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All is going well. I'm excited about the scavengers. Not sure whether we should disassemble the Federation wrecks or not - they're from the time of the Mars crisis, old designs from which we can't really learn anything new. We'd be scavenging them merely for the minerals, and there's not many of them. It could pointlessly aggravate the Federation though.bgreman posted:Elsewhere, Rosmakha checks in from the Zhongguo-FED 002 jump point, establishing near-real-time communications with the UN warships in FED 003 and the Federation task group in FED 004 via the stabilized FED 002-FED 003 and FED 003-FED 004 gates. Does this mean that the FED 002 side of FED002-FED003 is also stabilised? I must have missed that since my map doesn't show it. quote:From: FAUN Ignatov YES, please, we should take this offer! (when someone calculates its worth). We could really use a military tender and I don't believe researching our own jump engines is currently planned. === As for the idle Lyells, if anyone is interested what UNRL's plans are for them. They are currently waiting for the survey of K2, which is to follow after the successful operation LABYRINTH. After that we will be sending them to the Uwazi chain. Technically, there's not much to survey in K2 and a single Lyell, or two, can handle it pretty quickly, so we could already be sending one Lyell to Uwazi. But sending just one ship to systems that are not connected to real-time communications would mean that there would be noone to report any incident that happens. My plan is to send out Lyells always in team of 2+, and we simply don't have enough of them yet. Although now that I speak of it. Gnooble, what is the current time estimate on the completion of LABYRINTH? (I know I've asked about hundred times already. This is just to refresh the memory.) markus_cz fucked around with this message at 15:14 on Jan 9, 2015 |
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Jan 9, 2015 10:08
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Have we built an Ion fast transport liner by the by? I ask purely because with the long distances to Roanoke and beyond it might make sense, for pure RP reasons, to have a small ship with a very high top speed designed to transport small groups of people back and forth between task groups. Purely to facilitate the changes in command that crop up from time to time.
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Jan 9, 2015 11:29
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It's actually assumed that there are scores of such small ships, not represented in the game, doing exactly that: shuffling around individuals in lightning speeds. Bgreman refers to them as "couriers".
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Jan 9, 2015 12:02
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An extrasolar colonization gap! We MUST start a crash program to colonize as well!
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Jan 9, 2015 13:01
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markus_cz posted:It's actually assumed that there are scores of such small ships, not represented in the game, doing exactly that: shuffling around individuals in lightning speeds. Bgreman refers to them as "couriers". Thought it was one of BG's houserules that transfers and communications are abstracted as fluff (repeater beacons that don't actually exist in-game, etc) but only allowed once plausible tech has been implemented... Because Aurora does have a SM-toggled option that restricts officers to move between ships/bases/colonies the same way cargo/colonists and survey teams do, but without the load/unload times. Early on he used this option but once interplanetary ships became common he relaxed the simulation-realism micromanagement in favor of not driving everyone insane with pedantic bookkeeping. So for distant transfers, a guy can be 'assigned' to a post even if it would take him a week to get there on the not-simulated shuttle, but reassigning him five times in that period would not be permissible. I'd guess Aurora doesn't have an option for limiting information available to the player by the speed of FTL comms, because that would be a nightmare (judging by the the sound of those explosions, you lost the battle last year! Are you having fun yet!) but in-universe information requires ships jumping to relay strategic comms across (gateless?) jumps... at least until civilian telecomms could plausibly set up their own comm network(???) which would/could probably only happen after inter-system mining or colonization happens. This recollection may or not be totally disconnected from 'reality,' whatever that means and however we want to define it. e: That is not to suggest it someone shouldn't design and make ads/billboards for space Ferraris, Jupiter Moon theme parks w/zero-g touring boats, solid platinum yachts for billionaires and the like. Just that actually putting those designs in the game and letting them be built would lag the turn-processing to hell. silentsnack fucked around with this message at 14:21 on Jan 9, 2015 |
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Jan 9, 2015 13:48
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 Gnooble, just that you know, the jump tender UNS Afred Nobel is still sitting atop the Sol-K2 gate where it is no longer needed. markus_cz fucked around with this message at 16:13 on Jan 9, 2015 |
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Jan 9, 2015 15:59
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It was anticipated by UNCAO that the Federation would likely beat us to an extrasolar colony the moment that the composition of ZhongGao was obtained. the FEAN has lucked out with habitable planets, but we are about to conduct the first aggressive action to take a system from some belligerent squatters.
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Jan 10, 2015 08:02
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markus_cz posted:Gnooble, what is the current time estimate on the completion of LABYRINTH? LABYRINTH is projected to launch in mid to late July, and K2 is projected to be declared fully secure by the end of August.  To: All UNIN Warships From: BuOrd, UNIN Re: Missile Loadout BuOrd is issuing new standard loadouts for all UNIN warships. BuOrd personnel will be swapping out ordnance on all docked vessels, and units returning to Callisto should take on their new ordnance while refueling. Priority Ordnance is to be given to the task force for Operation LABYRINTH, tentatively designated as following: TG THESEUS: UNS Gibraltar, UNS Malta, UNS Fredrikshavn, UNS Jutland, UNS Mackinac, UNS Rhodes, UNS Minsk, UNS Sofia, UNS Warsaw, UNS Prague, UNS Los Angeles, UNS Vancouver, UNS Portsmouth, UNS Seville, UNS Sevastopol, UNS Boston, UNS Delphi, UNS Dodona, UNS Caloocan, UNS Taguig, UNS Quirono, UNS Benguet TG ARIADNE: UNS Panay, UNS Guam, UNS Okinawa, UNS Akrotiri, UNS Ascension, UNS Falklands, UNS Diego Garcia, UNS Rota, UNS Jinhae TG ATHENIAN: UNS Taranto, UNS Praetor, 92nd Mobile Infantry, 93rd Mobile Infantry Loadouts as follows: code:From: UNIN Re: Overhaul Nobel is recalled to Callisto for overhaul. UNEC Business While I find the trade of the military jump drive and mercassium for use of one of our linelayers perfectly acceptable, I don't think the Federation has any business telling us how to employ the drive. The MIND is a major interstellar power, and use of a jump assault ship may prove handy, which would necessitate arming a tender. I ask that UNFRAD attempt to negotiate away that provision.
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Jan 10, 2015 19:17
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Just ask for a limit on when such a promise would lapse. Say two years. We're not going to be building jump-capable warships for at least two years anyway. Give them a meaningless concession instead of outright refusing it.
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Jan 12, 2015 21:33
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bgreman posted:High Antarctica Traffic Control and Customs Station Wait, this is a thing? I thought I was being clever by sneaking in an Alien reference. 
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Jan 12, 2015 23:20
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ultrabindu posted:Wait, this is a thing? I took your cheeky reference and ran with it.
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Jan 13, 2015 00:34
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Holy crap look at all that fantastic artwork! I haven't got the thread in my bookmarks anymore since I like to read nice big chunks of updates, so I'm sorry for being a bit slow on the uptake  For what it's worth, here's an 8.1mb EPS with all the vector work I did for the thread, let me know whether or not this works out for you ultrabindu! Koesj fucked around with this message at 04:56 on Jan 13, 2015 |
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Jan 13, 2015 04:52
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Did my proposal for the Lyell class ship naming scheme get approved? All after presidents of the royal geological society: Lyell Whewell Buckland Murchison Etc etc
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Jan 15, 2015 12:43
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bgreman posted:From: FAUN Ignatov From: UNFRAD Councilor Samolety To: FAUN Ignatov Re: Re: Continued Use of UN Linelayer Mr. Ignatov, UNEC is pleased with this offer and ready to accept it, with one alteration. UNEC feels that in these uncertain times, with hostile extraterrestrial forces threatening human ships, we cannot rule out the need for an armed jump tender, and we therefore object to the 'armed warship stipulation'. We wish to remind the Federation that for the UN to send its of our most valuable ships into Federation space, undefended, is an act of extreme trust. We hope that you will return that trust, by trusting that the UN will commit to using this jump drive for the good of all humanity, and not to the detriment of the Federation, regardless of the design it is incorporated into. If the Federation will agree to the removal of the stipulation in question, the UN is prepared to extend the lease of Arthur C. Clarke immediately.
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Jan 19, 2015 23:31
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Yeah, this is wartime, with those aliens. They'll see reason, possibly straight away.
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Jan 20, 2015 10:34
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I think that a jump collier/oiler wouldn't piss off the Feds but would still contribute significantly to the war effort. Admittedly, they probably won't be buildable in the same yard like a carefully planned jump variant of a combat ship, but they can be farmed out to Corny for construction, allowing us to build n dedicated warships instead of n -1. If we really need it, we can offer them a liason slot on every combat jumpship. We'd probably get free self-destruct systems into the bargain! mods ass fucked around with this message at 17:22 on Jan 20, 2015 |
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Jan 20, 2015 17:17
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They need our linelayers more than we need military jump tender. Just something to keep in mind during the negotiations.
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Jan 20, 2015 17:41
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I feel that, as PR officer of the first fleey, I should be doing someething about the releases on aliens and stuff, but I won't be around much for the next six weeks or so. Sorry people.
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Jan 21, 2015 19:07
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markus_cz posted:They need our linelayers more than we need military jump tender. Just something to keep in mind during the negotiations. I just wanted to pop up and say that this is very, very, true. Part of me thinks we're missing an opportunity to get a lot more out of the Fed than they've offered thus far, after all that was their very first serious offer for the Linelayer. A linelayer we know they need in order to allow them to reach potential TN resources now that their main colonisation target has been identified as largely barren. At the very least we should be haggling with them to get the amount and variety of minerals up, and possibly even aiming for additional techs. Hell if it's that important to them we might even be able to ignore the resources and even the tech and flat out ask for a transfer of industry or even a few Labs. (Though Labs would, I imagine require us to get very, very, lucky.)
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Jan 21, 2015 19:43
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BwenGun posted:I just wanted to pop up and say that this is very, very, true. Part of me thinks we're missing an opportunity to get a lot more out of the Fed than they've offered thus far, after all that was their very first serious offer for the Linelayer. A linelayer we know they need in order to allow them to reach potential TN resources now that their main colonisation target has been identified as largely barren. Getting a little more maybe, but they still have Titan and Mars, they aren't hand over industry desperate by any means.
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Jan 21, 2015 22:18
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Gnooble posted:Getting a little more maybe, but they still have Titan and Mars, they aren't hand over industry desperate by any means. Resource wise in the short term, I agree, but I felt that the intercepted communiqué with regards to Zhong. and its resources had a tone that could be interpreted as indicating potentially serious longterm resource shortfalls when their projected expansion plans are taken into account. If that's the case then they may well be willing to pay an awful lot more than they're currently letting on in order to ease that future bottleneck by opening up other systems for exploitation as swiftly as possible. Also worth remembering that presumably they don't know that we know that Zhong. is effectively useless for resources, so their initial offer to us regarding the linelayer is, by default, a lowball as they will be unwilling to offer too much in order to 100% secure the linelayer as doing so might be seen by us as indicative of a pressing need on their part. As to whether they might be hand over industry desperate... probably not as you say. But you never know what you can get for something unless you engage in a bit of vigorous haggling.
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Jan 21, 2015 22:30
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Or we could wait and let the situation get a little more dire for the FEAN before revisiting the offer. But not so long as to have them develop their own Linelayer.
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Jan 22, 2015 00:11
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I left it for a week before replying to give people time to comment on the offer from the Federation, and all I got was "YES!" from markus in-thread, and "Looks good" from Gnooble and Saros in IRC. Now, after I send the response, people start telling me we should ask for more. Yes, the Feds want a linelayer, but I don't think they're going to bend over backward to get ours. If we push too hard, I have little doubt that they will just develop their own and we will miss out on a chance for free poo poo while ACC sits in dock for 2 years before we can use it again. Now, maybe it would be worth making Fed spend the time and resources to develop their own linelayer, that's another debate. But if we want this deal to work, we need to not go for maximum greed, the Federation is too proud to let us milk them. I think that declining their "no guns" stipulation was playing an appropriate amount of hard-ball, considering the circumstances.
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Jan 22, 2015 02:44
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Samolety is right. Frankly, I think that cooperation with the Feds is almost as important as what compensation we get out of it. Any chance that we have to build a better relationship with them lessens the chance of humanity dying in a TNE-fueled apocalypse.
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Jan 22, 2015 02:51
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Samolety posted:I left it for a week before replying to give people time to comment on the offer from the Federation, and all I got was "YES!" from markus in-thread, and "Looks good" from Gnooble and Saros in IRC. Now, after I send the response, people start telling me we should ask for more. In my defence I didn't have much time last week to really engage with the thread. Also they almost certainly are developing their own one as we speak, the thing is if it takes them another year to have their first linelayer come out of the shipyards that potentially means two years (or more) before it is able to open up another gate. That's where the advantage comes for us. However you are the head of UNFRAD, and I did leave my suggestion/objection late so no worries.
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Jan 22, 2015 09:26
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I am away for two weeks with uncertain internet access. Returning on the 9th Feb. if needed Nothingtoseehere is in charge of UNCAO.
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Jan 24, 2015 01:59
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Muhahahahaha, I have UNLIMITED POWER! (To shuffle administrators around colonies)
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Jan 24, 2015 20:21
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silentsnack posted:Thought it was one of BG's houserules that transfers and communications are abstracted as fluff (repeater beacons that don't actually exist in-game, etc) but only allowed once plausible tech has been implemented... Because Aurora does have a SM-toggled option that restricts officers to move between ships/bases/colonies the same way cargo/colonists and survey teams do, but without the load/unload times. Early on he used this option but once interplanetary ships became common he relaxed the simulation-realism micromanagement in favor of not driving everyone insane with pedantic bookkeeping. So for distant transfers, a guy can be 'assigned' to a post even if it would take him a week to get there on the not-simulated shuttle, but reassigning him five times in that period would not be permissible. This is all correct. The UN's courier service currently stretches out to Roanoke. The ships in FED 004 could not have their officers replaced by anything less than a full tour of duty rotation at this point, since they're beyond the reach of the courier service. Teams must still be manually transferred, but within Sol this will soon stop being a requirement. If there are independent asteroid colonies and the means to keep them supplied, teams can certainly find civil transport to their destinations, unless that destination is in controlled space. silentsnack posted:I'd guess Aurora doesn't have an option for limiting information available to the player by the speed of FTL comms, because that would be a nightmare (judging by the the sound of those explosions, you lost the battle last year! Are you having fun yet!) but in-universe information requires ships jumping to relay strategic comms across (gateless?) jumps... at least until civilian telecomms could plausibly set up their own comm network(???) which would/could probably only happen after inter-system mining or colonization happens. Basically, the UN performed enough faux-research to enable "real-time" communications at all jump points that are either gated on both sides, or have a jump tender on station. After a few more years, or a few more paths down certain tech lines, I will consider the requirement lifted entirely, with attendant fluff at that time. silentsnack posted:e: That is not to suggest it someone shouldn't design and make ads/billboards for space Ferraris, Jupiter Moon theme parks w/zero-g touring boats, solid platinum yachts for billionaires and the like. Just that actually putting those designs in the game and letting them be built would lag the turn-processing to hell. I encourage these as well. I think the civilian side of the LP is pretty under-represented, both in the narrative and in the artwork (except for the shipping lines). markus_cz posted:Does this mean that the FED 002 side of FED002-FED003 is also stabilised? I must have missed that since my map doesn't show it. On October 10th 2036, around the time of the Goa Conference, the Federation informed you that the FED002 side of that jump point was already gated when they discovered it. When their jump tender transited to explore the system beyond, it discovered To Reveal the Hidden Path, Expeditiously performing linelaying activities on that side. Source. Earth: Low Earth Orbit, 23rd April 2037  The Delphi-class ships Parnassus and Bassae finish their refit to the Delphi II-L specification, and will now depart, along with a pair of Samar IIb-class destroyer escorts, for Roanoke. The task group, designated BLACKGUARD, will reach the jump point just over three weeks. Meanwhile, the Delphis Dodona and Delphi enter the BC Void Shipbuilding yard to begin their own refits to Delphi II-Ls, to complete in mid-July. Mars: Pavonis Mons, 29th April 2037 The Federation holds a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the beginning of construction of a major spaceport complex in the caldera of Pavonis Mons. Transport links will radiate from the caldera, and some hope that it will eventually become the ground-side terminus of a future space elevator. The Federation indicates that it is already in talks with the ICCS to purchase a license for a suitable asteroid for an elevator terminus. Western commentators caution that the technology required to effect a major relocation of an asteroid still doesn't exist, and that a Martian space elevator is still likely at least a decade away. The Lunar Nation of Tranquility has for months been quietly soliciting proposals for its own space elevator as part of a proposed expansion of the Aldrin Memorial Spaceport. Samolety posted:From: UNFRAD Councilor Samolety From: FAUN Ignatov To: UNFRAD Councilor Samolety Re: Re: Continued Use of UN Linelayer After heated discussions with Central Fleet representatives, I was able to secure their lifting of the arming restriction. The Federation expects that the UN will keep to its word in this matter, and to ensure so, proposes the following formalized agreement. Proposal: Treaty 2037-I posted:The Federation of European and Asian Nations (Federatoin) sets out to enter into a trade agreement with the United Nations (UN) under the following provisions: Callisto: 1st Fleet HQ, 1st May 2037  A new UNIN flag officer is promoted from the junior officer corps. CMDR HisMajestyBOB is immediately assigned to the now-traditional Dragon's Teeth first command. Callisto: Valhalla Basin, 2nd May 2037  The UNIN Auxiliary Service's Aberdeen-class freighter squadron completes delivery of a set of pre-fabricated PDC components for a Masada planetary defense installation to Callisto. Work on expanding UNIN's orbital void ship maintenance facility is temporarily halted while construction efforts are redirected toward the assembly of the Masada in the center of the Valhalla basin. A third and final Masada is being pre-fabricated on Earth and will be ready for shipment in late August. Earth: Camp Jura, Switzerland, 3rd May 2037  Another mobile infantry battalion, the 98th, is activated at Camp Jura. Training has already begun on the 102nd Mobile Infantry Battalion, which is currently the last MIB included in UNGF's current infantry training program. Based on a core cadre of veterans from the deactivated 30th Infantry Division, the 102nd is planned to be activated in mid-December. Mars: Hellas Military District, 4th May 2037 From: FEDCENTCOM To: UNIN 1st Fleet Re: Operation BLOODHOUND Marathi has completed survey of the #5 survey location in FED 004, with no jump point found. She is moving on to the next location in the inner ring. The next update should be within 18 days. We feel that if the exit jump point cannot be found within the inner ring, our odds of discovering To Reveal the Hidden Path, Expeditiously's whereabouts will be significantly reduced. We are nearing the edge of our operational support limit and several of our ships participating in the communications jump relay are in need of service. To this end, we are considering ending BLOODHOUND if we cannot locate the ship before the end of 2037. However, if you would be willing to commit a dedicated long-range gravitational survey vessel to the effort, our logistics chain might be less strained by the effort. Callisto: 1st Fleet HQ, Ragnarok, 8th May 2037  Admiral Floyd Bareilles's UAI flashes a subtle notification into his peripheral. It's a chirp from his secretary. Dr. Nuvainen is here to see him. Barielles acknowledges and dismisses the notification, telling the secretary to let BuMed doctor in. A moment later, the door to his office opens, and Sami Nuvainen lopes in, moving easily in Callisto's reduced gravity. "Hello, Commander," rumbles Barielles, gesturing to a chair in front of his desk. "Please, have a seat." Nuvainen nods his head and moves toward the seat. "Thank you, Admiral. I have a preliminary--extremely preliminary, you understand, we're really only at the very beginning--" Bareilles cuts him off with a gesture. "I understand that the situation is still unclear. Tell me what you've got." The doctor lowers himself into the chair. "Understood, sir. If you'll allow my UAI access to your visual field?" he prompts. "Granted," agrees Bareilles, subvocalizing the command to his own agent. A set of waveforms jumps into his field of view, momentarily disorienting him until he places the imagery against a blank wall of the office. "What am I looking at?" "The waveform on top is Commodore Musgrove's current brain activity." He highlights the first waveform in the display. "The commodore's status remains unchanged: he is profoundly unresponsive, despite showing every sign of being conscious." Nuvainen moves the highlight, and explains, "The second waveform is archive data from his last UNIN physical. You can see how it accounts for some components of the first waveform." "...and the other waveforms are the remaining components," says Bareilles, instructing his agent to perform the comparison. "What are they?" Nuvainen's gaze is unfocused as he too stares at a data projection surface. "They're different emissions from Peaceful Concepts of Communion. This one" --a highlight-- "is a strong component of her infrared waste heat emissions, separated from her engine signature. The next one is a signal isolate from her radio emissions toward us. It's basically background to the actual signal content." Bareilles tilts his head. "You're saying his brain is radiating like a Mind vessel?" Nuvainen smiles, relieved he doesn't need to provide a deep explanation. "Yes, sir." "What does it mean?" The doctor's smile vanishes. "As I said earlier, sir, we're not sure. One of the prevailing theories about the Mind is that it's a distributed biological computer hosting an intelligence--the Mind--as 'software.' This is consistent with descriptions it has given of itself." Barielles waves his hand. "Yes, I've heard that one. How is that relevant?" "Well, sir, some of the neuro experts believe that Peaceful Concepts of Communion attempted to rewire the commodore to become a node in its network. An attempt was made to 'reformat' his brain to accept a local copy of the Mind's runtime. For all we know, it was successful, but given that there's still a lot of normal human processing going on, we think the transfer or format was incomplete. I should add that many of the other crew impacted by the effect show similar symptoms, though to a much lower extent." Nuvainen offers a half-smile. "Fortunately, it appears to fade with time for them." "That's a lot to take without more evidence, Commander. Is there anything we can do to reverse the effect for Musgrove?" Shaking his head, Nuvainen says, "We don't even really understand how they did it, Admiral. Or if we're even on the right track here. There's so much we don't know. It doesn't appear to be fading like it did with the other crew. And . . . " The doctor trails off, looking uncomfortable. "What is it, Commander?" asks Bareilles. "One of the JuPheRT officers, the one who's worked the most with the patients up here, is showing symptoms of some kind of neurological disorder. We're not quite sure what, and there's no sign that it's related, but he's pretty sick. Colonel Werewhale, UNGF. It's not helping morale." Bareilles sighs. "Understood, Commander. But we've got to keep working. Get back to the medical center, and keep me up to date." "Aye, sir." Nuvainen rises, salutes, and leaves the room, leaving Bareilles alone. He reflects for several moments, then instructs his agent to schedule a visitation with Colonel Werewhale. Callisto: Mimir City Industrial Complex, 9th May 2037  The UNIN Auxiliary Service's Cork-class freighter squadron completes delivery of the last of twenty factory complexes to Callisto. This gives Callisto an industrial output about 40% that of Tranquility, though only about one one-hundredth of the UN's Earth-based industry. Earth: UNSA Facility Munich  While Dr. Neophyte is preparing small slabs of duranium-neutronium composite according to a new formula proposed by project leader Dr. MagicBoots, the crucible carrying the semi-molten composite suffers a failure. Neophyte is doused in toxic materials at temperatures of over 4000 K. He dies instantly. UNSA sends a team of investigators to examine working conditions at the UNSA Advanced Trans-Newtonian Materials Institution in southeastern Germany. Callisto: UNIN 1st Fleet HQ, Ragnarok, 11th May 2037, 0:48 UNT  An urgent dispatch comes in, forwarded along the UN's jump tender chain all the way from Hakahaka. FROM: UNS BOHOL (CMDR yinette), HAKAHAKA TO: 1ST FLEET HOSTILE TRANSIT, GIZA CLASS DETECTED 00:47:36 SHIP TIME. MATCHES PCOC SIGNATURE. OBSERVED FOR 30 SECONDS. CONTACT MAKING FOR HAK-YOS JP. JOVE DEACTIVATED. LOST CONTACT. WE DO NOT BELIEVE WE ARE DETECTED. REQUESTING PERMISSION TO BLIP JOVE AND CONFIRM CONTACT COURSE. Commander Attribute Increases
Civilian Construction
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Jan 25, 2015 14:03
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So apparently I have placed Bohol incorrectly on my maps and it's sitting atop the Thebes JP. But back to the topic... The Mind is back, and the storyline continues! It seems the Peaceful Concepts of Communion will try to stabilize the Yosei gate next. Can we kill it now please? It will look like we're defending Yosei. (EDIT: Wait, our vessels in Hakahaka aren't equipped with shields yet :/) Also, have we tried putting Musgrove under an activated shield and see what it does? Probably nothing but it's worth the try. markus_cz fucked around with this message at 15:35 on Jan 25, 2015 |
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Jan 25, 2015 14:45
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Welp, things just got serious again.
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Jan 25, 2015 14:52
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Boy I sure am grateful for being stationed on good ol' comfy Terra instead of being out there risking getting my mind fried.
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Jan 25, 2015 14:59
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Unless that thing has RAW BEEF spraypainted on the outside in big, bold letters, you should ping it then blast it. The Mind has to know that we aren't playing anymore.
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Jan 25, 2015 16:01
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From: Administrator Arujei, Saints Rest Civil Administrator's Office To: UNCAO Councilor Kommando, I still can't say I'm entirely happy with the whole exile to Cornucopia thing you all cooked up for me, but I will say that it's a hell of a lot more interesting than overlooking the roughly 15 people we had on Mars when you swapped me out. The munitions factories that we got in the enclave are particularly interesting - a lot of the big dogs are American guys that are either holding an RoC passport for whatever shady reason or Brazilian folks that sort of have to have dual citizenship somehow since the RoC provides so many jobs in South and Central America. Anyway, as the missile factories are getting spun up, we all had some high level meetings to make sure we were communicating right, and things went a lot better than I expected. They came prepared with a few requests to help them do their jobs better, and while some of 'em were just objectionable (yeah, sure, we're gonna allow 50 hour work weeks again after almost 200 years. Try again), others made a lot of sense, like allowing them to write off employee care initiatives like catered meals as payroll expenses instead of simple business expenses. Saves them a lot on lunar taxes, it seems. I know, because we just got that done around here and they're already putting the saved money from their first quarterly return to improving the production lines of the factories. It's been a big win-win, and I'm hoping the UN won't have a problem with stuff like this when my job's eventually done here. ((Arujei's factory production bonus went from 0% -> 10% under my employ during the last update.))
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Jan 25, 2015 18:22
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x://Neophyte/email/drafts/unsent Re: lunch tomorrow Hey, can we try a different doner place? Last time mine was pretty burnt. - N (E)dit (S)end (D)elete
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Jan 25, 2015 20:00
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Given the circumstances, I think we need to summarize what we know about the Osaka Effect so far and the the Mind's response to our actions. For the record, these summaries will be based on knowledge we have now, and I expect to be proven wrong about these things sometime in the future. The Osaka Effect: Based on recent studies, it would appear that the Osaka Event is the result of the Mind attempting to "download" itself into a target. Judging by the reactions the Osaka's crew had to it, the process is extremely painful due to the sheer amount of information being uploaded to the brain. Furthermore, it is not a perfect process, as it requires time and a constant connection to the target to ensure that a complete copy of the Mind is transferred into the target. Once the effect is fully completed, the target not only becomes a container for the Mind, but also potentially becomes a low-level transmitter for the signal, capable of spreading it like a virus. I don't know why Musgrove's condition is not changing and the rest of the crew's are-it could be anything from a minimum amount of data needed to be transferred for the effect to be permanent, or perhaps it is a result of the mental strain from resisting the effect. At any rate, I would strongly recommend that the Osaka crew be placed in a facility protected by a shield until we know more. The Mind's Response: According to the Shard, the Mind is capable of sending a fleet in to deal with races like ours who were resisting their advances. Said fleet would have been able to arrive in a matter of weeks, and yet it has been about half a year since we have seen any activity from them. Not only that, but they are only sending in their linelayers to continue what they had been doing before we sent in Raw_Beef to try and take out the PCoC. Given that we have only now seen these ships again, it throws into question whether their fleets are as capable of rapid deployment as we were led to believe (or if they even exist, for that matter). However, I would still urge at least a slight bit of caution, as it is entirely possible that said fleet is waiting in Thebes. I would suggest waiting until the linelayer has entered Yosei before we consider any hostile actions, as it could let us see if there are in fact other ships following it. If there are some details I missed or there are alternate theories as to these two points, I'd be happy to hear more about them.
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Jan 25, 2015 20:47
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Before attacking PCOC, it would be useful to think about: 1. Avoiding the Osaka Effect. Based on this new information, it would appear the Mind was trying to "brainwash" the Osaka into joining them. If we send unshielded ships against the Mind's vessel, we risk not only losing the ships, but having them and their crews assimilated and turned against us. 2. We should evaluate what potential armament the PCOC might carry. In particular, are there any weapons it could have that disable or penetrate shields? If so, that could put the ships and crews at risk of #1.
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Jan 25, 2015 21:07
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We cannot destroy it in Yosei because once we would jump our ships in, we couldn't get them back - there's no gate on the inside. In other words, we can only project force in Hakahaka (and Thebes). Aside of that, your summary looks fine. One question still remains - what has happened to Raw Beef? Has he been taken by the PCOC somewhere? If yes, we could take a look at how much time it took for PCOC to make the roundabout trip to their presumed base and back to Hakahaka, and based on its speed calculate approximately how far the base is. It's a long shot tough.
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Jan 25, 2015 21:07
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Yeah, put Musgrove and Werewhale behind shielding, heavy concrete walls and aluminium foil. Anything to make sure they're not receiving, or transmitting any data to the Mind. And I think that the first time we encountered one of the Mind's linelayers, the point was that their engines were too big or something compared to the ship size. For a race that has all the time in the universe, it makes sense they would keep their non-military ships on old engines, and give their death squads the fastest ones. Maybe that's why they have took that long to reappear: the armed vessels had to slow down to the linelayer's speed. Could be that they're baiting us to find our ships, full of individual minds with data about our world.
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Jan 25, 2015 21:26
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I have been away at sea on a ship (for real) for most of the last two months and unfortunately I dont have anything i'm able to contribute to the thread at this time, other than this: Make the best preparations for defense of our species that you can, but prepare your souls for oblivion.
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Jan 25, 2015 21:55
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The Shard was a lying sack of poo poo who was just out to brainrape our people. We will meet any alien incursion with brutal and unrestrained force!
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Jan 26, 2015 00:24
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