|
Images are all sorted and uploaded, and I am ready to begin writing when I am not feeling so oddly sleepy. I might try to push out something short and supplemental today, I might have enough focus for that.
|
#
?
Oct 9, 2020 00:54
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 25, 2024 04:03 |
|
|
Anonymous posting on message board within United Republic space posted:For all that the Gnolams claim to be friends to Humanity, the fact that they won't approve Human colony missions to claim some of the unsettled worlds in territory they control is telling. We've begun running very low on avenues for expansion, while the League has a vast reserve of worlds that can keep on being opened up by their colonisation consortia. I think that the League only really cares about what its own citizens say, and its own citizens don't want to make any sacrifices of the wealth they've come to enjoy. The Republic can just stay bottled up for all the Gnolams care, and the only thing they need from us is the money we spend on Nutris snacks or Rainbow computers. If it ever comes down to it, we'll see just how much Gnolam 'friendship' is worth, and I don't expect we'll like the answer.
|
|
#
?
Oct 11, 2020 05:46
|
|
|
conversation overhead during lunch at Gnolamancer's Gdiscounted Gnudles posted:Why would humans want to break out of a perfectly safe protective shell to get their noggins knocked in by literally anyone else they meet? They'll find a way to get into a shooting war, then creditors and war fleets will careen all over our shipping lanes. We need to keep the galactic hub off-limits to keep the mindless expansionist violence out rimward. Xlorp fucked around with this message at 03:17 on Oct 13, 2020 |
|
#
?
Oct 12, 2020 23:03
|
|
|
A Galactic Market     In 2255, Gnolam exploration through Meklar space finally led to direct contact with the Great Empire of Bulra. Although the Gnolams had long been aware of the Bulrathi through their contact with the Meklars, the discovery of Bulrathi territory allowed for the exchange of embassies between the Great Empire of Bulra and the Universal Mercantile League. Although there was distinct interest in opening commercial relations with the Great Empire of Bulra, the Assembly judged that attempting to engage in commerce with both sides of the war between the Great Empire and the General Oversight Combine was doomed to lead to diplomatic breakdowns with both powers, and the Assembly formally placed a shipping embargo on the Great Empire in order to maintain the existing relationship with the GOC, which was a far larger and wealthier interstellar power, compared to the steadily-collapsing authoritarian autocracy of the Great Empire.   Improvements in faster-than-light communications had steadily allowed for expansion of Gnolam commercial operations, which by the mid 2250s could coordinate operations across the whole of the League and beyond with near-current information. Corporate branches which had been nearly autonomous in operations were once again tightly integrated into their parent corporation, while the promise of extensive operations beyond the bounds of the Universal Mercantile League was at last a realistic possibility. Interstellar commerce continued to strengthen. Although the outlying worlds of the League saw little change in their conditions at first, the heavily-developed core worlds of the League saw a new surge of prosperity as they were steadily welded into a single interdependent economy, and one that increasingly was growing beyond Gnolam space to draw upon Human, Meklar, Sakkra, and Klackon resources.      The Navy identified a mixed-race pirate haven on the surface of a small garden world in the Scutulums system a single jump from Sena in 2258, dispatching a counterpiracy frigate to address the threat and engaging and defeating the pirate ships operating from that haven late in the same year. The counterpiracy vessel began a program of assaulting pirate surface positions with its bomb load, only finally hunting down the last pirate bunkers in 2261. With the elimination of this pirate threat, trade routes to Degon and to Klackon space were once again secure, and commerce to the Driftward Quadrant showed a recovery.   While these counterpiracy operations were ongoing, a long-standing Nutris research program finally bore fruit in 2259. Previous developments sealed-habitat agriculture had long since helped supplement Gnolam food production, using closed habitats to grow crops largely independent of outside conditions. The Nutris proof of concept proved that sealed-habitat agriculture could be scaled much farther up than ever imagined. By taking advantage of the cheap energy permitted by widespread adoption of industrial fusion in Gnolam space, steady light could be provided for farm complexes sited in subterranean complexes, scaled up to essentially arbitrary size. With complete control of the subterranean growing environments, technicians and agriculturalists could steadily put out crops year-round, although the establishment of these sealed underground habitats was a complicated and expensive process which demanded an extensive technical support base. Implemented on a wide enough basis, however, this advance promised to mark a new milestone in the continuing process of ensuring a plentiful and affordable supply of food for the Gnolam population.   Early in 2260, a Bulrathi frigate mobilised to attack the Gnolam scouting mission that was no moving through Bulrathi systems- Bulrathi border defenses having been destroyed by General Oversight Combine fleets. The Gnolam scout attempted to take evasive action while returning fire, and it proved that the missile defense KKVs on the scout were sufficient to hold off the bulk of Bulrathi fire, while Gnolam counterfire succeded in destroying the attacking Imperial ship. The Great Empire's government chose not to make a diplomatic issue of the incident, preferring rather to avoid dwelling on the embarrassment to their political and military establishment this failure represented.        It was only a year later, in 2261, that Gnolam explorers pushing through Human space into the Driftward Quadrant made contact with the Alkari of the Star Empire of Altair. These proud avianoids, united under a single throne and under a religion that worshipped the ancient Orions who had visited their homeworld of Alkar as divine, were proud, solemn, and dedicated to their vision of defense of the Right. They shared the Driftward Quadrant in uneasy peace with the Klackon, and welcomed Gnolam contact reasonably warmly- although there was still a certain undercurrent of disdain for Gnolam 'decadence' amongst the Alkari leadership. Initial negotiations were productive, with embassies exchanged between the Star Empire and the UML and with permission negotiated for commercial traffic to pass over Alkari borders. Undercapitalised Alkari corporations proved unequal to the task of ramping up shipping and production operations to service new commerce between the Star Empire and the League, eventually leading to several League-based corporations, including Bortis Shipping and Logistics, Axelsson Interstellar Trading, and Blue Horizon Shipping to take it upon themselves to absorb the entire cost of long-distance shipping through the United Republic or Klackon space to the Star Empire, letting Alkari firms focus their efforts exclusively on internal shipping. Still, even despite these added expenses, the revenues and products provided by trade with the Alkari was more than worth it. Frustrating when the AI isn't willing to offer any long-term payment for cash advances, but still better to get the trade treaty running.   By 2262, Gnolam scouts had passed all the way through the Spinward Quadrant, passing through two systems still held by the Great Empire of Bulra, before arriving at the outskirts of the Tetchys system, held by the Sakkra Nations. Although the Sakkra maintained a successful mining and industrial colony on the frozen world of Surgass in Tetchys, what was perhaps more interesting was the ocean world of Teld, the homeworld of the Eldritch. The Gnolams had heard of the Eldritch from the Sakkra before, the shattered remnants of a once-starfaring civilisation reduced to cowering in underground bunker complexes on the islands of Teld still above sea level, their previous knowledge and industrial base lost after their species' near-destruction at the hands of the Antarans. Various tribes and warlords of the Eldritch had been grudgingly strongarmed into harvesting and delivering shipments of the hardy genetically-engineered supercrops that ran wild over Teld's land surface to Sakkra spaceport facilities on the surface, the Eldritch resenting the activity that might once again bring the attention of the Antarans that had destroyed their ancient civilisation, but hoping that Antaran attention would stop at the obvious spaceport facilities established by the Sakkra and overlook the hidden survivors desperately attempting to avoid activity that could be noticed from space.     Shortly after the arrival of the scout ship at Sakkra borders, League negotiators, in addition to handling the routine matters (and channeling the necessary bribes) to ensure that trade routes to the Nations remained open, arranged for transfer of the NordPharm data on engineering telepathic capabilities into individuals to the Nations in exchange for the Nations opening their borders to the League scouting mission. The Assembly had, by this point, resolved that the League should make efforts to make contact with every sapient species known to exist in the galaxy, opening the League's diplomatic options and potentially making new trade partners available- and access through the Nations could, potentially, allow for Gnolam contact of the last two known sapient species of the galaxy, the Mrrshan and the Nyemorians.  Refinements in power and miniaturisation of Gnolam gravity generation had been ongoing for some time, and in 2275, Weapons System Incorporated conducted its first proving trial of antimatter torpedoes as a potential replacement for fusion torpedoes as weapons intended for use against fixed positions. Although the gravity containment system needed to safely contain a payload used under combat conditions sharply reduced the available mass for payload in an antimatter torpedo, nonetheless the small amount of antimatter able to be used could still deliver a significantly higher yield than older fusion warheads. Creation of heavy artificial gravity wells could also potentially disrupt any ability to safely punch into hyperspace across an entire system, potentially greatly restricting the mobility of hostile forces in the League as long as any fortifications remained in a system.  Later in the same year, the League received a request of asylum by Ariaa, formerly a battalion commander in the Star Empire's Homeworld Defense Force on Alkar. During a bloody local rebellion in the city of Pooreeth on Alkar, which the Emperor had hoped to defuse through offering concessions to the rebels, Ariaa had acted against orders to bring her battalion in and ensure the safe evacuation of local government officials and civilians rather than permit their murder by the rebels. Ariaa was dishonorably discharged from His Imperial Majesty's Homeworld Defense Force for disobeying orders, and soon thereafter sought to put as much distance between herself and the Star Empire as she could. She was a very talented military commander, as well as deeply experienced in law enforcement tactics given the hybrid duties of the Homeworld Defense Force. Upon being granted asylum, she was briefly a celebrity within the League, before settling into quiet semi-obscurity as the chief of security for Sentinel Security, a small private security company operating on Eglein. Ariaa is a leader who could be of some use, although her overall value is somewhat marginal in my opinion. Her boost to ground combat strength helps with defenses against invasion, thus far not a great concern to us, while her boost to local security ratings helps shield against espionage operations at that system and helps boost our average local security rating and, thus, our global security rating against all espionage.   Early in 2266, negotiators representing the Sakkra Father of Nations approached the League, seeking access to modern methods of organ cloning to improve medical care standards in the Nations. Although they offered access to Sakkra FTL communications technology, the relatively slow tachyon-based FTL communications they offered were already obsolete in the face of modern Gnolam communications. Nonetheless, in the interests of maintaining stable relations with the Nations, League negotiators authorised the technology transfers, further spreading modern medical techniques through the galaxy.  Somewhat later in 2276, the Gnolam colony on Eglein, and the Naval and civilian ships in the Shimari system, recieved a message from the Antarans- a new Antaran task force was inbound to assault what was one of the most important and developed worlds of the League. The local task force began an intensive training regimen, hoping to be ready when the Antaran forces arrived in order to successfully defend Eglein.   In 2267, the Universal Mercantile League Stock Exchange opened operations on Val. With the aid of near-realtime communications, it allowed for the trade of shares in stocks from corporations across the League, along with selected corporations from other interstellar powers. The steady growth of galactic commerce had begun to open the door on a new era where individual interstellar powers were components in a single vast galactic economy. Gnolam corporations, eager for growth in new markets, were steadily expanding operations in alien space, and more and more Gnolam brands were becoming familiar to the wider galaxy. With the completion of the first interstellar stock exchange in the galaxy, economic victory is now possible. Economic victory requires maintaining a share of at least 38% of gross galactic product and 38% of 'Galactic Monetary Fund' shares for ten consecutive turns. GMF shares can be created (at an escalating price as the number of shares extant increase) or retired (for a value of 1% of GGP), and may be freely traded between empires in diplomatic agreements. Given the premium on creating GMF shares, you're unlikely to make significant profits on buying and selling shares, but holding them is a necessary preliminary to economic victory, or a means to help defend against somebody else threatening economic victory.    Later that same year, the Central Combine Cycle, the governing body of the General Oversight Combine, formally issued a request for the Universal Mercantile League to join them in a declaration of war against the Great Empire of Bulra. Although the Assembly had already resolved to support the Combine over the Great Empire diplomatically, committing to war was a drastic step, one many in the Assembly were reluctant to take, even with the very healthy financial incentive package the Combine attached to its request. In the end, in a closely-contested vote near the beginning of 2268, the Assembly resolved to join the war and offer at least limited support against Bulrathi naval assets. A task force was dispatched, although many in the population were leery about committing to a war of choice.   2268 also saw the United Republic once again attempting to revive their attempts to gain travel and colonisation access through the League. Although many of the citizens and politicians of the United Republic were fundamentally sympathetic to the UML, the continued resistance by the UML to allowing Human expansion into uncolonised worlds in League space was an ongoing sore point for many Humans, who had few remaining avenues for new colonial expansion. Still, the situation remained manageable, and there appeared to be little risk of a breakdown in relations.      Gnolam scouts had continued to progress through Sakkra space, and in 2269 they made contact with the Mrrshan colony world of Hrrset in Imra, one of the few remaining Mrrshan-controlled systems. Like the Sakkra with whom they were engaged in a desperate struggle against, the Mrrshan were ruled over by a monarchy, the 'New Empire', although the Mrrshan monarchy was notably lighter-handed for the general population than the rather thuggish Sakkra system, and the Mrrshan aristocracy was cultured and charismatic. Not a few Gnolams felt a certain degree of sympathy to the Mrrshan plight. All this said, the predatory nature and violent tempers of the Mrrshan, who still maintained an active duelling culture, made them somewhat unsettling to the timid, near-herbivorous Gnolams. Initial negotiations with the Mrrshan focused simply upon establishing an exchange of ambassadors, with the Assembly mired in debate about whether the League should risk their existing arrangements with the Sakkra Nations by formalising ties of friendship and commerce with the New Empire, which remained small, weak, and only a minor potential trading partner.    In 2270, the Antaran task force arrived in Eglein orbit. It proved to be a massive force, consisting of two capital ships, one comparable in size to Gnolam battleships and one significantly larger, escorted by nine escort vessels, a mixture of frigates and larger cruisers. Against this, the four ships of the local Gnolam task force seemed inadequate, but the strength of the expanded Naval base supporting the defending task force and the array of defensive platforms around the planet gave some hope the defenders could claim victory. This hope was not to last, with Antaran use of torpedoes against fixed positions combined with their sheer weight of fire of other weapons, prominent amongst which were high-impact charged particle streams, ensuring that the fixed defenses were only able to hold out for a limited time. Although the particle beams the Antarans were using suffered notably degraded performance against Gnolam shields and armor, nonetheless the high impact and radiative embrittlement of armor these beams caused was sufficient, in mass fire, to cause hull failures one after another. The mobile units of the task force held out significantly longer, evading all torpedo fire and finishing off multiple heavily damaged Antaran vessels, but in the end the last of the Gnolam ships defending the planet was destroyed. Still, the Navy gave a good accounting of itself, with the smaller Antaran capital vessel and the bulk of their escorts destroyed, and with the larger Antaran capital vessel having suffered significant armor damage- it seemed likely that a stronger Naval task force may have been able to claim victory. Well, the good news is that the most effective weapon the Antarans fielded against us overall was the ion pulse beam, which has a very high hypothetical damage output, but which dumps that output in relatively low-damage ticks and has a terrible armor penetration rating, which means that any hit by that weapon after shields were down was getting fully halved in effectiveness. This definitely helped us hold out longer.    When the surviving Antaran vessels unleashed their payloads of biological weapons over Eglein, it proved the sacrifices of the Navy to protect the planet were not in vain. Although planetary shielding generators were strained by the power draw to destroy a series of bombs falling from orbit, the much-weakened Antaran fleet was incapable of penetrating Eglein's shielding, and the worst damage the bombardment inflicted was an electrical fire that broke out at one of the planetary shield substations, easily repaired. Although the Antarans taunted Gnolam weakness as they withdrew, as ever incapable of providing logistical support for extended operations, the fact was that although this was a defeat in space, it was not one without cost to the Antarans and one that ended without any civilian loss of life save for a few service contractors on Eglein's orbital naval base. Perhaps, in time, the Navy could more effectively stand against Antaran aggression.  Continued trade with the General Oversight Combine experienced some snags brought on by capital shortage in Meklar hands. A series of loans tendered by Gnolam financial institutions in 2272 helped cover some of the shortfall, but ultimately Gnolam shipping lines had to absorb some additional costs of operation to keep trade moving, costs which they passed on to buyers in Gnolam space. Even with these added costs, the value of the trade was more than worth it. I sometimes wish the AI were a little better about keeping enough money in reserve to renew trade treaties. Or at least was willing to pay back at least as much money as I was giving them, rather than paying 420 BC over 30 turns in exchange for 500 BC right now. The arrest of a series of GOC intelligence operatives inserted amongst commercial purchase representatives on Stevas caused a notable scandal in 2274. Although it appeared that the Meklar infiltration had not done significant damage, the espionage by the Combine was taken poorly amongst the general population after the League had committed to aid the Combine in its war.   While exploring the last accessible system in the Driftward Quadrant, League scouts discovered a haven for Alkari pirates in the asteroid belt in the Wolf system in 2275. The scouts made an effort to root out these pirates, but initial progress in hunting down all their shipyards and mining operations was slow. The Universal Mercantile League and Known Space as of 2275  Between the increasing scope of Gnolam commerce and corporate operations, the opening of trade with the Star Empire of Altair, and general economic growth within League borders, investment has seen major growth over the past 25 years. Innovation has also risen, if not to the same degree. Although League territory has not increased, proper fortifications have solidified the League's hold on a number of unsettled systems near Orion in the core. The United Republic has colonised its first new system in many years, establishing a mining colony on the barren, metal-rich planet Hades in the Arkab system in the Driftward quadrant. The General Oversight Combine has likewise settled a new system in the core, spreading Meklar settlement even further. The Navy currently has three operational combat task forces, although to call the force now in place at Shimari a 'task force' may be an overstatement. An Adjudicator battleship arrived at Shimari too late to reinforce the task force at Eglein before the battle with the Antarans, one Adjudicator and two Defender frigates are currently in the Meklon system on the way to support Combine forces in Bulrathi space, and two Adjudicators and a Defender hold the Sena system against potential threat by the Klackons. Lilka and her Raiders have been attached to the Sena task force, ready to support operations in the event of the outbreak of war.  Fortifications in Sena now secure approaches into a string of systems in the core, while the planet of Degon is beginning to experience a surge in living standards and population driven by improved agricultural productivity permitted by Gnolam technology and investment. The Degonite population has surged to over a billion and is still rapidly growing. Gnolam cultural influence has somewhat moderated the strictness of Degonite societies, although Degon remains extraordinarily backward and conservative by Gnolam standards. A factory ship is working on assembling the largest border fortress ever built in the modern era in order to defend the approach from Klackon space, a safeguard against an uncertain border.  The hyperspace conduits leading into Azimon have both been fortified, securing the system, while a series of corporate labs supplied from the planet of Lassen have been established in the asteroid belt in-system. The factory ship previously working here is bound back to the Montone system in order to establish a new gate installation there, helping speed travel to and from the core.     A series of shield generation installations across Val has provided a final line of defense in the event that the Antarans ever decide to attack the homeworld of the Gnolams and capital planet of the League, while expanded commercial operations and a financial industry of galactic scope has increased incomes on the planet, already staggeringly high, to an unprecedented level. Although Val is only a fraction of the League's economy, nonetheless it is a critical center of invention, scholarship, and trade as well as the heart of the League's governance. Construction is under way on a vast series of underground agricultural habitats, helping to provide a new source of food for Val's 13 billion inhabitants.    Export of construction materials from Stevas to Tessin have dropped off over the past years, while a new array of shielding stations help secure the world. The massive power draw required by the shielding stations have proved a heavy burden on Stevas' economy, although it remains a respectable contributor to Gnolam innovation. As on Val, construction is under way here on subterranean agricultural complexes, expected to help provide a bounty of food to both Stevas and Tessin when they are completed.     Over the past 25 years, Tessin has become another center of the interstellar financial industry, with a growth of commerce to match. Investment here now nearly matches that on Val 25 years previously, and per capita incomes have risen with productivity. Tessin remains, essentially, the second great center of the League after Val, and an important center of many export-oriented industries that help provide the foreign exchange needed for valuable foreign imports. Work on the space elevator here has been delayed due to an ebb in financial support, while development of its own network of subterranean agricultural complexes has begun on Tessin.    The loss of its orbital defenses and Naval base has been counterbalanced on Eglein with the establishment of a network of shield generation facilities across the planet, while planetary population has stabilised at approximately 13 billion persons. Local governments have raised emergency taxes to rebuild orbital defenses and contribute to the rebuilding of the Naval base here, which has slowed local economic growth. Still, compared to what could have befallen Eglein, the cost of rebuilding its defenses is far less than could have befallen the inhabitants of the world, and by and large the populace count themselves fortunate to have escaped the Antaran attack as lightly as they have.    Population on Navok has grown to well over six billion persons, with an agricultural workforce of over 150 million on this dusty, water-poor planet supporting the population and its growth. A major Naval base has been established here, with supplemental defensive platforms now under construction. Its economy remains dependent on outside imports, the population and its productivity too limited to support the needs of the extensive modern infrastructure now in place. Navok's primary asset remains its position and its importance along trade routes to both the United Republic and the General Oversight Combine- its limited size, harsh environment, and poor resource base have slowed its growth in importance compared to some other worlds.    Eydin's terraforming project has been completed, finishing the shift of the planet to a Val-like environment with a greater usable land area. This terraforming has helped enable the growth of Eydin's population by nearly two billion over the past 25 years, now at 12 billion persons. The growing population has now allowed Eydin to actively contribute a small portion of investment capital to offworld ventures, rather than having its investment entirely consumed by domestic concerns, and the planet remains an important center of research and scholarship. A major interstellar financial industry is beginning to grow on Eydin, although as of yet it is still far from matching Val or Tessin as a financial center.    Teziv has, over the past 25 years, become the first colony planet in the League to complete a network of subterranean agricultural complexes, along with expanding its local Naval base to modern standards of defensive capability and capacity to support operations. This improvement in agricultural development has allowed the local agricultural workforce to shrink to only about 50 million persons, displaced labor moving into other sectors, while the planetary research establishment has expanded, continuing to push the frontiers in spacecraft engineering and spaceflight technologies. The more intensive development has made Teziv more reliant on external imports merely to maintain its own infrastructure- imports supplied by the money that flows into the local economy to support its booming shipbuilding sector. The planet's heavy industrial force works frantically to help expand the Navy, both to reinforce existing task forces and to begin commissioning new task forces to protect an increasingly far-flung League. Although its factories and shipyards work swiftly and efficiently on this, the planet with the heaviest industrial base in the League, the work ahead of the Navy to meet the challenges presented by the security threats the League faces, both from the State of Antares and other rival interstellar powers, remains formidable.    Sluyen's population has once again stabilised at approximately 13 billion persons. Along with Val and Tessin, it is one of the three primary centers of the interstellar financial industry in the League, and the access to financial services has helped draw more corporate operations to the planet to take advantage of local resources. As with Val and Tessin, it enjoys immensely high per-capita productivity and incomes and helps provide a great pool of investment capital to support projects and development all over the League. As with many other well-established worlds of the League, construction has begun on a network of subterranean agricultural complexes owned by an array of different agritech firms licensing the new technology from Nutris before it enters the public domain.    The tiny, densely-populated world of Skeggi has strengthened its defenses over the past 25 years, expanding the local Naval base and establishing a network of shield generators to help protect the world from bombardment should all other defenses fail. Skeggi, already dependent on outside investment to maintain its infrastructure, has only grown more reliant on advanced components and machines from the rest of the League, and the situation promises to only become more acute once the establishment of subterranean farming complexes are completed. Skeggi stands at something of a crossroads, with two competing visions of its economic future competing for investment, customers, and workforce. Which model of Skeggi's future will win out remains to be seen.    Tarvaal has seen explosive population growth over the past 25 years, growing from just short of seven billion persons to comfortably over ten billion persons in population. The surge in population has seen the planetary agricultural sector expand somewhat to support the ever-growing population, while the previously tiny R&D establishment now employs over 150 million persons. A major Naval base has been established in orbit around the planet, while work to upgrade emissions capture and scrubbing technology in local factories is underway, given the steadily dropping atmospheric quality as heavy industry on the planet grows. Tarvaal has become a notable contributor both to investment and innovation across the League, with its business sector producing a comfortable surplus and with its greatly expanded research sector, and the importance of Tarvaal is only expected to grow in the future as it further develops.    Extensive terraforming work has introduced a breathable atmosphere, limited water, and a basic biosphere to Nevan, which has seen over one hundred million of its people move into agricultural employment to supply a population that was slowly pushing against the limits of the local food supply on a lifeless world. Surface defense forces have been mustered by local governments, a defense against invasion and potential civic disorder. Once a biosphere was in place on Nevan, investment almost immediately began into the industries providing the chemicals and equipment for proper modern management of soil chemistry, which should help ensure improved agricultural yields for Nevan's continually expanding population once these industries are in place.   Genein has completed modern cargo ports taking advantage of mass driver technology and new, modern hospitals that use the latest organ-cloning technology to provide the best possible medical care for their patients, and its population has grown to over three billion. With the growth in local prosperity, access to modern optronics for entertainment and for smart appliances for the convenience of consumers has begun to spread amongst the population. The growing demands of the population for food, although still within the capacity of the agriculture able to be supported on a lifeless world, have steadily rendered margins thinner. There is increasing discussion of the importance of terraforming Genein so that a more effective local agricultural sector can grow.   Tollesen still remains at a population of under two billion persons, living in cities sealed against the highly reactive Tollesian atmosphere. The colony has grown ever more dependent on specialised equipment incapable of local manufacture as more modern infrastructure- extremophilic fungal cultivation, a small R&D sector, a network of gravity generators reducing the felt gravity on the planet to a comfortable level, and effective provision of law and justice by local governments- has been established. A more sophisticated local business sector, although helping support local endeavors, is far from sufficient to allow the full range of support necessary for local infrastructure with such a small population. Exports of dark quartz for electronics manufacture elsewhere help fund the needed outside investment, while a slow process of updating local industries to take full advantage of modern robotics technology is under way. Tollesen still remains relatively backward and hostile, as worlds of the League go.   25 years ago, the infrastructure on Lassen was distinctly basic, and the population struggled against uncomfortably high gravity. Now, the population has grown to over two billion persons, supporting a growing heavy industrial sector, a small but effective research sector, industrial hydroponics supplementing traditional agriculture, modern and efficient practises of business and government, and a network of gravity generators easing life for the planet's inhabitants. The planetary population is steadily growing, and although Lassen is far from the splendor of the core worlds of the League, it nonetheless has a steadily improving standard of living easily supported by a hospitable biosphere and great potential for future growth.   Ryhen's population has swiftly grown to over three billion persons, supplied by regular shipments of cheap food purchased from Degon. The fundamental infrastructure of a League colony is now in place, with basic agricultural, research, and industrial technologies established, supported by efficient and effective business and government. A network of gravity generators has been under construction on Ryhen, expected to go into full operation within a year. Ryhen's position as the gateway of trade for the Klackon and for the Degonites has been very valuable to it, and it is anticipated to continue to prosper in the future- at least, it is expected to prosper should the political and military situation with the Klackon remain stable.   Basic industrial, agricultural, scientific, business, and governmental infrastructure is now in place on Surren, which relies heavily on external investment while the planet develops and the population grows. The standard of living here is reasonable, partially supported by the gains in productivity allowed by the presence of dark quartz, but it still remains a distinct backwater of only marginal importance to the greater League as things stand.  Since the opening of the Universal Mercantile League Stock Exchange on Val in 2267, gross galactic product has grown by approximately 4% and League GDP has grown by approximately 4.4%. League-based corporations are the most prominent actors amongst those corporations that have begun to grow to enjoy prominence across multiple interstellar powers, although certain Republican corporations, not least the pharmaceuticals and medical giant NordPharm, are likewise competitors on a truly galactic scale.  Beyond rolling up a Combine intelligence operation against the League, LIIS has largely been occupied with attempting to get snapshots of existing colonies for the New Empire and ensuring generally tight internal security across the League. LIIS estimates the security situation on most League worlds has improved over the past 25 years, and anticipates that it should be able to identify existing Mrrshan, Alkari, and Bulrathi colonies within the next 25 years. We've improved the internal security rating on most of our worlds from level 3 to level 4 as our agents on counterespionage duty have gained experience. We're actually in quite a satisfactory place for internal security at the moment, overall.  A new generation of shield designs is on the brink of completion. Manipulating the gravitic elements of existing electromagnetic and gravitic shielding so that some portion of incoming radiation is shunted into hyperspace, although of minimal aid against more massive projectiles, nonetheless should greatly increase the ability of shields to absorb incoming energy before becoming overloaded. It is anticipated that such shields would almost negate the effectiveness of any but the heaviest versions of the particle beam weapons most relied upon by the Antarans in their last attack, although whether Antarans will still be depending on that technology when next they return is an open question. Proposals for the Universal Mercantile League Research Proposals Refining Gnolam understanding of hyperspace physics could allow the League to finally adopt hyperspace phase cannon as a standard, and would, in conjunction with new shielding technology, more than justify a new design contest for shipbuilders supplying the Navy. It would also allow for using hyperspace as a momentum sink for shield generators, allowing for a stronger gravitic component that would both improve overall shield effectiveness and allow shields to be effective against massive projectiles previously beyond the ability of shielding to handle. Using antimatter as a local energy source for computing would allow sufficient energy density for a greater density of operations, allowing new and powerful computing applications for science, business, and military use. Further refining biological sciences could allow for terraforming worlds beyond even a Val-like standard, effectively eliminating desert regions and providing a better growing environment for plants, allowing better crop yields and living environments. Finally, new star drives taking advantage of antimatter energy storage and nanotechnological engineering would allow for faster travel, better armor materials, and better manufacturing of miniaturised components for devices. Please vote between Multi-Phased Physics, Positronics, Trans Genetics, and NANO TECHNOLOGY. Nano Technology necessarily implies researching Antimatter Fission first. Industry on Val and Tessin It may be possible to intensify heavy industry on Val and Tessin, although this would require better pollution control on Tessin and drawing some resources away from long-term R&D on both planets. This would, however, help accelerate shipbuilding for new colonisation and the Navy. Skeggi Economic Focus Skeggi is heavily-developed and fully populated, but the exact shape of its role in the wider League economy remains to be seen. Despite its small population base, it is rich in heavy metals and has a resource-rich moon that could be valuable in shipbuilding. Skeggi could, perhaps, take advantage of its good agricultural and industrial resources to provide a mustering point for new colonisation efforts, although this would render it an effectively constant drain on investment from other worlds of the League and reduce its effective position as a research world. On the other hand, Skeggi could instead focus on expanding its existing export industries, providing consumer and capital goods for worlds across the League, earning healthy profits and serving as an effective contributor to League research. Please vote between a colony ship/agriculture or trade goods/research focus for Skeggi. Focusing on colony ships implies we will also establish orbital shipyards and a space elevator. Diplomatic Policy- the New Empire and the Sakkra Nations The League has a longstanding and profitable relationship with the Sakkra Nations, although their dysfunctional and unjust society is distasteful at best to many Gnolams. The New Empire, although more sympathetic overall, would be a much smaller potential trading partner and is a much more precarious position- but perhaps the chance of the New Empire's survival and gratitude would make the difficulty of supporting the weaker power in the Far Quadrant worth it. It could even be possible to attempt to strengthen the New Empire's position through financial and technological aid. The Assembly deeply doubts it can balance appeasing both sides, and so much choose which power to strengthen relations with. Please vote between supporting the Sakkra Nations or the New Empire diplomatically. If you vote for supporting the New Empire, vote on whether to simply maintain trade relations or to actively officer financial and/or technological support to help the New Empire hold out against the Nations. Diplomatic Policy- the Klackon and the Star Empire of Altair Although the Klackon and the Star Empire of Altair currently remain at peace, some LIIS analysts believe the diplomatic situation between the two interstellar powers is unstable at best. For the moment, the League can trade with both sides without concern of causing a diplomatic incident, but should war erupt, the Assembly will be forced to take sides. Although the Alkari are possibly easier to relate with, the Klackon are more capable of posing a threat to the League, and are thus the more dangerous party to snub. Please vote between supporting the Klackon or the Star Empire of Altair diplomatically in the event of outbreak of war between the two powers. Military Policy- Combine/Great Empire War With the loss of a task force in Gnolam space and the dubious gains for actively engaging in military operations against the Bulrathi, some military planners suggest the League may be better served by pulling the task force currently preparing to support Combine forces in space to instead once again maintain a defensive posture in League space. Please vote between actively prosecuting the war against the Bulrathi or pulling our ships back. Ariaa Ariaa's skill as a military commander and law enforcement specialist could potentially make her a valuable asset to the League, if they decided to employ her in an official capacity, although some believe the benefit of bringing her into service would be marginal. Positions in defensive military forces or in a law enforcement role could both take advantage of her skills. Please vote yea or nay on hiring Ariaa, and vote between focusing her efforts on military ground defense and law enforcement and internal security. A new age of prosperity appears to be within the grasp of the Gnolams and the Universal Mercantile League, if only they maintain the strength to stand against the threat of the Antarans and other interstellar powers that may well plunge the League into full-scale war. Whether the general peace the League has enjoyed can endure remains to be seen. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 17:19 on Aug 10, 2021 |
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2020 01:00
|
|
|
I forgot to add the vote over whether to hire Ariaa in the initial writeup. The new vote has now been edited in.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2020 01:20
|
|
|
Votes: -Nano technology -Industrialization effort for Val and Tessin -Research focus for Skeggi -Diplomacy: Support the Sakkra Nations, with a joint war declaration if requested. Support Star Empire of Altair similarly. -Actively pursue war operations against the Bulrathi, with an eye for liberating a few colonies in the mid-long run -Ariaa's services are not required by the League While the League's internal politics and development are very well geared toward a peaceful transition towards a new, more prosperous era, we cannot evade the harsh reality that the galaxy is already headed towards major conflict. It would be possible for the League to assume an isolationist stance vis a vis projecting force, and focusing trade efforts on alien empires that seem to be gaining the upper hand in their respective conflicts, but eventually it seems likely that, say, two super-powers that remain from these smaller conflicts will force the League to choose sides. In that potential scenario, it would be beneficial to have a robust industrial base, preferably spread across the galaxy, ready to be converted to war-time production needs. Not to mention the gnolamitarian aspect of liberating the populations of these oppressive autocrat regimes to the free society of the League. And, while somewhat distasteful, there is always a profit to be made from successful campaigns of opportunity... ----------------------------------------- nweismuller posted:This is one of the, if not the biggest middle finger the game throws at the player. The option we didn't pick here, Advanced City Planning, is a ridiculously fantastic bonus for any empire. It gives a flat-out +5 to the max population limit of all planets, no questions asked, and the same +5 stays even when terraforming the planets towards better biospheres. Given that it's mid-late game tech, usually one is bound to have a few planets at or near the population maximum, and these will pretty much instantly grow one or two units of population, and in the long run it enables maxing out most of your worlds at 20+ population, which needless to say makes all these planets absolute power-houses no matter which way one decides to focus their production. This isn't necessarily an "I win" button, but after one obtains ACP, the run-away effect makes it harder and harder for the AI to out-produce the player. And it's a choice between this or the requisite tech for one of the victory conditions! 
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2020 02:43
|
|
|
gently caress the Sakkra. That is all.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2020 02:51
|
|
|
Map position - We've got some nifty chokepoints controlled with Guad, Shimari, Montone, and Degon. Imagine the neutral zone we could create in the core if we could just snag and defend Brachium and Vijzar. Lir and Vespam would work too, but both options allow us to restrict a lot of shenanigans with only 6 key nodes/fleets. Then we can go hog wild with infrastructure and and Antaran defense brigade. Embrace your inner Darlok - If we can't get Advanced City Planning by hook, can we get it by crook from some creative and careless neighbor? Industry on Val and Tessin - Intensify the heavy industry. We need the shipbuilding and colonization capacity. Skeggi Economic Focus - We're digesting systems but not fast enough. Accelerate that. Diplomatic Policy- the New Empire and the Sakkra Nations - Any tech we give to the New Empire may easily end up in Sakkra hands. Money as a tool is less likely to have negative consequences. Edit for clarity - it's worth a flier with a generic resource like $$ to try to keep another power alive to keep another neighbor's focus away from us. It's not worth getting drawn into more direct involvement. Military Policy - Avoid committing units to any fight unless it's defending our own turf or for agreed strategic goals with prepared forces. The Bulrathi adventure is an invitation to overextend ourselves. Ariaa - I like the law enforcement and internal security bonus. Hire her for that if we can afford. Do we have a personnel limit? Xlorp fucked around with this message at 04:35 on Oct 13, 2020 |
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2020 04:17
|
|
|
Xlorp posted:Embrace your inner Darlok - If we can't get Advanced City Planning by hook, can we get it by crook from some creative and careless neighbor? There's no evidence that's possible at the moment; we have a reasonably firm technological lead as things stand. Xlorp posted:Diplomatic Policy- the New Empire and the Sakkra Nations - Any tech we give to the New Empire may easily end up in Sakkra hands. Money as a tool is less likely to have negative consequences. Does that mean you want to support the New Empire diplomatically, though? Xlorp posted:Ariaa - I like the law enforcement and internal security bonus. Hire her for that if we can afford. Do we have a personnel limit? We can have up to nine leaders; Ariaa would be our seventh. E: We can't directly control Vespam- there's nothing in the system- but Warikomi is a possibility.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2020 04:23
|
|
|
nweismuller posted:There's no evidence that's possible at the moment; we have a reasonably firm technological lead as things stand. nweismuller posted:Does that mean you want to support the New Empire diplomatically, though? nweismuller posted:We can have up to nine leaders; Ariaa would be our seventh. nweismuller posted:E: We can't directly control Vespam- there's nothing in the system- but Warikomi is a possibility. Xlorp fucked around with this message at 04:52 on Oct 13, 2020 |
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2020 04:49
|
|
|
For research, I say NANO-TECH, because that will let us build stuff faster, and more faster building is more gooderer. We don't even need to build new stuff, everything is just cheaper! It's great. For Val and Tessin, I am of course voting for "more industry." Because that will eventually pay for itself, and of course, more ships is always good! On a related note, more ships for Skeggi. Sure, they're colony ships now, but that doesn't mean we can't use it to make ships for other purposes. For who to favor on Sakkra and Mrrshan, I say favor Sakkra. We've been buddies with them longer, and quite frankly, the New Empire is hosed. I don't see any point in backing a losing horse with two broken legs, one of which is in the grave. For the Klackon and Alkari, however, I will take the opposite tack and say favor the Alkari. The reasoning is simple: the New Empire are so weak that you'd need to go to heroic lengths to save them, but the Sakkra aren't big enough to be a danger to you. The Alkari are likewise not a threat to you, but the Klackon have the potential to be a problem in the future. So if things go to poo poo, and it looks like they will, use that chance to hinder the one that can be an issue. You already know what I think for the Meklar/Bulrathi war.  But for the sake of procedure, go gently caress their poo poo up.For Aria, I only care a little bit, but I figure sure throw her a job in internal security. We don't need her protecting us from ground invasions. Those aren't happening at the moment.
|
|
#
?
Oct 13, 2020 22:03
|
|
|
News All Day Network posted:... continued financial support by BS&L to Logical Computing, with Nian Bortis quoted as saying, "Keeping up with the technological challenges and administrative complexity of serving shipping across the galaxy will continue to require more processing power than ever before." Logical Computing's work into... Positronics News All Day Network posted:.. increased demand both for Naval shipbuilding and new colony equipment and shipping has led to an uptick in shipbuilding and engineering stocks... Increase industry on Val and Tessin. Andur Storn, founder and CEO of Storn Personal Vehicles Corporation, headquartered on Skeggi posted:Everybody wants their own personal flyer, and they want one customised for their tastes, with luxury inside and performance in the engine. Here at Storn Personal Vehicles, we hope to bring that dream to everybody, both inside and outside the League. Trade goods/research on Skeggi. Nian Bortis, to the Assembly posted:I believe that, as a League, we should consider what other interstellar powers we wish to be surrounded by in the long term. To that end, I believe we should, when given the choice, support freedom over tyranny, justice over injustice, and societies of individuals over hive societies. Support the New Empire and Star Empire of Altair diplomatically, granting financial and technical aid to the New Empire. Also, pull our ships back from the Meklar-Bulrathi war. News All Day Network posted:... considering the appointment of Alkari defector Ariaa as director of the newly organised Eglein Planetary Police Organisation, a cooperative effort between local Eglein governments... Hire Ariaa for internal security work.
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2020 22:53
|
|
|
Can't get my brain to work for IC lately, so I'll just vote. Nanotechnology. Industry on Val and Tessin. Trade and research on Skeggi. Stick with the Sakkra over the Mrrshan. Side with Alkari over Klackon. Try to aquire a planet or two from the Bulrathi during the war. Hire Ariaa for internal security.
|
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2020 02:01
|
|
|
Research Proposals: Trans Genetics. We can make our planets even better! Industry on Val and Tessin: Intensify heavy industry. So that they can build more colony ships. Skeggi Economic Focus: colony ship/agriculture. We can never have enough colony ships. Diplomatic Policy- the New Empire and the Sakkra Nations: Support the New Empire by actively offering financial and/or technological support. The Sakkra are extremely expansionist and while we've had good relations with them so far, they're a long-term threat. Helping the Mrrshan last a bit longer to keep the Sakkra occupied is in Gnolam interests, and ultimately even if they do manage to stalemate the Sakkra long enough to obtain peace, they'll still be too small and weak to be a threat. Diplomatic Policy- the Klackon and the Star Empire of Altair: Favor the Star Empire of Altair in case of conflict, for the same galactopolitical reasoning: they're less a potential threat. Military Policy- Combine/Great Empire War: pulling our ships back seems like the best bet. Ariaa: yea why not, but for law enforcement and internal security. Xlorp posted:Diplomatic Policy- the New Empire and the Sakkra Nations - Any tech we give to the New Empire may easily end up in Sakkra hands. Nope, I'm pretty sure you can't discover technologies through conquest in CTS without the unofficial code patch that nweismuller isn't using.
|
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2020 15:26
|
|
|
Just a heads up, I'm leaving this vote open until Saturday or Sunday. If people have any questions or would like to see me do some more lore posting, I'm always listening.
|
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2020 15:32
|
|
|
Overheard during Executive Tour of Nutris Subterrarium UML-Gn2 Subsector Alpha5 posted:"Very good!" Trans Genetics Industry on Val & Tessin Colony Ship/Agriculture on Skeggi News All Day Network posted:-increasing amount of market share. Our Nutris Corporate Liaison further assures us that the diplomatic overtures towards the Sakkra are sure to rebound the value of the conglomerate's BIG MEAT® subsidiary, and recoup the losses accrued due to the war with the Great Empire of Bulra- Support the Sakkra Nations and the Star Empire of Altair Pull our ships back Yea on Ariaa, law enforcement and internal security Nutris Recruitment Ad posted:Is your career in a rut?
|
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2020 16:01
|
|
|
LIIS Foreign Personnel Report- Zara Song Doctor Zara Song (born Zara Ivanova), director of the Xenorelations Council, an advisory body to the Senate of the United Republic, was born in Moscow, Earth. She graduated with highest honors from Moscow State University with a focus in xenology and xenoarchaelogy, thereafter spending her early career as an archaelogical consultant to the Monolith-based Orion Technologies Corporation which controlled a number of the important ruins sites on Monolith. During her career with OTC, she was noted for her excellent abilities in coordinating with hardware engineers and scientists reverse-engineering what technologies could be deciphered from the ruins. She was recruited as a consultant for negotiations by the Republic to gain access to standard Gnolam life-extenders, and soon afterwards, in the wake of an incident that left her widowed, tendered her resignation from OTC to help with the initial organisation of the Xenorelations Council. Doctor Song is a genius, fluent in eleven different languages from four different species- Human, Gnolam, Alkari, and Orion- and one of the very few persons alive qualified in the Orion language. Her work in xenology and cultural analyses is considered groundbreaking within the United Republic, and she uses her fluency in Gnolam and Alkari languages to review and translate much of the key scientific literature in the Universal Mercantile League and the Star Empire of Altair for the Republican scientific community. She was formerly married to Doctor Huan Song, a research engineer for OTC who was killed in a failed attempt by Human criminals to steal technology from an OTC dig site. She is an idealist committed to the Republic, a tendency which LIIS analysts believe was only strengthened in the aftermath of her husband's death. Her advice has been a strong influence on Human foreign policy, with a focus on finding points of common interest with the Universal Mercantile League and the Star Empire of Altair to maintain peaceful relations while taking advantage of foreign ideas to help inspire Human technological development. LIIS believes she will continue to be a significant asset to the United Republic both diplomatically and scientifically for as long as she lives- and, as she is one of the individuals benefitting from Gnolam-derived life extension technologies, this seems likely to be a very long time indeed. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 20:26 on Oct 15, 2020 |
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2020 20:17
|
|
|
Incidentally, does anybody happen to know a way to take over an AI-controlled race on a nuMoO save? Mostly because I want to be able to check what leaders are working for what empires, which would be an immense blessing to my ability to Write Lore.
|
|
#
?
Oct 15, 2020 20:42
|
|
|
A Cat on a Keyboard Zahra woke with a start from her desk, blinking blearily at the plush luxury of her office near the pinnacle of the Nirapuma Armaments headquarters tower. Priceless statues and tapestries, marks of a proud and cultured history, met her eys as she scanned the room, and the gentle splashing of an ornamental fountain soothed her ears as she sat up in her chair. Her ears flicked, trying to recall why she had fallen asleep here in her chair. "Another late night," she mused, flexing her hands and blinking at the claws extending slightly from her fingertips. As she sat up, the motion was caught by the sensors of the computer built into the desk she had been slumped across, and she blinked as the screen flickered back into life, displaying a draft of divisional orders she had been working on. "... delivery to be complghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-" Zahra groaned. "I fall asleep while composing and slept on the input keys. Ugh. And I'll have to review everything before that, if I fell asleep while writing this I can hardly guarantee how clearly I was thinking." Her tail lashed behind her chair, and she hissed to herself before pushing a button to summon an executive assistant before she checked the time display. Still too early for one of her assistants to be at the office- she'd have to fetch her own accursed drink to clear the sleep from her head... She hissed softly in agitation. In some ways, the interminable war had been good to Nirapuma Armaments. The demands of defending the Empire called for a constant stream of weapons of all kinds, from the the simple pistol sidearms carried by almost any military servicemember regardless of specialty to the primary armaments of the Empire's warships and defensive stations, and in the end nobody had proved better at delivering on orders during wartime than Nirapuma, one of the relatively few business ventures in the Empire organised as a true corporation rather than as a closely-held partnership or sole proprietorship. Zahra's position as the senior executive officer of Nirapuma and one of its primary stockholders had made her very wealthy indeed. No, Zahra couldn't complain on that account. This, however, only held as long as there was still a Nirapuma Armaments and an Empire left to defend, and by now Zahra could no longer remember the last time she felt convinced this would continue to be the case. "Merciless gods, let's hold off the end another year," she hissed to herself, as she stood and stalked off to find the executive kitchen. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 00:47 on Oct 19, 2020 |
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2020 15:34
|
|
|
One hopes that a cat on a keyboard offers some entertainment value to my readers.
|
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2020 15:35
|
|
|
Winnowing Function In most ways that mattered, X-427 was the ship. True, it was not sufficient to manage all ship operations on its own, relying on its crew of Inferiors to manage tasks, but X-427 watched through hundreds of eyes inside and out, sensors sweeping the void and cameras overseeing the Inferiors enacting its will. It felt the heat sequestered in the thermal sinks by the weapons mounts and drive systems, yet to be radiated to the void during combat operations. It patiently plotted the position of the ships in the fleet it held general command over, and ventured constantly-updated predictions on the movements of the desperate Bulrathi Imperial vessel attempting to evade final destruction by the Combine's might. Before all this, the fact that X-427's body could be disconnected from the command chamber at the heart of the ship, and that doubtless this would not be the last ship X-427 was installed in mattered hardly at all. And when the Bulrathi vessel was laid open to the void and the Empire's resistance ended for now, X-427 took pride not only in its tactics in the battle but at its very personal direction of the motion and fire control of the ship its senses possessed like a god within the machinery- an expression of the Combine's might. War is a winnowing function, mused X-427. The Bulrathi social/biological model was obsolete before the war, but nonetheless the Bulrathi refused to iterate. The Combine now is acting to prune a maladaptive model and repurpose its resources- as it should. X-427 had long been an advocate of a war footing for the General Oversight Combine, and its vote had consistently been in favor of extending the Combine's reach through military action in the debates of the Council. Against the Great Empire of Bulra, at least, X-427 had found itself in the majority, and it had been quick to insert itself into a front-line oversight position for the conduct of the war, ensuring that the Combine claimed victory in space against the Great Empire. Whether the Main Combine Cycle would approve future operations to further extend the Combine once the Great Empire of Bulra was entirely dismantled and its worlds, population, and infrastructure repurposed was something X-427 was significantly less confident of. Only a limited amount of space in the core remained for the Combine to expand without conflict with other neighbors, and X-427 hoped to ensure that the General Oversight Combine would continue to expand, despite the opposition of more peaceful elements in the electorate. Between the Sakkra Nations and the Universal Mercantile League, the Universal Mercantile League has exhibited indications of conflict aversion while maintaining a significant industrial/technological base; initiating war against the Universal Mercantile League first would present an unacceptable risk factor under a winnowing function. The Sakkra Nations contain exploitable internal weaknesses, are committing forces to another conflict, and present a weaker technological/industrial base; I assess that war by the General Oversight Combine could successfully repurpose all Sakkra Nations resources given enough time. Upon end of conflict with the Sakkra Nations a reassessment of galactic situation could be made. War is a winnowing function. And the Meklar present the strongest model for continued survival in the galaxy. I must take steps to convince the Cycle. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 16:49 on Oct 17, 2020 |
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2020 16:38
|
|
|
X-427 is not necessarily representative of general Meklar sentiment- its agenda is its own. That said, perhaps X-427's future agenda may find support in the democracy of the Meklar aristocracy- it can be difficult to read the trends of Meklar public opinion.
|
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2020 16:48
|
|
|
Looks like I need a tiebreaker on whether to favor the Mrrshan or Sakkra diplomatically, then I'll wrap the vote and start playing through next update.
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2020 00:58
|
|
|
Go with the Mrrshan.
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2020 01:05
|
|
|
Mrrshan sounds like the best option. Even if they ultimately lose to the Sakkra, you'd get into a fight with the Sakkra once their expansion drifts into your vicinity.
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2020 16:10
|
|
|
Mrrshan because the Sakkra are gonna attempt to screw us over no matter which way we go
|
|
#
?
Oct 20, 2020 16:00
|
|
|
Sorry for delays. I've managed to seriously overload myself lately, and I have been having trouble finding the time to write LP updates at the same time as everything else. I'll get back to it, but don't have a schedule yet. Hope everybody is well.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2020 07:45
|
|
|
I still have a reasonably heavy load of things I'm doing, but I'm growing impatient to resume my writing. DMing for my D&D group, although fun (and stressful, hah), just isn't the same. I'm going to aim for resuming work early January. Sorry once again for the delays, and I hope all is well for everybody.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2020 09:44
|
|
|
Well, I wasn't as early to resume work as I said, but I have now sat down and crunched out the images, and will be ready to write today or tomorrow. One thing that has changed is that I've added images to the lore post on the Nyemorians, and I'll be linking the three short pieces after the last update in the index of supplemental lore. For anybody who's still watching this space- thanks for your patience.
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2021 19:18
|
|
|
Gathering Tension      By the end of 2275, it was growing increasingly clear that the Universal Mercantile League could not simultaneously maintain relations with both the New Empire and the Hissa dynasty ruling the Sakkra Nations. Following heated debate in the Assembly, with those favoring the Mrrshan pointing out the Sakkra Nations' belligerence and poor record of sapient rights while those favoring the Nations pointing to the long history of friendly relations between the League and the Nations and the precarious position of the Mrrshan, the vote eventually fell in favor of support of the New Empire. Major technological transfers were approved in an effort to stave off the eventual defeat of the New Empire, with the UML and the New Empire formally signing a non-aggression treaty that codified the mutual support of the two powers, while approval of trade agreements between the UML and the Nations were quietly allowed to lapse. The Father of Nations immediately issued a formal protest against these steps, warning that continued support of the Mrrshan could eventually result in the abrogation of the existing agreements between the Nations and the UML.      Major financial aid was granted to the New Empire in preparation for the opening of trade routes between the New Empire and the League, while ongoing trade negotiations with Human importers and exporters saw reduced profits for Gnolam firms, which had to offer favorable terms in order to finance trade with the United Republic in the midst of a modest economic slump in Human space. Still, although profits and consumer benefits from Human trade slackened somewhat, the continued trade was still of great overall benefit to the inhabitants of the League. A trade treaty returns approximately five times its cost to each party over twenty years, even before to the 25% bonus to the value of trade treaties we get for being Fantastic Traders and the bonus to trade treaty income from Camile. Given all our bonuses, we get approximately 3/8 of the cost to establish the treaty to each side each year. This means that even if we have to pay the entire cost of a trade treaty for both sides, we're still (eventually, after six years, as opposed to after three years) cutting a profit. This does not, however, stop me from wishing that we could get at least partially repaid for financing our friends' side of our trade treaties- that said, I'll do what I can to keep trade open.   Near the end of 2276, the Navy engaged in piracy suppression operations in the Wolf system. A mixed population of Human and Alkari pirates and nomads had established themselves in the system, raiding lines of commerce between the Star Empire of Altair and the United Republic. With losses to Human shipping thus halted, a brief resurgence in trade volumes led to a minor economic boom on Navok, one of the major gateways for trade from the central League systems to Republic space.     Continued work by League scientists and engineers led to a major breakthrough in shield designs by the beginning of 2277. Careful manipulation of shield gravitic elements could allow for shunting some fraction of incoming radiation into hyperspace, reducing the strain on shield generators and increasing the amount of energy that could safely be handled by shields before overloading. Although Naval vessels were yet to incorporate new shield designs, plans for modernisation of the Navy began to circulate through League naval planning offices. The following year, continued work on engineering of antimatter containment systems finally allowed for large-scale storage of antimatter, thus allowing for antimatter reactors to supply power to ship systems and for certain industrial processes requiring very high power draws. Although the base energy generation to manufacture antimatter continued to rely on industrial fusion plants, the energy densities achievable by antimatter reactors rendered them invaluable for increasingly energy-hungry ships and for industrial processes that demanded immense quantities of energy applied in very short timeframes.  By the beginning of the 2280s, commercial relations with the Klackon were beginning to falter, intensive internal industrial buildups in Klackon space leaving little surplus for trade. Gnolam financial institutions grudgingly began financing Klackon export industries, ensuring that Klackon exports would remain uninterrupted and that Klackon purchase of Gnolam products would continue on.    Meanwhile, a major counterpiracy operation in Miract was undertaken in 2281. Once again, piracy threatened the smooth flow of commerce along the rim to the United Republic, and the Navy worked to suppress this outbreak and ensure the smooth and orderly continuation of trade within the local quadrant.  Steady investment into Teziv's heavy industrial sector had slowly, over time, built up productivity on the planet, its mines, factories, and shipyards continually producing for the League. A series of process improvements in Motherlode Mining and Metals refineries ensured that the cost of refined metals for Tezivan factories had dropped to the lowest levels in history by 2282, and the volume of manufactured goods produced on Teziv rose commensurately. It seemed likely that Teziv's industrial productivity could easily match any Meklar or Klackon world.     A series of talks between New Empire and UML negotiators in eatly 2283 resulted in additional technology transfers to the New Empire, in the hopes of reinforcing New Empire scientific progress, while affirming the right of ships from both the League and the New Empire to cross each other's territory. Although the Assembly had, in general, been reluctant to grant rights of passage to other states in order to preserve claims to uncolonised worlds within League space, the risk of the Mrrshan stealing away worlds that would otherwise be colonised by Gnolams was judged to be minimal.  Later in 2283, breakthroughs made by Apocrypha Engineering researchers resulted in the development of versatile and useful nanomechanical tools for precise manipulation of materials at the smallest scales. Although falling far short of some fanciful earlier predictions of 'gray goo' self-replicating nanites, nonetheless the use of nanomachines in controlled industrial environments allowed for the development of new alloys with unprecedented strength to weight ratios, and the use of these new alloys in many industrial processes greatly reduced the mass needed for structural integrity of many structures and products. Skyscrapers could be raised supported by structural members thinner than ever before, and the development of new worlds and construction of shipping to meet the League's needs abruptly became notably cheaper. A 25% reduction to construction costs overall is, of course, a major benefit to our ability to develop our territory.  Following the development of these new alloy materials, the League's Navy began the expensive but necessary process of modernising its ships, taking advantage of new stardrives, new armor materials, and new shielding systems. Although concerns persisted that the Navy was undergunned compared to potential threats from the State of Antares, this was at least the first step to ensuring its ability to stand against this threat.    Efforts to cement relations with the Star Empire of Altair saw major progress following talks in 2284, wherein the Star Empire and the League came to a mutual recognition of each others' borders and a pledge to avoid military methods of conflict resolution between them. At this point, the League believed that its trade relations with fully half the galaxy were essentially secure, although rising political instability meant that trade with the remainder of the galaxy remained uncertain at best.  The growing volume of optronics and personal computing exports from the League to other interstellar powers continued to drive growth in interstellar trade and provide foreign exchange bringing in exotic imports from across the galaxy. In 2286, Ston Precision Computing posted its highest-ever galactic sales figures, with Ston devices being found in homes from Val to Yileria and almost every point in-between, With Camile at this level, we've now maximised our potential revenues from trade treaties with other star nations. Unfortunate that the wars going on mean that we have fewer partners to trade with than we might otherwise have.       A major deal with the United Republic was reached in 2287, Republican astrographic charts updated with data that the League had acquired through its own exploration and through exchanges of information with other races in exchange for over 100 trillion credits. Both the League and Republic left satisfied that the exchange had been productive. Similar deals were reached with the Star Empire of Altair and the New Empire in 2290, helping ensure that the League's government was able to finance its operations with a reduced burden on its general population for some time.   A breakthrough in computer architecture and safe handling of small quantities of antimatter led to the development of the 'positronic' computer in League space in 2295. Although similar to traditional optronic designs in most respects, the sheer density of computations for 'positronic' computers required sophisticated powered heat dispersal equipment driven by tiny quantities of antimatter. With the sheer power available from positronic computing, the tools available to League researchers were more powerful than ever before, while Naval targeting computers were able to be updated to a new generation. Autolabs in nuMoO are an upgrade to basic research labs, rather than a structure built separately. A major increase in efficiency, as basic research labs produce 2 research for an upkeep cost of 2 BC, while autolabs increase that to 10 research for an upkeep cost of 4 BC.   Almost simultaneously, the League's latest new colony world, Torrein, was settled in the Lirr system in the galactic core. Torrein was a nearly-lifeless world with a minimal biosphere making use of the tiny amounts of usable water found near the planetary poles, while vast, lifeless deserts covered the bulk of the surface. Although extremely poor in heavy metals, a fact that presented a challenge for local industries, the ruins of several installations from the Orion Confederation era could still be found largely buried in the sands.   In 2296, League explorers finally made first contact with the Nyemorian species. Although the Gnolams had been aware of the Nyemorians through information provided by the Klackon, this marked the first time that Gnolams set eyes on the Nyemorian homeworld of Sya in the Nyemor system. The Nyemorians were a mysterious race with a stable society ruled by the 'High and Noble Order of the Masters of the Mysteries and Powers', a technocratic elite whose towers rose kilometers above the low-rise cities of their world, hoarding their knowledge and control of the technologies for an industrial society. The Nyemorians made cursory communications contact with the Gnolam explorers, requesting that Gnolams not approach the planet. The Order of the Mysteries and Powers was in ongoing communications contact with the Klackon, providing a trickle of technical information to the Klackon in exchange for protection from outside interference.    Gnolam financial institutions were able to continue profitable deals to assist Meklar industrial and shipping concerns with financing for the continuation of trade between the UML and the GOC over the late 2290s, with estimated net profits of 140 trillion credits over the lifetime of of the loans, which provided a total of 300 trillion credits immediately to these Combine-based concerns. Construction of research facilities in the asteroids of the Origen system began in 2298. Although asteroid-based research facilities were hardly new in the League, the wealth of ancient debris and installations still able to be found amidst the asteroids of Origen was new to Gnolam researchers, and expectations were high that perhaps the artifacts found there could shed more light on Confederation-era civilisations.  In 2300, Gnolam researchers made a remarkable breakthrough. Continued refinement of terraforming methods which had long been in use with the League promised the fine control necessary to engage in extensive geoengineering on Val-like planets, helping adjust rainfall, wind patterns, and atmospheric composition to nearly eliminate desert regions on Val-like worlds, moderate extremes of heat and cold, and provide an ideal growing environment for plant life. With regions previously requiring extensive climate control opened to greater habitation and with agricultural yields boosted by the ideal environment, it was predicted that worlds so terraformed could support even larger populations with better access to cheap food, cities growing in new places, fed by ever more efficient agricultural land. This will be helpful. It will take some amount of time to get many of our worlds converted to Gaia worlds, but the added population capacity and better food productivity means we should be looking at a larger economy over time. The Universal Mercantile League and Known Space as of 2300  Although the overall size of the League's economy has increased over the past 25 years, an increase in reinvestment in infrastructure, shifts in the labor force related to terraforming, and the collapse of trade with the Sakkra Nations has resulted in a reduction of both accumulation of investment capital and in innovation compared to 25 years ago. The League has spread to Lirr while the Sakkra Nations have spread to Vijzar and Warikomi, leaving the galactic core nearly entirely claimed by three different major star nations, with a Gnolam colonisation mission already en route to Sahil. Once Sahil is secured, the only colonisable system in the core not in claimed space will be Templum, which currently plays home to a ragged community of pirates and scavengers.    The Navy currently maintains three primary combat fleets, largely updated with current technology. First Fleet, stationed at Shimari, currently has a single Adjudicator-class battleship and one Defender-class fleet escort frigate on station, although two more fleet escort frigates are en route and should arrive shortly. Second Fleet, near the Combine border at Guad, currently contains two Adjudicator-class battleships and two Defender-class fleet escort frigates. Third Fleet, stationed on the border with the Klackon in the Sena system, currently contains two Adjudicator-class battleships, two Defender-class frigates, and has a third battleship en route. Furthermore, Third Fleet is stationed at the heaviest border defense station in the League, and has had Lilka and her Raiders attached as special operations elements. All three fleets are intended to be reinforced to three battleships and three frigates under current plans, although Naval procurement has stalled in the face of major terraforming projects. Jump gates at Guad, Kakari, Shimari, and Montone aid in Naval redeployments, although the jump gate network is still patchy within the League- Naval planners believe jump gates at Hoshi, Taurio, and Scutulums would allow for quicker, more direct hyperspace voyages to any corner of the League.  A Naval Suppressor-class counterpiracy frigate is on station in the Lirr system, ready to intercept incoming pirates to protect Torrein before heading to suppress this piracy at the source.     Although Val remains the wealthiest world of the League, its population has contracted slightly as new colonists have departed to settle new new worlds. It now stands at slightly under 13 billion persons in population. Despite a major modernisation of the laboratory equipment available to its researchers, innovation on Val has slackened as major efforts have been sunk into geoengineering of the planet. Subterranean agricultural complexes supplement Val's surface agriculture, boosting yields and helping ensure an even more stable food supply. The terraforming of Val is expected to be completed in about 16 years, allowing the homeworld to become even more hospitable to Gnolam life than it was when the Gnolams arose upon it.    Establishment of subterranean agricultural complexes, although it has helped cement Stevas' food security, stresses the capacity of the local economy to supply the infrastructure further. Corporate research labs and universities have been undergoing a process of upgrading computer equipment and installing the latest experimental apparatus. Despite its relatively small population, Stevas remains a heavily-developed world that makes extensive contributions to the League's science.     Over the past 25 years, Tessin, already a major financial and industrial center, has had its food supply supplemented by major subterranean agricultural installations, set up a major space elevator that can help with bringing materials into orbit for its shipbuilding industry, and set up a series of shield generators that could, potentially, serve as a final line of defense against Antaran attack. Local research departments are in the process of a major upgrade cycle for computer equipment, which should help with continued innovation on the planet. Stevas continues to host several major optronics and positronics manufacturers critical to Gnolam exports, and is one of the single most economically-important worlds of the League.    Eglein has managed to rebuild its shattered defenses, and the establishment of a network of chemical processing plants for industrial waste has allowed it to safely increase its employment in heavy industry to approximately 250 million persons. The Alkari defector Ariaa has been appointed head of the Eglein Planetary Police Organisation by the local governments on Eglein, where she has proven to be an efficient and incorruptible servant of the law. Training programs for law enforcement she has introduced have been emulated across many League worlds, helping maintain standards of professionalism and strengthening internal affairs departments to help hold corruption in check. Eglein's position as a heavily-populated, highly-developed world along major trade lanes into the United Republic has helped encourage the development of Eglein's place as a center of the interstellar financial industry, with many new banks and commodities exchanges in the process of establishing themselves on the planet. The internal security bonus from Ariaa applies League-wide, which is better than I anticipated. We're pushing very close to managing level 4 security base League-wide.    The population of Navok has stabilised at approximately seven billion persons, and now supports additional armed satellites and a network of planetary shield generators to help ensure planetary security. The planetary economy continues to struggle with maintaining existing infrastructure, although the growth in population has helped it to keep up with increased demands. Construction of major subterranean agricultural complexes on Navok is nearing completion, this expected to help greatly reduce needed agricultural workforce to ensure the local food supply. It is anticipated that terraforming to bring Navok closer to a Val-like standard may begin within the next few years.     Eydin's population has grown to about 13 billion, population growth then tapering off. The planet hosts a major interstellar financial industry and modern subterranean agriculture, helping provide prosperity and abundant harvests for the teeming population of the planet. Work has begun on setting up a network of shield generators to generate a planetary shield, insurance against the ever-present threat of the Antarans. Eydin is undoubtedly one of the most important worlds of the League, heavily-developed, prosperous, and happy.    Teziv's economy remains heavily-supported by the revenues from its shipbuilding sector, which is one of the primary sources of Naval and commercial ships in the League. There has been a lull in Naval shipbuilding while local engineering research laboratories upgrade to the latest computers and apparatus, and a major program of terraforming to help render the planet more habitable and fertile than ever before is planned. Considering Teziv's small size and immense industrial capacity, this terraforming project is anticipated to be complted after only about seven years of work. Soon, however, Teziv shall once again be turning out ships to reinforce the Navy, helping bring it up to full planned strength.    Sluyen was already a well-developed world housing 13 billion citizens of the League along with major industries and financial centers, but, over the past 25 years, it has further implemented modern subterranean agriculture and a network of planetary shield generators that could help protect the planet from the hazards of an Antaran attack. Major modernisation of the computer equipment used by its research sector is under way, and plans have been drawn up to begin terraforming Sluyen to a true paradise of a world.   Massive investment into infrastructure on Skeggi over the past 25 years has left it increasingly dependent on off-world imports, but the planet has seen the establishment of oceanic research platforms helping provide raw scientific data, subterranean agricultural complexes intended to- eventually- feed a constant stream of emigrants leaving the planet, strengthened orbital defenses and low-gravity shipyard facilities on Skeggi's moon. Modernisation of Skeggi's research sector will only further increase its reliance on external exports, but may help push the League's scientific and technological frontiers ever further outward. Plans to terraform the planet to a new, super-fertile state and establish a major space elevator to help cement the planet as a center of future colonisation efforts remain in the future.    Tarvaal's population has grown by almost two billion persons to over twelve billion over the past twenty-five years, and remains strong. Emissions capture and scrubbers installed on factories on Tarvaal has allowed it to safely expand its heavy industrial employment to over 200 million persons, and it has seen the introduction of a fully-modernised communications infrastructure, multiple armed satellites for planetary security, and a major interstellar financial industry that has helped efficiently allocate investment capital and ensure a more prosperous standard of living for Tarvaal's inhabitants. Development of subterranean agricultural facilities is expected to have immense benefits to Tarvaal's food security, and it is anticipated that continued improvement of pollution treatment on the planet may allow for a further expanded heavy industrial sector to fuel Tarvaal's future development.    Nevan's population has grown to approximately six billion persons, helping make the world somewhat more self-sufficient despite the demands of the industries to support active soil chemistry management by farmers and modern cloned organ transplant facilities in hospitals across the planetary surface. The long, slow process of terraforming Nevan so that it will become a dry garden world is under way. Nevan, although not the match of the more developed core worlds, is nonetheless now a fairly well-developed with a reasonable standard of living, which will only be improved as the planet develops a more hospitable climate and biosphere.    Genein's population has grown to just over four billion persons inhabiting the sealed cities on this lifeless world. Uptake of modern optronics for appliances and entertainment has made life more convenient and provided new options for entertainment for the population, while industrial fusion plants provide power for cities and industries and subterranean agriculture help to provide for the increasing needs of the population and industry. Police organisations across the planet have adopted modern genetic tracking technologies and forensic methods, while a reserve force of ground troops serves as a backstop against potential alien invasion or civic unrest. The planet is being terraformed by introducing water and a biosphere, and it should have a marginally breathable atmosphere and open-air agriculture within the next twelve years.   Tollesen's population now exceeds two billion persons, even more heavily-dependent on specialised external imports than they were twenty-five years ago. Tollesian industry has been fully-updated with modern robotics and automation, greatly improving industrial output, while massive atmospheric processing facilities have finally captured the reactive compounds previously comprising the atmosphere and reducing it to a safe, inert atmosphere- unbreathable but providing some level of protection against radiation. Major industrial fusion plants have begun to be established on Tollesen, providing the power needed by the planet's growing needs, but fusion power coverage on the planet remains incomplete. Tollesen remains, at best, a marginal contributor to the greater League, but has great potential for further growth.   Lassen's population now exceeds three billion, with agricultural employment grown to over 100 million persons to feed the growing population. Modern robotics has bolstered its industry, while industries to produce the chemicals and equipment for soil chemistry management are just now going into wide adoption, anticipated to lead to greater harvests over time. Plans are already in place to help serve growing power demands on Lassen with the construction of a network of industrial fusion power plants. Lassen is still only a minor world of the League, but one that is anticipated to fairly rapidly increase in importance.   Ryhen, the gateway to trade with the Degonites and with the Klackon, has doubled in population over the past twenty-five years to six billion persons. A new network of gravity generators reduces the felt gravity on Ryhen to more comfortable levels, fusion power plants support the planet's cities and factories, and modernised hospitals and access to modern consumer optronics and entertainments has made the quality of life here higher. A heavy industrial workforce of over 200 million continues to develop the planet, currently modernising industries with the state of the art in robotics and automation. Although development on Ryhen is fairly limited compared to the League's core worlds, its position on the trade lanes and its extensive population nonetheless make it a valuable contributor to Gnolam civilisation.   With a population increased to over two billion persons and a modernised fusion-based power grid and industrial robotics in place, the industrial capacity of Surren has grown dramatically over the past 25 years. External investment has only increased in importance here, although the development of specialised local export industries and modernised cargo ports should help ensure it can at least partly offset its ongoing costs. With the basic economy largely cemented, it is anticipated that local quality of life will improve with better access to consumer benefits over the next 25 years.   The infant colony of Torrein is still almost entirely clustered around its landing settlements, with extensive surveys having identified the few most viable mining sites on this mineral-poor planet and providing raw materials to the colony. The primary export of Torrein remains, at the moment, archaeological data on the ancient ruins sifted out of the planet's sands, although improvement of the local industrial base and provide somewhat more efficient factories is well under way.  Over the past 25 years, gross galactic product has grown by approximately 18.2% while the League's GDP has grown by approximately 19.6%, bringing the League's share of GGP from about 32.9% to 33.3%. Competition for interstellar economic influence has remained fierce. Although League-based multistellar corporations dominate the international economic scene, Meklar industrial firms and Human corporations also hold strong positions, while Klackon trade enterprises provide a surprisingly large amount of the raw materials traded in galactic commodities markets.  LIIS, although it has performed effectively in ensuring the League's internal security against espionage, has lagged on its promises of updated intelligence on the worlds possessed by other star nations. The efforts to reform policing spearheaded by Ariaa have helped further secure the League's safety against espionage and crime, and LIIS believes that soon the League will be more secure than ever before.  The recent breakthroughs in terraforming promise a notable expansion of the League's economy, but other potential breakthroughs lie on the horizon. Proposals for the Universal Mercantile League Research Proposals The Navy has expressed an interest in supporting further work on the physics of hyperspace, which may allow for enough refinement of the designs of hyperspace phase cannon to allow them to effectively replace current standards in Naval designs and justify a new Naval design contest. It is believed that even further study into hyperspace physics may allow for communications across the League with mere seconds of transmission delay- which not only will aid official governmental and military communications, but may lay the groundwork for even further improved economic integration of the League. Continued work into artificial gravitics, creating regions of space with massively distorted space-time, may permit the development of a new generation of mass driver weapons, far more effective, in theory, than any weapons seen before. Creation of entirely novel organisms and direct editing of Gnolam genetics may allow for new medicines that permit dramatic improvements in longevity not reliant on the old, very expensive longevity therapies up until now used by Gnolam elites. Meanwhile, continued developments in spaceframe engineering could allow for the potential of even larger military vessels or refinements to ship design that better take advantage of the massive amounts of power generated by antimatter reactors. Massive industrial engineering projects could either help manage the waste generated by massive industrialisation more effectively or create massive mining tunnels into planets that would provide nearlyy-unlimited raw resources for industrial projects. Please vote between Multi-Phased Physics, MULTI-DIMENSIONAL PHYSICS, DISTORTIONAL FIELDS, Artificial Life, Astro Construction, High-Energy Distribution, or TECTONIC ENGINEERING. Research into Multi-Dimensional Physics necessary requires research into Multi-Phased Physics, research into Distortion Fields necessary requires research into Warp Fields, and research into Tectonic Engineering necessarily requires research into Astro Construction. Secondary Research Priorities- High Energy Distribution The massive power now available from antimatter reactors could allow for several improvements to existing ship architectures. Major restructuring of the power transmission architecture of a ship could allow for significantly reduced overhead on cabling and power management systems, leaving more displacement on a ship for mission equipment. On the other hand, dedicated secondary reactors set up for individual weapons systems combined with systems that lose less power as heat could allow for existing cannon on ship to take advantage of greater power draw than ever before, making essentially any form of cannon able to be more powerful and destructive. Please vote between Megafluxers, for more ship displacement, or High Energy Focus, for more powerful cannon weapons, when High Energy Distribution is researched. Secondary Research Priorities: Tectonic Engineering Stable excavations reaching down to planetary mantle layers could have potentially massive effects on Gnolam industry. On the one hand, disposal of hazardous materials into the planetary mantle would be relatively straightforward, allowing for safe industrialisation of planets to a degree not previously possible. Restructuring waste management methods on Teziv would, doubtless, reduce the expense of maintaining Teziv's industrialisation at its current levels. Using such excavations for mining purposes, however, would be decidedly more complex, but would allow access to a near-unlimited supply of raw materials. Although the challenges of waste management may mean that this leads to little more industrial output on the League's most heavily-industrialised worlds, it nonetheless would allow for more efficient use of labor, maintaining the output of these worlds with a significantly reduced heavy industrial workforce. Please vote between Core Waste Dump or Deep Core Mine for Tectonic Engineering. Core Waste Dump will allow upgrading existing Pollution Processors, increasing upkeep costs from 3 BC per turn to 5 BC per turn, and increasing pollution cleanup from 15 to 150. This would allow decommissioning of the Recyclotron on Teziv, with its 4 BC maintenance cost, thus making for a small savings in maintenance costs on Teziv (and other mineral-rich worlds that would eventually build a Recyclotron). A Deep Core Mine greatly increases the productivity per unit of industrial labor, at the cost of 10 BC upkeep. It would only really make sense on our most industrialised worlds, but would allow us to reduce the amount of population dedicated to heavy industry and get better research or population growth thereafter. Naval Policy: Fleet Composition Currently, the planned composition of First, Second, and Third Fleet is to eventually be three battleships and three escort frigates per fleet. It is possible these fleets could be expanded, either by increasing the escort element, adding an additional battleship, or commissioning new heavy battleships as flagships. Each fleet currently costs 15 command points to maintain; we have 49 additional command points to play with, although some may well end up spent on border forts, colony ships, and, possibly, troop transports. Please vote between current sizes per fleet, adding an additional escort frigate to each fleet (increasing the cost per fleet to 16 command points), adding an additional battleship to each fleet (increasing the cost per fleet to 19 command points), or commisioning new heavy battleship flagships for each fleet (increasing the cost per fleet to 21 or 25 command points, depending on whether we research Astro Construction before we commission the flagships). Naval Policy: Number of Fleets With the League spread over an increasing number of stars, it may require additional fleets to secure its borders. Please vote between commissioning no, one, or two new fleets over time. Naval Policy: Fleet Dispositions Naval fleets are currently posted at Shimari, Guad, and Sena systems in an effort to protect against potential Antaran attacks and from threats by more conventional astropolitical rivals. The Assembly may request posting locations for new fleets, or request redeployment of existing fleets. Advance any proposals you have for fleet dispositions. For now, the League continues to enjoy peace and prosperity, with its only declared war being far away with no shots fired by League forces. Whether this can continue to endure in the face of escalating astropolitical tensions is an open question. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 16:55 on Aug 12, 2021 |
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2021 21:39
|
|
|
Apologies for that very long delay. Hopefully I'll be able to be more regular from here on out, and hopefully I still have some readers left.
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2021 21:43
|
|
|
Not to worry, I'll always be here to shitpost about how you should be carving a path through the galaxy in fire and blood.  But for the votes, for Research Proposals I am going with Astro Construction, because bigger ships means more guns, and that's always a good time! For Secondary Research Priorities, this is basically where you decide your military doctrine from here on out. Megafluxers benefit ships of all sizes, and equipment of all kinds, albeit indirectly via just letting you have more of it. The High Energy Focus takes space and a Special slot and only helps guns, but it helps them a lot. The bigger your ship, the more it helps. You can't mount it on smaller ships, or at least not usefully so, but your smaller ships are either pushing over pirates or shooting down missiles, and neither needs enormous quantities of firepower for that. So with that in mind, High Energy Focus gets my vote. Missiles maintain their power much longer in nuMOO than MOO2, and have more use by the end of the game, but even so, gigantic gun banks have more fancy stuff to help them out than gigantic missile batteries. Which is not to say I won't propose a missile boat at some point, it's just going to be lower on the priority list. Tectonic Engineering is a rough choice to make, because the Waste Dump will let you just stomp the accelerator on all of your planets and not give a poo poo, whereas the Mine will let you turn out ludicrous amounts in a hurry (but oof do you pay for it on the back end when you have to clean this poo poo up). To that end, I am going for Deep Core Mine so that when you get that new heavy battleship designed, you can get them into service more quickly. Hopefully you can trade it to someone you trust or can take in a fight so when they get to that research node, they'll have to take the Dump and you can buy or capture or steal it off them. As you can guess from the last vote, I am going for a new heavy battleship to be the flagship. Not just because I think having big ships is cool, but because a bigger ship is less likely to be lost in combat, especially if you build it tanky. And in my experience, attrition is a real bastard. When you combine a new heavy battleship with my completely unsurprising vote for two new fleets, this is going to be a bit of a ding to your economy for a bit as you turn out these rad new ships, but oh well, being the biggest kid on the block isn't easy. Plus having a lot of big fleets convinces everyone that messing with you is probably not in their best interest. My preferred disposition for the fleet is "in the skies of Ssla  " but since I don't really see that happening any time soon, I don't have an opinion. Their current deployment seems perfectly fine for responding to threats.
|
|
#
?
Mar 24, 2021 23:22
|
|
|
The Tectonic Engineering thing is one of the few absolute trolls the tech tree throws at you, by the point in the game when you're researching this you're drowning in pollution and the Waste Dump is the only sensible choice. While it's great that as the Gnolam you make back more than usual from trade treaties, the way the game's diplomacy is broken it's still preferable to try and trade with everybody and make great friends, even the freaking Silicoid can be buddies with everyone utilizing this tactic.
|
|
#
?
Mar 25, 2021 01:25
|
|
|
News All Day Network posted:... the acquisition by Bortis Shipping and Logistics of Connections Communications Laboratories has been followed by increased investment in... Multi-Dimensional Physics. Fountainhead Energy Project Proposal to the Navy posted:PROJECT THUNDERBOLT High Energy Focus. News All Day Network posted:... a new company on Teziv gathering investment for experiments in innovative means of industrial waste management, Abyssal Waste Dispoal... Core Waste Dump. Nian Bortis, to the Assembly posted:The growth of the League has resulted in the growth of demands on its Navy, and the passage of time has further strengthened the capabilities of our competitors. We must not overburden our citizens, true, but the Navy is critical to the continued security and freedom of the League, and it must not be entirely neglected as the League continues to grow. A new escort frigate per fleet and one new fleet to be stationed at Lirr so as to better cover the Sakkra border.
|
|
#
?
Mar 26, 2021 15:01
|
|
|
While I'm at it, it's been a long time since I've updated; any requests for lore stuff to make up for the absence?
|
|
#
?
Mar 27, 2021 15:12
|
|
|
Overheard during a Nutris Thinktank meeting posted:"But there has to be a way!" Artifical Life Megafluxers Core Waste Dump News All Day Network posted:-deny allegations of belligerence, stating that "Violent conflict resolution directly conflicts with Nutris corporate charter", and that the lobbying effort is merely due to the catering contracts Nutris has in place with the navy- New Heavy Battleship for each fleet Two new fleets Fleet Stance: be ready to bulli the lizards Advert Jingle posted:Catsnack~!
|
|
#
?
Mar 28, 2021 20:21
|
|
|
BHSL R&D Propasals posted:
Research: Astro Construction into Tectonic Engineering. Secondary Research Priorities: Energy Focus Core Waste Dump BHSL R&D Propasals posted:
Secondary Research Priorities: Energy Focus BHSL R&D Propasals posted:
Naval Policy: Two new fleets, new big battleships as flagships for each. Naval Policy: Fleet Dispositions N/A Groetgaffel fucked around with this message at 22:53 on Mar 30, 2021 |
|
#
?
Mar 29, 2021 21:31
|
|
|
Having not played this game, how far off are we tech-wise from defeating that dreadnought guarding Orion? Would it be worth the cost to throw ships at it?
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2021 17:14
|
|
|
Victis posted:Having not played this game, how far off are we tech-wise from defeating that dreadnought guarding Orion? Would it be worth the cost to throw ships at it? It's technically doable fairly early on, but the Gnolams are roughly at the point when you're approaching the situation where you can just destroy that thing without giving it much actual thought. That said, the League would have to invest major production resources for fleet-building for a good number of years (turns), and that might not be the most prudent choice right at this particular interjection. The planet Orion is very, very good in terms of game mechanics, but it's still not precisely an "I win"-button, and frankly it takes a bit of irritating micro-management to really get going by the time you're usually colonizing it. The Orion system was much better in MoO 2 in my opinion, but there was some randomness involved and it also took a lot of microing to really get going, so  I don't think capturing Orion has negative diplomatic consequences in this game, but I'm not exactly sure. It's in a good position for the League, so there's no hurry about it, I think.
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2021 17:33
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 25, 2024 04:03 |
|
|
Artifical Life Megafluxers Core Waste Dump New Heavy Battleship for each fleet Two new fleets
|
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2021 18:30
|
|