Summary
The Relay Station is a Dark Fog structure built and deployed by the Space Hive. When deployed, the Relay Station arrives at a planet in the Hive's system and constructs a Core Driller, after which it constructs a Planetary Base. The Relay Station sends matter from the Planetary Base to the Hive, and in turn it receives energy from the Hive to supply the Planetary Base. Since they are the foundation of the Dark Fog's growth, attacking planetside Relay Stations is essentially a declaration of war on the system's Hives, rapidly increasing their threat level.
Mechanics
Relay Stations hovering above a planet are considered Upper Air targets. By default, any turrets that can attack Upper Air targets have this setting disabled, so that it is a conscious and active choice to attack Relays.
The Space Hive requires 10800 matter to construct a Relay. It takes 10 minutes to construct a Relay and an additional 5 minutes to charge it with energy. Once a Relay is constructed and charged, it will attempt to occupy a planet in the system, preferring to land on a planet with a lower player presence. An active Planetary Shield will repel any Relay Station that attempts to land on a shielded area, and the Relay will return to the Hive.
Once a stationed Relay has accumulated at least 10900 matter, it sends a vessel with 6000 matter to the Hive.
After the Relay's Planetary Base is destroyed, the Core Driller can be filled with Foundation and Soil Piles, or a Geothermal Power Plant. In either case, the Relay will leave and return to the Hive.
It is possible to attack and destroy a Relay Station as it leaves the planet or before it lands on a planet. This does not cause the Hive's threat level to increase.
The symbiotic relationship between Relays and Hives extends to their destruction as well. If the Hive is destroyed, its active Relays in the system will send back matter to quickly reconstruct its core (any Relays that were not already deployed will also attempt to settle on planets). If any Relays are destroyed, the Hive will construct new ones to deploy. To truly wipe out the Dark Fog in a system, it is necessary to destroy both the Hive and all of its Relays (although destroying the associated Planetary Bases is not required).
