think its abilities will compliment those of the Eisen Suit.

Over all, this was a very exciting day in terms of acquisitions. I'm very happy with my purchase, though I did have to sell several NFTs and FTs from some other Hive games. You know what they say, sometimes you have to sell cards you like to buy cards you need. I am now one step closer to obtaining every single eXode card in existence so far. All that I'm missing are the rest of the promo cards. But let me remind you: you need not all these fancy cards to play the game. A single starter will do (though I recommend buying the triple starter pack).

What is eXode?

eXode is a real-time strategy space colonization game here on the Hive Blockchain. If you still have not purchased your starter pack, use this referral code (de7ed45) and you'll also receive 2 free Alpha Booster Packs with 5 NFT cards each along with a free Epic Alpha Character!

In the future, these lab reports will contain much more substance (and numbers!) including season objective rewards, legacy rewards (when your game...ends), and of course 🍉 [MELN] activities.
🍉 [MELN] is the alliance I co-founded, the Market Expansion Leaders Navy. Our leader, @birdbeaksd, is also the host of eXode's only weekly giveaway. Check that out for a chance to win a Syndicate Chip.
For a in-depth guide for anything and everything eXode-related, you can take a look at this post.

Other Useful Links

• PeakD: https://peakd.com/@elindos (Developer)
• Discord: https://discord.gg/EFZjmzUhd6

What is The 1UP Cartel?

The 1UP-Cartel is a mix between a gaming guild like YGG (that invests into gaming assets and creates scholarships for gamers, sharing the gaming revenue), a dividend token (similar to BRO, LBI, INDEX and UTOPIS, paying out regular dividends to token holders from part of the revenue stream) as well as one of the most extensive curation service initiative on the Hive-Engine ecosystem thus far.