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Explore the surrounding area. Maybe we can salvage some equipment from the Unity that crashed near here. Priority two is to build ourselves a home here. And, Galt be praised, there are substantial mineral deposits nearby. Let's get a mine up ASAP so we can start producing the creature comforts we so desperately lack. I feel the need for a glittering gambling hall to spend my hard earned company scrip on.
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Jan 19, 2015 16:43
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Morgan talks the talk, but he doesn't actually walk the walk very much when it comes to libertarianism. At least whenever I play him.
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Jan 19, 2015 16:52
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Perhaps not, maybe we should rectify that! As of this moment, I hereby demand that we become true libertarians and make our currency the solid gold bitcoin. 
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Jan 19, 2015 17:01
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NewMars posted:Perhaps not, maybe we should rectify that! You crazy ? The computational power required to get the last bitcoin would grind our company to a halt.What is this amateur hour ?
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Jan 19, 2015 17:23
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Lokapala posted:Basically what Added Space said. I'm thinking the reason we're not doing Lal is because Lal is never relevant.
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Jan 19, 2015 17:45
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On a somewhat-related tangent, Sid Meier's releasing a spacefaring game sometime this year. Explore, at least enough to find out what's in those pods. Might be useful.
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Jan 19, 2015 17:46
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Fangz posted:Morgan talks the talk, but he doesn't actually walk the walk very much when it comes to libertarianism. At least whenever I play him. I never thought he talked the talk, he sounded and acted more like a 19th century industrialist. Albeit one that was conducting horrible genetic experiments in the privacy of his corporate labs.
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Jan 19, 2015 17:58
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sullat posted:I never thought he talked the talk, he sounded and acted more like a 19th century industrialist. Albeit one that was conducting horrible genetic experiments in the privacy of his corporate labs. I like the idea that his underlings talk the libertarian talk and he just nods and smiles.Fools
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Jan 19, 2015 18:02
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ManxomeBromide posted:I take, ironically, some small hope in the toxicity of the local lifeforms. With luck we will be recognized to them as equally toxic. If we are both compatible and tasty, I think we're doomed. I do not foresee us able to fight off an entire biosphere, and if our immune systems can't defeat them and need to be deployed to do so, we'll be living in bubbles until we can terraform all of Chiron. I can't see that happening even if we managed to keep Unity together. Hear hear! I propose we take this idea a step further, and develop technology to explore new agricultural methods. Once we have worked out the basics, we can assign colonists to dedicated Terrain Improvement Task Forces which will be tasked with improving the production of our farms. Right now, food is the resource in highest demand. By placing ourselves at the forefront of supplying that demand, we can reap the benefits for generations to come. This is basic economics, people. --Chief Integration Coordinator Dakarai Kaapanda
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Jan 19, 2015 18:09
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Lamadrid posted:I like the idea that his underlings talk the libertarian talk and he just nods and smiles.Fools "Why, of course Morgan Enterprises is a Libertarian paradise! Have a look at our public security forces that keep the peace, our wide roads lined with power lines and wireless cell towers, and our highly efficient power plants, all wholly owned and operated by top-level divisions of our company! We also offer very competitive rates on health insurance, disaster insurance, and retirement benefits. And if the citizens of our paradise happen to pay Morgan Enterprises with one simple pan-Enterprises bill, well, that just makes good business sense! The thought of these bills being mandatory may rankle some, but after all, everyone benefits from proper security and infrastructure! This is a Libertarian paradise indeed!"
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Jan 19, 2015 18:15
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Setting Down Roots  With resources waiting to be claimed and with shortages looming on every side, Morgan ordered out 'Rat Patrol', the rag-tag assemblage of security forces and volunteers that was the Pod 5 colony's first armed force, sending them to salvage the Unity cargo pods identified in the area. What soon became clear is that the nearest 'cargo pod' was nothing of the sort, but a strange complex consisting of a series of low, single-room buildings around a central monolith of an unknown material. As Rat Patrol approached the monolith, they felt a strange clarity of thought penetrate them, helping to scour away fears and uncertainties. What is more, it soon became apparent that when humans were in the vicinity of the monolith, processes went into play in the buildings in the complex around it. In some buildings, surfaces increased to a terrible heat, which allowed for equipment to be set up for a heat-exchange power plant. In others, small samples of elemental metals periodically appeared in what must have been some sort of receiving station, which could be collected for industrial use. And in the soil in the area around the complex, plants grew healthily, despite the sparse rainfall of the region. The monolith complex swiftly became the center of extractive operations outside of the settlement, helping to make the settlement's resource situation somewhat less precarious. Monoliths, in addition to their strange effects on military units, change the base resource output of their tile to 2 nutrients, 2 minerals, and 2 energy, although other improvements to the tile cannot be built on monoliths. Unit morale level indicates how well-trained and disciplined the unit is, and provides a percentage bonus to both attack and defense in combat.  A year after planetfall, a garrison force for the initial settlement was established, some of the stockpiled industrial materials Pod 5 brought with it consumed to ensure that this security force was in place. Not only was the security force armed with newly-manufactured copies of the standard 7.62mm UN assault rifle, they were equipped with heavy body armor with alloy trauma plate inserts intended to stop rifle rounds. Fighting from a prepared position, these troops should be able to hold out against most threats. Units have their combat strength when attacking determined by their weapon, and their combat strength when defending determined by their armor. It is perhaps a bit strange both forms of equipment don't influence both forms of combat, but there you have it. Small arms, which are all we have, have an attack strength of 1. Units without armor have a defense strength of 1, and synthmetal armor, representing basic armor alloys permitted by an industrial base, has a defense strength of 2.   By 2104, settlers under Lars Torrson had established a second settlement on a river flowing into an inland, freshwater sea south of the primary settlement. Morgan had encouraged a policy of letting settlers buy out Interim Development Corporation assets to establish their own independent ventures, and some people had begun to trade in their stock shares to do exactly that. Torrson and the people following him were the largest single example of this, buying out a large portion of IDC assets to set up their own interim development corporation at the new site, which immediately set to establishing their own garrison force and scout force with their local industry. Meanwhile, Rat Patrol had discovered that yet another of the 'cargo pods' identified was another monolith complex, and turned to seek out the last cargo pod near the primary settlement.  By 2106, the work of researchers in the Pod 5 colony had begun to show progress. A policy of seeking developments with immediately commercially-useful application was balanced with support of pure research that might yield fruit further down the line. With blind research, the only way to direct research is by choosing general priorities towards Explore, Discover, Build, and Conquer. Our priorities as things stand will be Discover and Build, although the inherent randomness will mean we will also have a chance to acquire Explore and Conquer applications.   The so-called 'Xenofungus' consists of hard, almost stony crimson tubules, growing together in heaped tangles reaching anywhere from 2 to 25 meters in depth. An unprotected human can be slashed apart by the edges of the fungus, if they move incautiously. Either picking over the surface or crushing a path through are painfully slow processes, and the oppressive dread and strange subaudible 'hum' experienced by people near xenofungus makes the procedure even more grueling. With these difficulties, it was only in 2108 that the pod in the fungus near the primary settlement was recovered. What was found in the pod was a thing of horror. Most animal species on Chiron encountered so far were small, relatively inoffensive creatures living amongst the photosynthetic plants that grew away from the xenofungus. A writhing mass of 10 cm worms with sharp teeth, far different from these harmless creatures, had nested in the pod, ruining the delicate laboratory equipment inside. They bore down on Rat Patrol, and as they approached, the formless dread experienced in the xenofungus was multiplied into vivid and horrifying hallucinations of torture, terror, and death. Much of Rat Patrol was utterly paralysed in horror, while others inflicted losses on their own comrades as they opened fire on nonexistent threats. Only a few retained a grasp on reality, forming a firing line that shredded many of the worms as they bored into the skulls of their helpless victims. When the battle was over, the worms had been destroyed, every worm still burrowed into a human skull dispatched by knife or close-range fire. The few survivors of Rat Patrol salvaged what equipment they could from their fellows, staggering back to the settlement to rest, recover, and be reinforced with new recruits, and to submit a recommendation for making incendiaries for easier dispatch of the worms if they were to be encountered again. Mind worms attack via psi combat, which ignores weapon and armor strength, instead giving the attacker an effective 'weapon' strength of 3 and the defender an 'armor' strength of 2. Morale effects still apply, so discipline and training is vital to psi combat. Defending against psi combat in xenofungus is even more difficult, as the xenofungus amplifies psi attacks.   In 2109, the Pod 5 colony made major breakthroughs in understanding of their new environment. A variety of small and inoffensive land, air, and water animals live on Chiron, remarkable in little except for the amazing symbiosis they display with the photosynthetic flora of the planet. The organic-rich soil with dense nitrates has led to a remarkable array of subterranean life adapted to the anoxic environment, recycling organic mass and 'breathing' nitrate. As a side-effect of this subterranean life, development of fossil fuels on Chiron has been severely retarded, with only very limited fossil fuel formation over its history. The crust, at least, is relatively rich in thorium, as was Earth's, and a combination of thorium extraction from sands combined with high-altitude solar facilities in the regions of highest illumination from Alpha Centauri should be able to handle the energy needs of the colony. Measures to adapt soil chemistry to Terran plants should allow for higher-efficiency farms, geological survey can help identify mining sites, and, remarkably, a mix of trees which should be able to thrive on their own and spread across the land has been identified. Xenofungus, although a formidable obstacle, can be crushed, blasted, and cleared to allow for exploitation of the land beneath. One of the biggest irritations of SMAC was the idea that solar power would be primary in a civilisation that clearly retains fission power, but solar collectors, the structure to collect energy on tiles, remain altitude-dependent for output. Given the output of solar power, the fact that Chiron isn't supposed to have greater luminosity recieved from its system primary than Earth, and the energy manufacturing cost of solar collection apparatus, it strains my credibility to the breaking point to have solar as the primary power source. Having solar to supplement a thorium-based energy economy, however, is more reasonable.  Designs for huge engineering and construction vehicles to establish needed improvements outside of the settlements are finalised. These 'terraformers' will help develop Chiron into a more suitable home for humanity. Formers allow for the construction of tile improvements, and are vital to building thriving settlements.  That same year, scouts sent out from Torrson's settlement encounter workers in a terraforming team from Pod 1. With contact established, radio communications are set up between Morgan's provisional HQ and Deidre Skye's own command center staffed by her inner circle of biologists and geologists.    Although Skye is mistrustful of the Pod 5 settlers, she is willing to consider establishing an agreement to respect the Pod 5 colony's borders and permit civilian traffic for the purposes of trade over the borders. With this business concluded, the scouting party from Torrson's settlement turns back, heading back over the borders in compliance with the treaty. A treaty of friendship requires you to respect the borders of the faction you have treatied with, and allows basic commerce between your settlements- not that we have bases large enough to generate any commerce revenue yet. It essentially is an agreement of nonaggression and trade.   With travellers able to visit the Pod 1 colony, some idea of the differences between the societies of the two colonies can be observed. While the Pod 5 colony has a (admittedly still rudimentary) cash economy and has been slowly developing internal markets, resources in the Pod 1 colony are strictly rationed. The living space developed for Pod 5 settlers seems positively palatial next to the living quarters built for the Pod 1 colony. Skye's leadership has encouraged careful consideration of the native life, and, despite their terraforming efforts, disruption to native species has been minimised. Their strong staff of biologists and geologists has allowed them an early start on understanding of the conditions of the planet and terraform to adapt it to human needs, and a program of universal mandatory recycling helps them minimise waste. Skye and her cabal of leadership treat military duty as a punishment detail, and motivation and loyalty amongst the Pod 1 security forces is very poor. Each faction gets a unique set of advantages and disadvantages, reflecting their general cultural bent, so that even with the same 'social engineering' reflecting societal choices, their society will take on a different flavor. Both of our factions have Frontier politics, a Simple economy, and Survival values, reflecting a struggling frontier society without terribly developed institutions. When possible, Skye's followers will take Green economics, where Morgan's will take Free Market economics. Choices conflicting with a faction's particular agenda can and will cause diplomatic tension. Morgan Industries is always somewhat more market-oriented than the default of its Social Engineering would indicate, and gains +1 to its ECONOMY rating, producing more raw energy income, as well as a bonus to commerce income. They allow their citizens a greater share of wealth for consumption by default, and so their settlements are limited to size 4 rather than the default size 7 without investment into expanded habitation facilities and the support businesses to supply them, and their SUPPORT rating, indicating how easy it is to support military units out of a military budget, is reduced. They start with 100 extra energy credits and the Industrial Base technology, reflecting their supplies of industrial materials and the expertise Morgan and his closest followers bring. The Gaians, as Skye's followers eventually become known as, have a stringent dedication to ecology and recycling, increasing their PLANET and EFFICIENCY ratings by 2, and increasing the base nutrients of fungus tiles by 1. PLANET influences interactions with the native life in various ways, and EFFICIENCY reduces losses to lopsided energy allocation or settlements far from the headquarters. Skye has a very poor respect for her military, and the Gaians suffer -1 MORALE and -1 POLICE. MORALE influences the morale ratings of your military units, and POLICE measures how effectively the military can be used to enforce order. The Gaians, due to their biological and geological expertise, start with the Centauri Ecology technology. The Social Engineering screen also is where one determines the allocation of energy between Economy, Labs, and Psych. If the percentage going to Economy and Labs is too lopsided, the energy allocation will suffer efficiency losses, although high EFFICIENCY can mitigate this. The Pod 5 Colony as of 2110  Morgan's settlement and Torrson's settlement control the northwestern shores of the Freshwater Sea, while the Pod 1 colony controls lands along the southern shores of the Freshwater Sea. A monolith complex near Torrson's settlement began to dissolve the fungus around it when it activated, although the rest of the countryside of the colony is still poorly-developed. Exploiting the monolith complexes has helped allow a more stable supply of resources, and the dominance of the Interim Development Corporations over the economy is slowly dissipating as settlers buy out their own ventures and develop internal markets. Most of the original stockpiles of industrial materials remain for disposal, and should help accelerate development in the future. Health problems from overpressure, environmental toxins, and stress due to xenofungus exposure remain endemic in the colony.  Morgan's settlement has grown significantly over the past ten years, and is nearly ready to dispatch another group of settlers to establish a new settlement. Investors in the new venture are being sought, seeking new opportunity elsewhere. The first monolith discovered near the settlement remains the center of activity for workers beyond the settlement, providing raw materials and energy for processing in factories and fueling human activity. Rat Patrol has arrived and is being reconstituted as a coherent unit, having suffered severe losses in the field.  Torrson's settlement, with fewer monoliths to take advantage of, has begun work on the first terraforming vehicle in the Pod 5 colony. Its own monolith remains a hive of activity. The costs of maintaining both a garrison force and a scout force weigh on the settlement's economy, stressing the relatively limited military budgets. Units supported from a settlement beyond the limit allowed by the factional SUPPORT rating- currently, our SUPPORT of -1 allows one free unit per settlement- cost 1 mineral each in upkeep cost. Although the monoliths have helped make existence somewhat less precarious in the Pod 5 colony, resources still remain very short. The minimal populations of both the Pod 5 and Pod 1 colonies limit commerce between the colonies to an insignificant trickle. Survival is precarious, and the discovery of the 'mind worm' leads to dire questions about the threats of life on Chiron. The new colony mission soon to be dispatched from Morgan's settlement yet awaits a leader and CEO for its own Interim Development Corporation, and the continent of Pholus still remains largely unexplored. nweismuller fucked around with this message at 19:02 on May 27, 2016 |
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Jan 19, 2015 18:40
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Bobbin Threadbare posted:"Why, of course Morgan Enterprises is a Libertarian paradise! Have a look at our public security forces that keep the peace, our wide roads lined with power lines and wireless cell towers, and our highly efficient power plants, all wholly owned and operated by top-level divisions of our company! We also offer very competitive rates on health insurance, disaster insurance, and retirement benefits. And if the citizens of our paradise happen to pay Morgan Enterprises with one simple pan-Enterprises bill, well, that just makes good business sense! The thought of these bills being mandatory may rankle some, but after all, everyone benefits from proper security and infrastructure! This is a Libertarian paradise indeed!" The faction has a Free Market agenda, and I will make damned sure it actually is a free market when it actually gets that social engineering. I am taking a somewhat more nuanced view of many of the factions, so they actually operate as actual societies. You'll see how things develop.
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Jan 19, 2015 18:42
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Do you need us to vote/air our grievances on anything? I think you're doing fine so far - Hooray for not losing a unit to mind worms! - so just keep on trucking.
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Jan 19, 2015 19:00
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There's no formal voting procedure yet. As our Social Engineering develops further, formal methods for thread participation will be increased. The main thing I need from somebody is a credible candidate for the CEO of the new IDC for the next colony pod, so we can name our next settlement.
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Jan 19, 2015 19:02
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Morgan, No, I don't know what the hell these things are or why they attacked us or how they triggered the fear centers of the Rat Patrol's brains without so much as a by-your-leave. I know it wasn't a "psychic" attack because psionics isn't an actual thing in real science. What it is we have yet to determine, but try to tell your people that it's not "psionic;" I'd hate for that to catch on. We're still analyzing the samples the patrol brought back, but all we can really tell you right now is "fire bad," something the Rats have already figured out for themselves. I understand why you gave funding priority to the terrabiologists--I appreciate eating real food as much as the next man--but you of all people should know that it takes money to get results. I await the quarterly budget report. Chief Hal Kimberley, Ph.D., Morgan Xenobiology Department Morgan, No, I will not act as a liaison for Dr. Skye. I know we're from the same field and have similar backgrounds, but I quite simply cannot comprehend anyone who goes camping and thinks that it's somehow better out there than in a human settlement. Has Dr. Skye ever had to face down a surly bear? Did she ever catch malaria on a trip to Africa? No, Mr. Morgan, I chose to work for you because Dr. Skye is too idealistic and unlike Dr. Zakharov I don't think scientists have any business running a government. You, on the other hand, understand the value of highly skilled work and you know how best to reward it. So please let me stick to my field and leave diplomacy to the diplomats. Chief Hal Kimberley, Ph.D., Morgan Xenobiology Department Morgan, Twist my arm, why don't you. Fine, but transmissions only; I'm worried I might catch Skye's stupidity virus if I have to visit one of her compounds in person. Chief Hal Kimberley, Ph.D., Morgan Xenobiology Department nweismuller posted:The faction has a Free Market agenda, and I will make damned sure it actually is a free market when it actually gets that social engineering. I am taking a somewhat more nuanced view of many of the factions, so they actually operate as actual societies. You'll see how things develop. The joke is that a corporation with a monopoly is identical to a government with a monopoly.
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Jan 19, 2015 19:32
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Bobbin Threadbare posted:The joke is that a corporation with a monopoly is identical to a government with a monopoly. Yeah, I know, it ABSOLUTELY is. Which is why I think it's my responsibility to not go with a simple 'corporate monopoly' depiction once we hit Free Market economy, because a simple corporate monopoly would be a Planned economy.
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Jan 19, 2015 19:35
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Re: treaty of "friendship" Morgan, while reading over the terms of the treaty, although we are required to respect the current claims of Ms. Skye's venture, there is no proviso for establishing new claims... Given that, I recommend that we send colonists to "cut" Ms. Skye off from expanding northwards. Even if the colony is not an ideal location, it might allow us to settle our areas in peace. Unless of course another expedition has landed to the north.
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Jan 19, 2015 19:59
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Dr. Kimberley, As requested, economic analysis of the Pod 5 colony as a whole is attached. The Morgan Settlement Interim Development Corporation continues to account for a portion of this output, until we can wind down the role of the Interim Development Corporations. CEO Morgan, Morgan Settlement IDC  
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Jan 19, 2015 20:40
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Re: Fw: Re: Security Vetting Mr. Morgan, I am writing to you today to protest the treatment of my me and the rest of the Tellus Cooperative at the hands of your security department. I understand that security screenings and similar procedures are necessary, especially this close after establishing contact with the occupants of another cryo pod, but the way that your staff has been harassing us is simply beyond any acceptable form of human decency. We have been repeatedly denounced as hippies, publically denounced as terrorists and accused as saboteurs, or a fifth column. I do not think that I need to remind you that none of us have ever been convicted for any crime even remotely related to these charges, despite several judicial proceedings which claimed that these baseless accusations were truth. Yes, my fellow members of the cooperative and I ended up on cryo pod 5 by accident and were headed for cryo pod 1, we have however come to terms with this mishap and have been productive members of this society since Planetfall, and now we would like to exercise the rights given to us in the colonial charter and monetize our shares to purchase the necessary equipment to establish a new settlement west of Torrson ventures and north of the Gaian territory to stake our claim on this brave new world in the name of the interim colonial government of Morgan Industries. signed Hubertus Grünfeld Head of the Tellus Cooperative
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Jan 19, 2015 20:49
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Mr. Grunfeld, I sincerely regret the difficulties you and your compatriots have had at the hands of the security services. Such a hostile environment hardly makes for a productive and profitable relationship! Buying out shares is of course possible, and can be handled according to the standard procedure. As soon as you have a full complement, you can head out to claim the territory you wish to settle, although I do not guarantee you will be the first settlers out of the established settlements. All depends on when a mission can accumulate the resources and people to set up their own new settlement. CEO Morgan, Morgan Settlement Interim Development Corporation I am going to see if there are any other people interested in settling other sites before I make the final decision as to who is the sponsor of this next colony pod. If people want to support a specific colony venture, I will allow voting on the question to sway the decision, representing other investors and settlers throwing their resources in to a particular colony venture. So far only the Tellus Cooperative, west of Torrson Ventures, is a candidate.
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Jan 19, 2015 21:01
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The thing about Morgan is that Morgan, unlike every other faction, has little or no gameplay reason to ever go free market. What Morgan does benefit from is Green economics. Whenever I play thus I am always friends with Deidre.
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Jan 19, 2015 21:15
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Internal Memo, Morgan Settlement Interim Development Corporation: If the Tellus Cooperative wishes to try to establish a viable colony on this planet, let them. I would even go so far as to call it a good idea. They will be out of our hair, and in the unlikely event that their venture succeeds, their productivity will benefit us through the contracts they will have signed. Also, I would like to thank everyone who offered their condolences on the death of my son during our patrol's encounter with the so-called "mind worms". A week is a sufficient period for mourning though, and I am ready to work again. I would appreciate if the speculation about my use of stimulants stops. --Chief Integration Coordinator Dakarai Kaapanda
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Jan 19, 2015 21:22
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Pavel Zhilin, personal log files 2101.05, accessed 2110.10 posted:Tried to raise my concerns in the common mess. People are still thinking in earth terms. No getting through these... go-getters. But, where's a will, there's a way, right? If only we had open communication networks, recruitment would be so much easier. But I have a new intern eager to learn, so that's a start. The whole "Microbiology Team Lead" title without a team to lead was starting to feel like a joke. Pavel Zhilin, personal log files 2103.08, accessed 2110.10 posted:Why did I listen to Mark, why! I should've gone to Deirdre, whatever her brand of crazy is. At least there I could be certain that people around me understand basic containment protocols. But no, "I have a contract, dear", "If everyone reneged on their deals there won't be a civilization to speak of". Guess what, "dear", if anyone actually bothered to honour our "civilized" agreements, we'd be united under Yang, seeing as he was second in command and all. Pavel Zhilin, personal log files 2106.02, accessed 2110.10 posted:That's it, I'm putting my foot down, no more field work at the monolyth. No matter what we do, that thing makes no sense. Let the engineering crew do their shamanic dances around it, I don't care anymore. It works, it's useful, nobody died, and as long as everyone keeps up the decon procedures, it probably won't blow up in our faces. Pavel Zhilin, personal log files 2108.10, accessed 2110.10 posted:So... That happened. Pavel Zhilin, personal log files 2109.07, accessed 2110.10 posted:We're done. Finally. All those years of silly bickering, fighting over processing power, losing work to power outages. The confusing samples, the deceptively simple data sets, the slow unfolding of the bigger picture. My Kimberley. Hal. Whatever our differences in the past, we both want this endeavour to prosper. You must understand as well as I do that we cannot go on as we had in the past. It's a miracle our current machines can even run the modelling software we use. If we are to go on and make progress, we need better infrastructure. We need new servers. We need a distributed network, we need reliable communications with other settlements and with the field teams. You know I'm bad at this stuff (yes, I admit it), but you're not and that's why you're chief of staff here. Get us the funding and the industrial capabilities. I talked to everybody and our group is willing to put our shares towards this if it will help speed up the process. If this venture will need wider support, oh, I don't know. Promise them the Internet. If there's one thing this colony needs, it's an easy access to stupid jokes and cat videos. The stress levels are suffocating. - Pavel Zhilin. Lokapala fucked around with this message at 15:38 on Jan 20, 2015 |
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Jan 19, 2015 21:23
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(Ah, screw it. Nothing like a bit of IC fun.) Mr. Morgan, I believe this is the first time I have contacted you since the initial floating of Atlas Neuroscience. Allow me to extend my sincerest gratitude and appreciation for what you've done since Chironfall in erecting the beginnings of a society based upon entrepreneurial spirit, something sadly lacking in many of the other pods. I'm contacting you today to discuss your recent share buyout scheme and the claiming of territory, as I am exceedingly interested in the proposal. While I understand Dr. Kimberley's hesitation about these... worms sighted in the Xenofungus, he is perhaps a little bit too hasty to dismiss reports of "psionic attacks". Although human brains are - as far as we know, more on that in a moment - unable to project any kind of psychic ability whatsoever, Chiron clearly plays by significantly different rules regarding the biology of its denizens. Do we honestly have the knowledge from a single incident and sample of the alien creatures that attacked Rat Patrol to say that their neural structures and functions are the same as a Earth creature's? No we do not, and from what I've heard down in the xenobiology labs it might be a little while till we can in fact know for sure. Still, let's not get too ahead of ourselves here. Even assuming the attack is not psionic in nature, something about the worms is clearly having a detrimental effect on the psyche of our operatives in the field. From the reports, it sounds like the operatives were paralysed with intense, unnatural fear, which sounds to me like something is triggering a reaction in their brains. I have several psychologists ready to interview the Rat Patrol survivors and perhaps carry out some MRI tests, should they be willing. What I am getting at here is that if we can find the source, Mr. Morgan, we can shut it off. The worms from what I could gather seemed fairly.. well... pathetic without this paralysing terror on their side seeing as how the few - badly shaken I might add - survivors of Rat Patrol were easily able to kill the rest of them, so if we were to annul their greatest weapon we could almost completely eliminate the threat the worms pose. There is also the matter of the Monoliths. Aside from being factories of indeterminable origin, they also seem to have a mental strengthening effect - almost akin to the difference between green untested scouts and disciplined professional soldiers. We believe this effect is what allowed the Rat Patrol to survive the attack from these quite frankly horrific creatures. All of this is conjecture and hypotheses based upon initial impressions and preliminary studies of course, as I haven't had as much time to study any of this as I would like. With that in mind, I would like to announce that I, Dr. Joseph Gartner, CEO of Atlas Neuroscience, am buying out colonisation shares for a colony to the immediate west, past the Xenofungus - or rather, in its midst. From there, we will continue our studies and report back as we discover anything new. signed, Joseph Gartner, M.D. CEO of Atlas Neuroscience brb on fire fucked around with this message at 21:38 on Jan 19, 2015 |
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Jan 19, 2015 21:34
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Dr. Gartner, I must say that if you can identify the mechanism that the worms use to attack the mind, whatever it is, you can almost certainly be guaranteed a contract helping keep our security forces safe from those things. Losing more people to what this planet passes as 'nature' is totally unacceptable, and whatever we can do to thwart it is a top priority in my book. I will not see us all get killed by some repulsive worms! CEO Morgan, Morgan Settlement Interim Development Corporation
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Jan 19, 2015 21:43
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"This is insane! Utterly insane! First we're told some primitive alien stonehenge is able to fork over energy, nutrients, and raw minerals, then most of the Rat Patrol dies to alien worms? Alien worms with psychic powers, no less! Forget what Morgan's pet xenobiologist says, we're dealing with psychic powers being used by monsters! Fungal clumps taller than trees back home, worms that drive people nuts, and alien monoliths? Something's very wrong here. Something is up, I tell you, something is up! Now, I'm just a factory worker, a family man, a grunt, but I know when I'm being fed bullshit when I see it. If anyone knew Chiron, it was Dierdre. If anyone knows what's going on, its Dierdre. Morgan's content to keep to himself and make a bigger and better lit room for him and his, that's fine, but Dierdre knows something, and I'll be damned if I'll wait for any more of my friends to get chewed up by alien freaks to find out! Storm Pod One! Find out their secrets!" --Anonymous Drone Rioter, Datalinks.
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Jan 19, 2015 21:56
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Morgan, If you can get those hippies out of my hair and into a colony pod, I will sign away my Christmas bonus, and that is not a joke. They think we should concentrate on understanding the "mind worms" despite the clear evidence the monolith complexes provide that we are not the first visitors to Chiron--that or there's intelligent life still out there that turns its lights off at night, since we didn't see any settlement lights during the orbital pass. I mean, what do you think represents both a greater potential threat and a greater potential opportunity: boils of mindless, psychic (god, I hate that that's caught on) annelidoids, or an intelligent species whose ruins use technology currently beyond human understanding? Chief Hal Kimberley, Ph.D., Morgan Xenobiology Department
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Jan 19, 2015 21:56
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CEO Morgan, With respect to my colleagues, the monoliths are a mystery that can wait. They've been waiting for God knows how long already, and aren't actively trying to kill us. The same cannot be said for the worms, and moreover they appear to be rather representative of native lifeforms if the things our research/fishing boats have been catching are any indication. Many of them resemble the Cnidaria phylum on Earth, and more specifically the Anthozoa class: sea anemones, corals, and the like. If something like mind worms are liable to form colonies like corals, or God forbid we find free-floating siphonophores, any naval endeavors are probably going to run into a shitload of trouble. And by 'trouble,' I mean 'lots of people dying horrific deaths.' Which, all things considered, we'd rather not do if there's no point to it. With respect, Dr. Maria Valdez, Applied Maritime Solutions Ltd.
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Jan 19, 2015 22:19
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I am still trembling after the encounter with those...those things.I never felt that before.I sense of dread and just pure fear gripped my mind for a few seconds. Some ran away,others lost it right there....Kaapanda just tried to dig to get away like a dog but the worms got it. I stood my ground.I exercised my will and went through all the actions that the patrolling drills taught us.Up your rifle, aim down the sights, squeeze the trigger.Got them, got every single of those things and then understood.Thomas was at fault, he was trying (weakly i might add) to keep it together.It was easy, nobody was looking at me all their attention focused in the loving worms.I pushed him towards them.He didn't even scream.Looked around after that but nobody saw anything. I am team leader now.Got a bonus and a raise.Development of the real state acquired by the Tellus cooperative seems like a good investment.The universe rewards those willing to do anything to succeed,you only need the balls to fight. -Diary of Enrico Tieste- -Excerpt B- hump day bitches! fucked around with this message at 22:24 on Jan 19, 2015 |
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Jan 19, 2015 22:19
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Fangz posted:The thing about Morgan is that Morgan, unlike every other faction, has little or no gameplay reason to ever go free market. What Morgan does benefit from is Green economics. Whenever I play thus I am always friends with Deidre. +4 economy (+1 from being Morgan, +1 from wealth, +2 from free market) gives you +1 energy/tile, +2 commerce rating, and +2 energy/base. You can actually get a fairly decent advantage by either having nice big friends to trade with, or by spamming out bases at minimum spacing. Unfortunately the former is unlikely to happen at high difficulties, and the latter is extremely boring to play, so while FM can be advantageous for Morgan, it is pretty hard to get the advantage to materialize.
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Jan 19, 2015 23:30
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Fried Miltonman posted:+4 economy (+1 from being Morgan, +1 from wealth, +2 from free market) gives you +1 energy/tile, +2 commerce rating, and +2 energy/base. You can actually get a fairly decent advantage by either having nice big friends to trade with, or by spamming out bases at minimum spacing. Unfortunately the former is unlikely to happen at high difficulties, and the latter is extremely boring to play, so while FM can be advantageous for Morgan, it is pretty hard to get the advantage to materialize. Also worth noting is that as an AI, Green isn't what pisses Morgan off. It annoys him, but not much. It's Planned (read: communist-style state ownership) that is Morgan's barred choice and what really angers him.
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Jan 19, 2015 23:33
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Fried Miltonman posted:+4 economy (+1 from being Morgan, +1 from wealth, +2 from free market) gives you +1 energy/tile, +2 commerce rating, and +2 energy/base. You can actually get a fairly decent advantage by either having nice big friends to trade with, or by spamming out bases at minimum spacing. Unfortunately the former is unlikely to happen at high difficulties, and the latter is extremely boring to play, so while FM can be advantageous for Morgan, it is pretty hard to get the advantage to materialize. I didn't want to go too deeply into mechanics, but basically hitting the +1 per tile thing is the biggie for Econ, everything else is minor. With Free market you end up having to divert a bunch of energy to Psych, because of the police penalty, and you lose lots to inefficiency. IIRC you do much better by going Green. You can hit the econ level with just wealth, and also have maxed efficiency, so lower costs on your bases, not much need for psych, and are able to dump it all into science without cost. A good Morgan player can be really far ahead in tech. With his large number of small bases efficiency is huge for Morgan. And police penalties hurt hard.
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Jan 19, 2015 23:54
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Esteemed Chairman - I'm doing the best I can with what I've got, but cross-referencing this data on the planet's ecology is incredibly frustrating between two bases, soon to be three, without anything like a proper internet. Hell, without anything like a proper INTRAnet. I have no complaints about the hardware you salvaged; these are top-notch hunks of striated silicon. It's the software that's lacking, particularly the data transmission and packet switching protocols. We'd be able to get research done much, much faster the sooner we get a proper internet online. Get some Network Nodes up as soon as we're able. I'll dedicate myself fully to the problems of the network architecture if you promise to get every settlement we've got internet-ready once I'm done. And don't worry about infosec - you KNOW why I'm the best girl for the job of making our network secure from any hacker tricks, if 'Lady' Deirdre Skye or anyone else from this hot mess of an extrasolar expedition decides they'd like to steal our secrets. Sincerely, Asa Wright, Founder of Lovelace Software Solutions, a fully owned subsidiary of Morgan Industries. PS: Cue up Lovelace Software for a Homestead Act base and I promise you software so smart that it can figure out what the hell can cause these 'psionic' attacks.
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Jan 19, 2015 23:57
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((ooh this is fun.)) CEO Morgan, You're going to hear this from me a lot, but I don't trust Deidre. She's not a particularly violent woman, but given that the ecosystem is actively hostile to us if the entire 'worms' incident is any indication... She probably isn't going to be understanding when we start burning and destroying the fungus in an attempt to not have our brains eaten alive like some bad sci-fi movie. She may be friendly now, but resources are not infinite. The fact of the matter is that even typically non-aggressive people like her are going to expand their military to fight off those that are. And when that military is big enough, they'll see no reason to not enforce their ideals on others. That being said, I say we exploit this temporary treaty. We're still capable of creating more colonies, we should cut her avenues of expansion off so that she can't grow without violating the very treaty she proposed. If I'm wrong and she does intend to coexist in peace, that's great. But we can't count on it. Far more likely that once she figures out she doesn't have to play nice she'll try to make us play her way. And I'd rather work for the man who actually pays his goddamn soldiers. You want military advice? Have a bloody military. My sympathies to Rat Patrol, but this recent attack shows that we CANNOT leave our colony pods unguarded. They will need escorts through the fungus if we try to expand that way. In addition, I recommend more forces to sweep for the pod's transponder signals. While it led to the worm incident, it also led to these 'monoliths' which provide most of our resources at the moment. As many pieces the Unity is in, I would not be surprised to find supplies from the ship all over the place. Supplies that I would rather we put to use than say Deidre. She'd probably make a flower garden out of it or some poo poo when we could use it to set up infrastructure to feed people. We need our research, we need our supplies. But we need to take the land so we can exploit it's resources to achieve any of this. We get boxed in while someone tries to research how to burn things better, and we'll be figuring out better flamethrowers only after the entire colony has been eaten alive and loving Yang or someone is carpet bombing us. Lt Ezekiel Carson, Head of Corporate Security Drakenel fucked around with this message at 00:09 on Jan 20, 2015 |
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Jan 20, 2015 00:03
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Marcus Li, Diary Entry 1, audio only posted:Well, here I am, riding a cryo pod down to an unknown world. Christ…It was a mess up there, when Pod 3 went, so did the mission [sigh] and so did my family.
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Jan 20, 2015 00:16
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im all about this thread
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Jan 20, 2015 00:21
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I have just been out-Morganed. I feel ashamed.
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Jan 20, 2015 00:23
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No see, it's the morgan double. The one for public appearance. (And the bait for assassination attempts)
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Jan 20, 2015 00:26
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nweismuller posted:I have just been out-Morganed. I feel ashamed. Just four more leaders need to show up at this point.
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Jan 20, 2015 00:30
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Drakenel posted:No see, it's the morgan double. The one for public appearance. (And the bait for assassination attempts) i'm the face that everyone loves when they see our popular new network nodes, organic superlube, and longevity vaccine! Bobbin Threadbare posted:Just four more leaders need to show up at this point.
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Jan 20, 2015 00:31
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