
We know that the wristbracer is some sort of COG tech, what if the first drillship was a heavily damaged tier 3 research drillship (this could fit in with the broken tubes), with the bracer on the workbench. It has a flashlight, nothing else. Upgrades can be found around the map. Tier one is the camera. Tier 2 is remote burrowing, radio and the drone controller (upgraded to deploy blueprints, could fit in with drone schematics.) Tier 3 is to call your drillship to you, and the rest.

maybe