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Coolguye posted:Should I write up a 1000ish word summary of the important stuff thus far to ease people into this? It strikes me that reading the entire thread would be rather daunting. It would be rather useful. Especially for new readers who want to participate in the current discussions but haven't yet read through the entirety of the thread yet. If someone has a lot of free time it might even be a good idea to go through and do a broad time-line with links to important events so that it's easier for people to refer back to things without wading through the entire thread in search of a single post. Though I'll stress that it really should be only attempted if said person really, really wants to as the level of work involved in such a thing would be pretty immense as it would effectively require re-reading the entire thread and summarising all the official posts and a small percentage of background chatter in case it's relevant.
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Mar 30, 2014 15:52
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You're right, which implies to me that the wiki might be a better place for something like this. At least that way I could get a basic thing for new people done quickly, with refinements coming as they showed up in-thread. For example, my recent misremembering of the automaton behavior could've been put in to a timeline of important events. Best get in touch with BG about a wiki login that I've been delaying forever on getting.
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Mar 30, 2014 16:09
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Coolguye posted:Should I write up a 1000ish word summary of the important stuff thus far to ease people into this? It strikes me that reading the entire thread would be rather daunting. Maybe do that and send it to bgreman so he can quote it in the OP.
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Mar 30, 2014 17:26
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Coolguye posted:Should I write up a 1000ish word summary of the important stuff thus far to ease people into this? It strikes me that reading the entire thread would be rather daunting. Only one word is necessary: "hubris" It pretty much sums up our game so far.
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Mar 30, 2014 17:43
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For what it's worth, I once made a start on a similar project, though that quickly died as I ran out of free time: http://bgreman.com/AuroraLPWiki/History
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Mar 30, 2014 18:17
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Zeroisanumber posted:Maybe do that and send it to bgreman so he can quote it in the OP. That was precisely the idea.
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Mar 30, 2014 19:31
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I would like to volunteer myself for whatever glorious death awaits me in the depths of space! So sign me up as a Naval Officer!
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Mar 30, 2014 20:51
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AMARDA posted:I would like to volunteer myself for whatever glorious death awaits me in the depths of space! So sign me up as a Naval Officer! I saw that name all in caps at the end of the thread, and my first thought was 'Oh crap, massive alien fleet posting in the manner of the Kaavi Shard'.
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Mar 30, 2014 22:24
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 Since I think I forgot to vote on this - UNIN is in favor of the Lyell-B design - yielding to Councillor Aethernet's expertise in this field.
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Mar 31, 2014 00:27
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Coolguye posted:Should I write up a 1000ish word summary of the important stuff thus far to ease people into this? It strikes me that reading the entire thread would be rather daunting. I did that after finding the thread during the Mars Crisis. I just had to go back and see how things lead up to that point. It's a fantastic read.
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Mar 31, 2014 01:11
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HisMajestyBOB posted:I did that after finding the thread during the Mars Crisis. I just had to go back and see how things lead up to that point. It's a fantastic read. Post it again, would you please?
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Mar 31, 2014 01:30
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Coolguye posted:Post it again, would you please? No such summary was written. "I did that" is referring to the reading of the entire thread.
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Mar 31, 2014 02:37
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Oh, gotcha. Alright, fair enough.
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Mar 31, 2014 02:47
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Coolguye posted:Should I write up a 1000ish word summary of the important stuff thus far to ease people into this? It strikes me that reading the entire thread would be rather daunting. To: ROC el Presidente Coolguye From: UNCAO Kommando Re: The history of Space Part 1. What a delightful suggestion. I recommend conferring with the UNEW to devise an impartial historical document of events and persons in the TNE Age up till now.
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Mar 31, 2014 05:32
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Gnooble posted:
UNCAO Abstains from voting on Lyell designs.
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Mar 31, 2014 05:34
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Kommando posted:To: ROC el Presidente Coolguye To: ROC Grand Poobah Coolguye CC: UNCAO From: UNEW Re: Re: The history of Space Part 1. As per my predecessor in this humble office's recommendation, I will be happy to assist in your endeavour.
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Mar 31, 2014 07:36
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THE MIND AND THE COMMUNITY MYTH by CMDR Markus C. Z. (Part 1 here) 2. Modus Operandi: What the Mind believes and does The Mind's belief system is in its core a conservationist one. It believes there were universe-spanning civilisations in the ancient history - called "the First Ones" and "the Second Ones" – which collapsed due to exhaustion of TNE elements. We are currently in "the Third Ones" age, and all current civilisation is a mere shadow of those mythical times. The current era allegedly started with the foundation of the Galactic Community by a long-lost race of "the Third Ones" or "the Gardeners". The goal of this mythical Galactic Community was to coordinate the preservation of the remaining TNE elements in order to prevent yet another collapse of civilisation. Again, there is no reason to believe that any of this is true. It is a mythical story, there is no actual evidence of those ancient civilisations, and noone – not even the Mind – has ever physically encountered the Gardeners or their original Galactic Community. What actually happened, as explained in the previous chapter, is that a relatively "simple" hivemind civilisation which we now call the Mind discovered the jump point theory and was quickly hit by the jump-hallucination effect. During the hallucinations, the Mind "heard" the aforementioned story - the Community Myth -, quickly accepted it as the basis of its belief system and set out to recreate the mythical Community in reality. Upholding the hallucination-imposed imperative of TNE conservation, the Mind now actively scours the galaxy for intelligent life. Whenever it finds an advanced civilisation, it gives it a choice to accept the Mind's leadership. Civilisations that decline are "blockaded to their home systems" or "pruned" - the actual terminology applied by the Mind varies but it most probably means "war". Civilisations which accept must adhere to various limitations. So far we know of these: - Adhere to a budged that defines maximal allowed consumption of TNE materials. - Limit insterstellar travel, the reasoning being that it unnecessarily consumes TNE materials. - Pay a regular tithe of TNE materials to the Mind. - Accept the Mind's guidance. Presumably this means that the Mind sends observers to the subservient civilisation's planets and "advises" it on its policies, steering it towards a more accepting mindset over the course of several centuries or millenia. The reward for civilisations that prove sufficiently amenable is their "acceptance" into the Mind's community, whatever that means - it is however doubtful that even "accepted" civilisations are allowed to break their TNE budgets and intertellar travel limitations. The Kaavi Shard posted:The Mind is what you might call the Executive Body of the Community. Its role is to enforce compliance with the Community Tenets and to seek out and give Guidance to new members. The whole setup eerily reminds us of the old feudal systems of medieval Earth. Invoking its divine right to rule, given to it by a hallucinated Galactic Community – very much akin to feudal kings who derived their rights from the God -, The Mind acts as the overlord of its collection of vassals, offering them guidance and protection, and expecting tithes and obedience in turn. This whole feudal pyramid is referred to as "the Community", modeled after the mythical - and nonexistant! – Galactic Community of jump hallucinations, and composed of the Mind at the very top and its vassal races below. It is important to understand this hierarchy - the Mind is not a mere member of a larger organisation of equals. Instead it is THE master and commander. To rephrase again: The Mind has created its own "Community" of vassal civilisations in the image if its God - the mythical Galactic Community. From the talks with the Kaavi Shard it becomes clear that there is nobody above, or even partner to the Mind. While the Mind tries to obfuscate this fact by speaking about a greater Community of equal members all striving for a common good, this should be understood as "all minions are equal to each other, but subordinate to the Mind's rule". The Mind seems completely unable to comprehend any notion of friendship, partnership, alliance or trade relations - a civilisation either accepts its rule and limitations, or is "pruned". During the millions of years since its initial expansion, the Mind has evolved sophisticated methods of finding and subordinating more and more civilisations. When a civilisation accepts the Mind's "guidance", it is expected to continue the search for other intelligent life on its own, and then help to bring that life into the fold. The Belnar, as a minion race to the Mind, were exactly this, and they were supposed to monitor the humanity and nudge its evolution in the desirable direction. God only knows what would happen to the humans if the Belnar haven't vanished to an unexplained accident millions years ago, which broke contact between the local observation post on Mars and its homeworld. But even before the Mars garrison died off, it had managed to set up for us an archive of valuable information... but also a beacon that would alert the Mind of our presence. We now know that the bomb that has exploded during the fight against Belnar automatons was in fact a signaling device, letting the Mind know that another spacefaring civilisation has appeared in this corner of the universe. The Mind's worlds were alerted, ships were sent this way and several years after, the UN has encountered the vanguard of the Mind's forces searching for the Earth. It seems that sufficiently acculturated vassals are eventually offered absorption into the Mind - that is into the hivemind organism that serves as the overlord of the whole arrangement. We now know that the organism is composed of many distinct species all connected via technology and genetic manipulation into a single consciousness, a biological supercomputer, a Mind. While the original, ancient Mind has presumably evolved from a single race on a single planet, millions and millions of years of space expansion and assimilation of other species made it into the today's conglomerate of various lifeforms. And while absorption to the central Mind is allegedly not enforced, the choice is again from two evils - either be absorbed, or remain a vassal race forever. It is unclear how large the whole pyramidal "Community" or its overlord the Mind are. The Mind itself claims that there are 23,299,833 races recorded as having been accepted as members. It is an actual number? Is this a lie made to intimidate us? Or is this merely a number quoted from the hallucination-based Community Myth with no grounding in reality? Having only seen a single ship, albeit technologically advanced, of the Mind's, we cannot verify the veracity of any of its claims. In any case it is clear that we are dealing with a very dangerous enemy - and it is no doubt an enemy, because the offer of "serve us or be destroyed" is not one that can lead to partnership and mutual understanding. One should keep in mind that the Mind's whole modus operandi is based upon its religious beliefs. The Mind honestly beliefs that by enforcing its own leadership on the rest of the galaxy, it is helping to preserve TNE elements and prevent the collapse of civilisation... at least its own civilisation. Other civilisations, those vassalised or absorbed, may not find the TNE savings and anti-collapse protection that worthy. ======== Aside of the article: I don't think we need to hear any more from the Mind but I would still suggest a single question to the UNFRAD and TACT team. Can you please ask the Mind the following: "Do you have any contact with any other civilisation that is not a member of the Community - either an actual one or a probationary one? We know that we are one such civilisation. Are there any others? Do you cooperate or trade with them?" Establishing a research team to closely study the jump-hallucination effect, as proposed by UNRL councilor Aethernet, should be our other top priority. markus_cz fucked around with this message at 16:12 on Mar 31, 2014 |
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Mar 31, 2014 15:43
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bgreman posted:links That is... more updates than I expected.
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Apr 1, 2014 02:34
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Volmarias posted:That is... more updates than I expected. Some of them are pretty short. An update encompasses about two weeks on average, but the early years went by very quickly compared to the last three.
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Apr 1, 2014 03:57
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SpicySchnitzel posted:I'm only on page 68, it literally takes months to catch up in this unbelievably long and awesome LP. If the UN still exists at this point I would like to enlist as a Naval Officer. AMARDA posted:I would like to volunteer myself for whatever glorious death awaits me in the depths of space! So sign me up as a Naval Officer! Done. UNS Leyte: Sol-K2 Jump Point, 30th May 2036, 18:13 UTC  UNS Leyte loses its active lock on FEK Hanoi as the Federation vessel moves outside the range of Leyte's "Jove" tracking array. Hanoi was last seen still moving toward Allen at 2857 kps. New orders come in for Abra and Glasgow, diverting them toward the asteroid IAU-A145 until the conflict with the Federation is worked out. Glasgow is still more than eleven days out from the asteroid, while Abra should reach it within 18 hours. On a larger scale, UNIN orders 1st Fleet to Readiness State 2, recalling the Training Squadron to Callisto and putting all ships in an elevated alert stance. The Training Squadron will take nearly 60 hours to return from its maneuvering exercises. UNS Abra: En route to IAU-A145, 30th May 2036, 19:13 UTC  An hour after loss of contact, Hanoi reappears, this time on the "Warbler" anti-missile sensor aboard UNS Abra. The Federation corvette is only 1.1m km from Abra, though their courses are divergent: Hanoi is still on a course for Allen, while Abra is heading for IAU-A145. Hanoi remains within Abra's sensor envelope for less than an hour before disappearing again.  Earth: Camp da Silva, 1st June 2036  UNGF activates the 93rd Mobile Infantry Battalion at Camp da Silva. At the same time, the 34th Infantry Division is disbanded and its officer cadre sent to da Silva to begin retraining as the 97th MIB. Elsewhere, representatives from UNSA and UNFRAD finalize another technology transfer with the Republic of Cornucopia. The UN hands over detailed technical instructions for improvements to TNE mining apparatuses, while Cornucopia provides improved boron crucible control software and plumbing diagrams that will allow terraforming installations to increase gaseous output by 20%. On Mars, Polkovnik Yashin provides an update on the conflict in the Martian hinterlands. A major battle has taken place on the rocky plains of Noachis Terra, with Federation forces inflicting massive casualties on still-retreating BFM militia formations. Yashin estimates that the bulk of the fighting will be complete within a week, with only policing actions required afterward. Martian administrator Ivano Tretyakov sends his thanks to the UN for the temporary use of UNAS Mayflower to provide humanitarian aid to those displaced by the fighting. Mayflower will arrive at Mars in just over two days. Gnooble posted:To: KADM Arman Melnikov, TsSF From: KADM Arman Melnikov, TsSF To: UN Director of Defense, Gnooble Re: Asteroid 151 There is nothing overtly military about our presence (current or intended) on this asteroid. We merely feel it to be a strategic vantage point from which to observe the Jump Point and ensure the safety of Earth and Mars. With that said, and after conferring with my government, we would be amenable to a joint military depot on the asteroid, with separate but coordinating facilities. We will grant space on the asteroid for the UN's portion of facilities, gratis, with the expectation that UN facilities be removed following any campaign against the ETI in K2. No weaponized facilities will be permitted, but fuel, spares, and munitions are allowable. Officer Attribute Increases
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Apr 1, 2014 23:19
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bgreman posted:From: KADM Arman Melnikov, TsSF No Arman, thats not how it goes. You dont plonk down a listening station beside our wormhole and expect us to clear out once it is safe. We are the custodians of this gate, not you. You should remove your gear following the elimination of the ETI in K2.
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Apr 2, 2014 01:24
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Kommando posted:No Arman, thats not how it goes. You dont plonk down a listening station beside our wormhole and expect us to clear out once it is safe. We are the custodians of this gate, not you. You should remove your gear following the elimination of the ETI in K2. "Make us  "
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Apr 2, 2014 01:27
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Yeah i'm not incredibly amused by it either but you gotta bear in mind they can see most traffic from Earth/Mars DSTS stacks anyway and we are parking our 'astronomy vessels' off their own JP so it wouldn't do to complain too loudly. That said the admission it is just a listening post is good, means they dont really have a claim to it under the relevant articles. I say put a DSTS or two there and drop off a MI batallion with our cruiser squad and monitors providing escort.
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Apr 2, 2014 01:30
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Could we install a massive signal jammer?
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Apr 2, 2014 01:45
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bgreman posted:with the expectation that UN facilities be removed following any campaign against the ETI in K2. No weaponized facilities will be permitted, but fuel, spares, and munitions are allowable. First, we would be very dumb to put the fuel and munitions there, where the Feds can get them with just some strong-arming. Second, tell them that while we may be clearing out the K2 aliens in the future, it doesn't mean that more of them won't show up and try to reach Earth, so we definitely won't be removing our facilities after that. Can we build a PDC on asteroid A145? Claim is there for first strike capabilities in case the K2 aliens show up here, but could also be used to keep a check on the 151 Feds.
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Apr 2, 2014 01:47
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Volmarias posted:"Make us We will have a joint battlegroup transiting back from K2, hopefully still with fish in the tubes. Its our back yard.
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Apr 2, 2014 01:56
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I am nervous about that, we will likely use most of our ordinance on the Aliens. That said we can send the Guams back to pick up a reload easily enough. All the asteroids are too far from the Jp sadly for PDC's.  
Saros fucked around with this message at 02:08 on Apr 2, 2014 |
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Apr 2, 2014 02:00
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Might not be a bad idea to have colliers on-station just inside of K2 to reload the ships returning to Sol. I'm probably paranoid in thinking that the Feds would jump our ships on the transit home, but better paranoid than dead.
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Apr 2, 2014 02:03
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"We appreciate the bravery and willingness of the Federation to sacrifice one of their fleets to buy the Sol system time, but we must insist Civilians be kept far away from the danger zone next to a point of potential invasion."
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Apr 2, 2014 02:03
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Nothing paranoid about that. Time and time again, the Feds have shown that if they can get a leg up on us, they will. Blockading/Shooting our taskgroup after they clear the K2 system would be well within expectations.
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Apr 2, 2014 02:06
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Like I have always maintained its not paranoia if they really are out to get you.
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Apr 2, 2014 02:11
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bgreman posted:From: KADM Arman Melnikov, TsSF To: KADM Arman Melnikov, TsSF From: RADM George Stansberry, UN 1st Fleet Re: Asteroid 151 Acknowledged. We will be turning long term discussions about the asteroid to our diplomatic corps, but will attach UNS Abra as a temporary station until our joint base is established. To: All Fleet Commands From: UN First Fleet, Ragnarok Subj: Stand Down Return to Readiness 4. Training Squadron to resume operations. Stand down to automated defenses. To: UNS Abra, UNS Glasgow From: UNIN Ops Re: A151 UNS Abra will move to escort UNS Glasgow until delivery of tracking station and crew is complete, at which point UNS Abra will continue to picket A151 with active on while UNS Glasgow returns to UNRL control.
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Apr 2, 2014 04:18
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UNS Glasgow to resume original mission Hah! I suspect that the Federation may have actually made a mistake, either through paranoia or miscalculation. If they want to tie up assets on a worthless rock with little or no strategic value, let them. Given that we can never be sure the systems beyond K2 do not contain monsters - and as a minimum cannot be sure that the hulks of the ships are safe until we have salvaged them - we now have an excuse to maintain the DSTS in perpetuity. I would be careful to ensure that in our response we say that we will recognise the Federation's sovereignty until they remove the automines, though. No need to prevent them from wasting resources.
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Apr 2, 2014 07:09
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bgreman posted:From: The Office of Ayaka Yamamoto, President of the Lunar National of Tranquility From: President Calvin Grant, RoC To: President Ayaka Yamamoto, LNT Re: Trade Enclave After clarifying some of the language with your staff, I feel we are very close to a deal here. I would ask for two relatively small changes - the RoC would far prefer it if we could receive 30% of the sum of the lunar infrastructure, instead of 20%. Our in-house infrastructure industry is relatively small so this represents an extremely rare opportunity to get direly needed hardware for the Pallas asteroid that I will be hard pressed to obtain otherwise. The 50% nationalization of the other enclave infrastructure is acceptable, with the understanding that the 'half a research lab' you would be technically entitled to will be 'the actual research lab'. Further, after conferring with Dr. Ceballos, she has expressed a keen interest in the economic modernizations you are also interested in. This is great for the spirit of our agreement, but the letter, not so much. I am amenable to housing a research station on the moon, and I am amenable to having it restricted only to work that benefits the civilian sector. However, the RoC currently benefits greatly from tight integration of our research facilities earth-side. It allows Maya Ceballos to have the maximum impact a woman of her genius can have. Collaborating the lunar and terran stations, I've learned from my staff, is a logistical impossibility. So, I would ask that the lunar research requirement be modified to something of the effect of: "At any one time, no fewer than one Cornucopian-controlled laboratory must be researching technology of benefit to the LNT", as opposed to specifically designating the lunar station. This is probably kind of what you had in mind anyway, but I'd rather throw any misunderstandings out the airlock early. If you are alright with this we will probably also need to agree upon what else is appropriate civilian research, for what that's worth. Barring an unfortunate accident, if Maya Ceballos sets her mind to this work it will be done well before what my office has been terming Garden Day - that is, the day a human will be able to walk unprotected on the lunar surface. Most sincerely, Calvin Grant
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Apr 3, 2014 23:02
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UNS Abra: En route to IAU-A145, 1st June 2036, 7:33 UTC With a preliminary agreement reached with the Federation regarding a joint presence on Allen, UNIN 1st Fleet HQ redirects Abra to rendezvous with UNAS Glasgow and escort the freighter back to Allen. The two ships will meet in about three and a half days. The rest of the fleet is ordered to a reduced alertness and Training Squadron is permitted to resume its fleet training maneuvers.  Later in the day, UNAS Arthur C. Clarke and her escorts arrive at the Sol-Zhongguo jump point. Before beginning rift stabilization, CMDR Jesenjin, CO of UNS Midway, reports that their navigational sensors have revealed the presence of a single Skory 36, accompanied by a lone Moskva 31. "Sir, we are receiving a hail from the Skory," announces Midway's radioman. "SUFME protocol." "Put it through," replies Jesenjin. "This is Kommodor Rana Biswal aboard Bystry. Welcome to the Zhongguo jump point. As per the terms of the agreement, we will be moving 10,000 km from the jump point. Also as per the terms, you are prohibited from running an active sensor within 50 million km of the jump point. "It's fairly quiet out here, Commander, and we'd like to keep it that way. I look forward to a trouble-free collaboration. Incidentally, my XO runs a weekly poker game for the senior officers of our vessels, and we would like to extend an invitation to the COs of the UN task group. It may make for englightening conversation." "Thank you for invitation, Kommodor," answers Jesenjin. "We will consider it." "Please do. Biswal out." Three hours later, the Ceballos Device aboard Arthur C. Clarke begins spinning up. CMDR Critic of the Dawn's XO, Lieutenant Daniels, informs him that the stabilization process will be expected to take about 305 days according to the commander's ambitious project plan. The ships of the formation idle their engines and prepare for a long, ten month assignment, while the Federation vessels move 10,000 km away and do the same. Being outside the range of the basic navigational sensors of the UN ships, the Federation task group disappears from sensors. Elsewhere, the Federation civilian freighters arrive at Allen and begin unloading their cargos. The Federation Battle Division is still en route, some 16 hours out. Iapetus: BP Saturn HQ, 2nd June  BP Saturn announces the expansion of its operations on Iapetus by another ten mining installations. While exact numbers are hard to come by, there is speculation that the number of private mining contractors on Mimas and Iapetus may outnumber the Federation population on Titan. On Mars, Polkovnik Yashin reports that a crushing blow has been dealt to the BFM armor formations. Trapped on the open plains of Noachis, the obsolete armored fighting vehicles were no match for Federation TNE-equipped mobile infantry battalions and attached close air support. Yashin announces that the armor formation has been completely destroyed: all its vehicles rendered combat inoperable and all its personnel killed, surrendered, or scattered into the southwester hills. She goes on to reveal that the BFM officer in command of the armor is highly suspected to have been killed in the assault, but confirmation is pending. Shortly afterward, UNFI receives an encrypted transmission from the Martian hinterlands, bearing the credentials of CMDR Prof. Snark. It is an intercepted transmission from a surviving BFM armor officer to the officer in charge of the remaining BFM infantry.  Attached is a brief transmission from Prof. Snark himself: "Confirmed. It's him." bgreman fucked around with this message at 07:41 on Dec 31, 2014 |
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Apr 4, 2014 22:38
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bgreman posted:Attached is a brief transmission from Prof. Snark himself: "Confirmed. It's him." It is one of many clones of him! 
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Apr 4, 2014 23:24
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Kill him!
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Apr 4, 2014 23:45
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Is the 'It's Him!' referring to that it's Shrike Soman who's dead? Or have we found Korbalev?
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Apr 4, 2014 23:48
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