"After all, you (the staff) must have a basic story line along which you want MarsDawn to follow." and "It is incumbent upon the staff to guid the story along the planned outline and to give it an occasional nudge in the right direction" and "There have been some points where I have wondered when are they going to introduce the next major plot element?"
Sorry, but you already have the entire story in your hands: The probes are stranded on mars. Bad guys (the MN's) are coming. Unknown element and motivational factor (the aliens) is the prize for who ever survives. The MN's (and even the aliens if you mess up) will destroy the probes if given a chance. The timetable for the MN arrivials is (somewhat) known. The factory and drones have arrived and are available for your use. How you have the probes survive (or die) is up to you. We have no plan to offer - just hope (and extensions to the story if you survive!)
T-Bird