CSS Pioneer

The CSS Pioneer was a planetary landing vessel constructed by the Colonist Survivors (CSS) to take a team and some supplies down to the planet P3-X2 to set up a base. It was destroyed during the Destruction of Watchtower Station by a GDA Destroyer, although the design would later be updated and used as an official Red Wood Industries (RWI) design.

NOTE: This article refers specifically to the original Pioneer seen in 'Space Engineers: Colony Wars.' The RWI Pioneer-class design will be covered in another article.

Construction and Launch
Soon after the Colonists' space station, Watchtower Station, crashed into an asteroid, Colonist leader Captain Jack Roberts and a few of his comrades, including Finn, Venom, and Castle, began constructing a landing vessel to explore P3-X2, the desert planet nearby. Starting out with a large garage, the structure of the Pioneer soon developed to include a small bridge, a medical chamber, and a room containing all the cargo containers, atmospheric thrusters, reactors, and oxygen generators. Four hydrogen tanks and down-facing thrusters were built on the four corners of the cube-shaped vessel and an M-61 Vulcan Turret was also placed on the armor of each corner. Soon, the Pioneer was ready for launch. Roberts took Finn and Castle down to the surface with enough supplies to construct a Marauder-class Rover, a Triton-class Miner, and a small outpost of which the Pioneer was the centerpiece.

The Pioneer 's base expanded to include a ramp to the garage, a building containing cryo pods and additional power methods, a landing strut for the Colonists' rocket, the CSS Arrow, and two Mk3 Battleship Cannons flanking the front ramp. Later, the rest of the Colonists traveled down with more supplies for the base. And, after rescuing Tenth Supply Convoy members Bashful and Lyderian from a mysterious enemy and also recovered their large mobile base rover, the Bison, the entire crew left the Pioneer Base to investigate a strange encounter.

Battle of Pioneer Base
A day after the crew returned to the Pioneer, Roberts and half the team returned to Watchtower Station in orbit to build another ship for their war against the Drone Reactionary Force (DRF). Commander Venom was left in charge of the ground team, which included iValz, Ler, Lyderian, and Bash. They continued to expand Pioneer Base and started building a pair of hovertanks after spotting DRF scout craft on the horizon.

Soon, the DRF attacked with multiple tanks and hovertanks, overwhelming the Pioneer 's defense emplacements and destroying the Bison. A bomb exploded inside the main building, demolishing it and blowing a hole in the starboard side of the Pioneer, taking out the power and the medical bay. Despite the heavy damage, the CSS managed to repel the DRF attack. They set about repairing the Pioneer 's engines in order to retreat.

Return to Watchtower and Destruction
After the semi-successful counterattack on the DRF Ground Base, Venom and the ground team prepared to withdraw from the planet. However, they came under attack by a squadron of Green Drone Armada (GDA) drones. Lyderian chose to remain behind, firing on the drones as he remotely jettisoned the Pioneer; the rest of the base exploded as the Pioneer took off. Soon, Roberts, Craz, and Castle flew to meet the Pioneer in the Arrow, recovering the ship and the crew and towing them back to Watchtower. Aside from a few minor repairs and upgrades, such as the addition of production facilities and more landing pads for support ships, the Pioneer remained untouched for its duration at Watchtower. It only departed the station once to help recover a derelict RWI Defender-class Frigate, the RWI Gauntlet, and carry it back to Watchtower for repairs.

Several weeks later, the GDA attacked Watchtower Station with three GDA Destroyers and multiple A-Bot drones. The Pioneer first ship to be destroyed, by an Atlas Laser fired from one of the Destroyers. Aside from a handful of support ships, the Pioneer was the only CSS vessel to be lost in the attack, but Watchtower Station was abandoned and taken over by the GDA.

Legacy
During the Green Drone War, Jack Roberts and his crew officially rejoined RWI and Roberts was promoted to Admiral. Following the war, Roberts introduced the Pioneer 's blueprints to RWI. Sometime before the Joint Expedition Task Force (JETF) was founded, the Pioneer-class Landing Ship officially became part of RWI's Navy. It very closely resembled the original Pioneer, albeit with a few minor upgrades and changes. Four such vessels were used during the JETF's mission to Chrome II, one of which was flown by Admiral Roberts, leader of the expedition, which crashed on Chrome II. The other Pioneers also either crash-landed or were abandoned after landing.

Behind-the-Scenes
Construction of the Pioneer began in 'Space Engineers: Colony Wars' Episode 40, built and designed by Captain Jack in the series. It was based off several ships from the Halo franchise, as well as the Pioneer-class from the game Star Citizen, from which the name comes.