| Cargo Truck |
| Cargo Truck
|
| Common Metals Cost | high | Rare Metals Cost | none |
| Build Time | long | Track Type | wheeled |
| Hit Points | high | Speed | medium |
| Armor | light |
| Commands (not always available): Move, Stop, Set Route, Salvage, Dump Cargo, Transfer, Self-Destruct. |
The scenery may be different, even the planet, but some things never change. The people need goods, and when people need, the trucks will roll. Of course, these trucks are designed to run in a thin nitrogen atmosphere, and carry heavy loads of exotic cargo in a place with not a single kilometer of paved road.
Oversized tires, high ground clearance, and a smart suspension system allow the Cargo Truck to operate over a variety of terrain. Powered by R-2000 series or larger cool-fusion plants, volt-sinks for demand-release energy storage, and Buffalo 600 and larger motors, Cargo Trucks are designed for high torque and long range. Whether its food, ore, refined metals, or starship parts, Cargo Trucks stand ready to serve.
Operational Notes: The Cargo Truck can carry various cargoes around your colony, docking at various structures to load or unload a cargo. The structures at which the Cargo Truck can dock are determined by its current cargo, according to the list below.
| If the Cargo Truck is carrying: | It may dock at: |
| Food | Agridome |
| Common Ore | Common Ore Smelter |
| Common Metals | Common Ore Smelter Common Metals Storage Tanks |
| Common Rubble | GORF |
| Rare Ore | Rare Ore Smelter |
| Rare Metals | Rare Ore Smelter Rare Metals Storage Tanks |
| Rare Rubble | GORF |
| Starship Components | Spaceport |
| Satellites | Spaceport |
| Wreckage | Spaceport |
| nothing | Agridome, Common Ore Mine, Common Ore Smelter, Common Metals Storage Tanks, Rare Ore Mine, Rare Ore Smelter, Rare Metals Storage Tanks, Magma Well, Spaceport |
Tales from New Terra
Tolo huddled in the truck's tiny emergency passenger cabin, squirmed uncomfortably in his pressure suit, and watched the displays on the service console. He shouldn't be here, he knew. The trucks were automated, he was a mechanic, not a driver, and the runs didn't get any more dangerous than this one.
He'd catch hell from the shop foreman, if he lived that long, if any of them did. Never mind. If this cargo of parts for their orbit shuttle didn't make it through, they were all just biding their time waiting for the Reaper anyway
"Enemy units at bearing 320," the truck's computer reported. "Taking evasive action." There was a change in the drone of the motors as they turned.
Then, a crack like lightning, a smell of ozone and burning plastic, and the hiss of escaping air. Tolo slammed down the faceplate on his helmet. The truck’s voice came through his speakers: "Damage to main energy transfer systems. Losing power at critical rate."
He cursed and triggered both the airlock doors at once. There was so little pressure left that there was only a quiet "whoosh" as they did so. He grabbed his tool box and climbed out onto the fender skirt. In the distance he could see several enemy combat vehicles rolling along a low rise, their turrets flashing as they fired at unseen targets. He ignored them.
This is why he had come. "Hang in there, baby," he whispered as he swung open the volt-sink cover. "Hang in there."