Quest Deep Periphery Quest (Battletech Sandbox Empire Builder)
- Thread starter LordSunhawk
- Start date
Thus my statement of "...industrial or strategic needs."
Turn 101 - Isn't It Bliss? Don't You Approve?
Turn 101 - Isn’t It Bliss? Don’t You Approve?
The Department of Periphery Studies is up to their shenanigans yet again, although this time it is truly amusing rather than a stimulus for mass face palming.
They’ve decided that if they stand really still that nobody can see them, as they practice the art of Not Being Seen. They have also decided that the most appropriate way to walk if they can’t be still is to be as silly in their walk as possible, grading said silly walks via what they are calling the Ministry of Silly Walks. Not to mention the senior tenured faculty who make up the Spanish Inquisition and are never expected.
Yes, somebody showed them Monty Python, and they’ve decided to emulate it. With hilarious results. You personally think that the pop-up Argument Clinics are a wonderful touch as the residents of Griffsport play along with the madness with good humor.
In other, more consequential, news, a large mining and refining operation on Edelsteine has invested heavily into a massive Ferro Fibrous armor forging facility, taking advantage of the rich deposits of precursor minerals and their expertise in zero-g alloying and refining. The facility was built under license from the local system government and is now available for Imperial use, thus giving a nice solid boost to your Ferro Fibrous production levels outside of normal channels.
That should prove useful as it should allow for you to recruit three rather than two infantry divisions a year, allowing your defensive forces to be filled out faster. Considering the volume of infiltration attempts by the Rouges Noir, and the reports you have about how effective their surface-to-orbit defenses are, you’d really like to be able to build out your offensive ground forces, because despite the enthusiasm of the Navy you highly doubt you can just orbital bombard your way to victory with those lunatics.
Parliament is in session and there are several bills for your consideration.
The first is the Farm Act of 3031, which will increase the agriculture subsidy across the Empire in an effort to keep up with the overall growth of the population and economy. As before, the subsidies would primarily be for the purpose of capital improvements, such as new farming equipment, as well as general agrarian infrastructure development. The overall costs would be relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, while the benefits would be useful.
The second piece of proposed legislation comes as the result of campaigning by environmental activists. They readily acknowledge that the Empire is quite conscientious about maintaining a healthy balance between the wild environment and economic needs, and that industries throughout the Empire are very good about minimizing pollution and avoiding destructive practices. The concern comes from some edge case situations that have been cropping up where, they acknowledge, there are no perfect solutions, and certainly nothing that should apply generally. What they are requesting is that the Empire establish a dedicated environmental tiger team dedicated to solving these edge case situations as they come up in an expedited fashion, rather than the ad hoc arrangements that have been previously the case.
You look through the provided documentation, which stretches all the way back to the clothes eating bacteria of Nowy Slask. Catachan seems to produce most of the current edge cases, but there are others scattered throughout the Empire as well. None particularly serious, and as you can see the ad hoc work seems, so far at least, to be effective in managing them without seriously compromising either the environment or the local economy, but you can certainly see the value in maintaining more consistent and formal oversight over such situations.
Industry groups are fully on board with this proposal as well, as it ensures consistent clarity in these situations and provides them with the assurance that their concerns will be heard in such scenarios.
The Department of Periphery Studies is up to their shenanigans yet again, although this time it is truly amusing rather than a stimulus for mass face palming.
They’ve decided that if they stand really still that nobody can see them, as they practice the art of Not Being Seen. They have also decided that the most appropriate way to walk if they can’t be still is to be as silly in their walk as possible, grading said silly walks via what they are calling the Ministry of Silly Walks. Not to mention the senior tenured faculty who make up the Spanish Inquisition and are never expected.
Yes, somebody showed them Monty Python, and they’ve decided to emulate it. With hilarious results. You personally think that the pop-up Argument Clinics are a wonderful touch as the residents of Griffsport play along with the madness with good humor.
In other, more consequential, news, a large mining and refining operation on Edelsteine has invested heavily into a massive Ferro Fibrous armor forging facility, taking advantage of the rich deposits of precursor minerals and their expertise in zero-g alloying and refining. The facility was built under license from the local system government and is now available for Imperial use, thus giving a nice solid boost to your Ferro Fibrous production levels outside of normal channels.
That should prove useful as it should allow for you to recruit three rather than two infantry divisions a year, allowing your defensive forces to be filled out faster. Considering the volume of infiltration attempts by the Rouges Noir, and the reports you have about how effective their surface-to-orbit defenses are, you’d really like to be able to build out your offensive ground forces, because despite the enthusiasm of the Navy you highly doubt you can just orbital bombard your way to victory with those lunatics.
Parliament is in session and there are several bills for your consideration.
The first is the Farm Act of 3031, which will increase the agriculture subsidy across the Empire in an effort to keep up with the overall growth of the population and economy. As before, the subsidies would primarily be for the purpose of capital improvements, such as new farming equipment, as well as general agrarian infrastructure development. The overall costs would be relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, while the benefits would be useful.
| [] | Action | Argument | Result |
| [] | Sign the Farm Act of 3031 | The agricultural sector is critical to the well-being of the Empire. While it may not be flashy, and is certainly not a path to tremendous wealth, farming is the bedrock upon which everything else is built. Without food, you die. The proposed legislation simply increases the subsidies for capital improvements already available to farmers, allowing them to purchase the newest equipment, which is substantially more expensive than the equipment available at the time the original subsidies were passed. This will have positive knock-on effects throughout the economy as well. |
|
| [] | Veto the Farm Act of 3031 | We never should have started subsidizing farmers, and certainly shouldn’t increase the amount of money we waste on this boondoggle. The free market is more than capable of handling this issue, if farmers are unable to afford needed equipment this is quite likely because they shouldn’t be farmers in the first place. Already it is possible to replace nearly all agricultural products with synthetic foods derived from industrial processes, including perfectly healthy insect proteins, there’s no need to subsidize farming just because it is so romantic to eat ‘real’ food, if you want to eat ‘real’ food, then get rich enough to afford it without these ridiculous subsidies. |
|
The second piece of proposed legislation comes as the result of campaigning by environmental activists. They readily acknowledge that the Empire is quite conscientious about maintaining a healthy balance between the wild environment and economic needs, and that industries throughout the Empire are very good about minimizing pollution and avoiding destructive practices. The concern comes from some edge case situations that have been cropping up where, they acknowledge, there are no perfect solutions, and certainly nothing that should apply generally. What they are requesting is that the Empire establish a dedicated environmental tiger team dedicated to solving these edge case situations as they come up in an expedited fashion, rather than the ad hoc arrangements that have been previously the case.
You look through the provided documentation, which stretches all the way back to the clothes eating bacteria of Nowy Slask. Catachan seems to produce most of the current edge cases, but there are others scattered throughout the Empire as well. None particularly serious, and as you can see the ad hoc work seems, so far at least, to be effective in managing them without seriously compromising either the environment or the local economy, but you can certainly see the value in maintaining more consistent and formal oversight over such situations.
Industry groups are fully on board with this proposal as well, as it ensures consistent clarity in these situations and provides them with the assurance that their concerns will be heard in such scenarios.
| [] | Action | Argument | Result |
| [] | Sign the Environmental Act of 3031 | All this act does is formalize and make permanent the ad hoc cross-ministry teams that currently address the sort of edge cases not explicitly dealt with in existing regulation. These teams will have no more authority than the previous model, the primary advantage being that there is a consistent point of contact and responsibility for the issues rather than the more ad hoc arrangement that currently exists. Both environmental and industry groups are pushing for this. |
|
| [] | Veto the Environmental Act of 3031 | The system isn’t broken, we shouldn’t be meddling about trying to fix it anyways. What we have works, and there have been no disasters or catastrophes on account of it. All this does is provide employment for a few more bureaucrats, cost us money even when there are no such cases to be dealt with, and no doubt both the activists and the industry groups foresee some way that they could pervert this in their favor. |
|
[X] Sign the Farm Act of 3031
I'm leaning this way, but I think it needs something. Large Agricorps already gain the benefit of economy of scale and gain a relative discount. Whereas the 'family'/single plot farms don't. I think this should be targeted more toward the small farm operations so they can keep up with the large corporate ops.
[X] Sign the Environmental Act of 3031
The industrialists and Hippies are on board...Satan must be at work, and we need to figure out why before we do anything.
Ended up supporting it simply b/c it's not granting add'l authority, merely relocating it.
I'm leaning this way, but I think it needs something. Large Agricorps already gain the benefit of economy of scale and gain a relative discount. Whereas the 'family'/single plot farms don't. I think this should be targeted more toward the small farm operations so they can keep up with the large corporate ops.
[X] Sign the Environmental Act of 3031
The industrialists and Hippies are on board...Satan must be at work, and we need to figure out why before we do anything.
Ended up supporting it simply b/c it's not granting add'l authority, merely relocating it.
Last edited:
KyranKandosa
Well-known member
| [X] | Sign the Farm Act of 3031 |
| [X] | Sign the Environmental Act of 3031 |
Winter_Wind45
Well-known member
[X] Sign the Farm Act of 3031
[X] Sign the Environmental Act of 3031
[X] Sign the Environmental Act of 3031
Yacovo
Occasionally spouting nonsense
Also: Expand Civil Service and Colonial Office at every possible occasion! Bureaucrats for the Action God!
[X] Sign the Farm Act of 3031
[X] Veto the Environmental Act of 3031
Val the Moofia Boss
Well-known member
[X] Sign the Farm Act of 3031
[X] Sign the Environmental Act of 3031
[X] Sign the Environmental Act of 3031
Thors_Alumni
Well-known member
[X] Sign the Farm Act of 3031
[X] Sign the Environmental Act of 3031
[X] Sign the Environmental Act of 3031
mmgaballah
Well-known member
| [X] | Sign the Farm Act of 3031 |
| [X] | Sign the Environmental Act of 3031 |
[X] Sign the Farm Act of 3031
[X] Sign the Environmental Act of 3031
[X] Sign the Environmental Act of 3031
Joyousmadman
Well-known member
[X] Sign the Farm Act of 3031
[X] Sign the Environmental Act of 3031
[X] Sign the Environmental Act of 3031
GooseElite
Well-known member
[X] Sign the Farm Act of 3031
[X] Sign the Environmental Act of 3031
[X] Sign the Environmental Act of 3031
Turn 101 - Don't You Love Farce? My Fault I Fear
Turn 101 - Don’t You Love Farce? My Fault I Fear
A pair of Black Steel Congress-class Frigates were driven away from the Pryyemnyy system, prompting the immediate deployment of the Grand Fleet to the system just in case. After several weeks it becomes obvious that it was just another recon probe and not a precursor for an attack, as evidently the nearest Black Steel base is still rebuilding after the Battle of Bohren.
Meanwhile in a blast from the past a couple Jolly Rogers show up and engage the light picket you have in the Venenatus system, being handily dispatched even by the very light units present there to protect your interests in the system. The behavior of the attackers is identical to that of the pirate bands that used to cause trouble in this region, however your evolved doctrines and equipment allow you to actually rescue most of the slave pilots before the pirates are able to activate remote destruct sequences on the Swarmer type ASFs.
Initial interrogations show that the pirates are based out of the galactic northeast, and have evidently found a ‘sponsor’ of some sort who is providing them with equipment and slaves. The liberated slaves were children when brought to the pirates base, having spent most of their childhood in pens aboard dropships transporting them from wherever they’d originated, they say that their parents told them stories about the Federated Suns and the Taurian Concordat, a few about the Magistracy of Canopus, and even one evidently had Capellan Confederation ancestry.
The freed slaves are very willing to talk, giving you everything they know without requiring any real prompting, and your counselors are already preparing to work with them as refugees.
General Messerschmidt does note that one thing comes up over and over again, in all of the stories their parents worked for the same organization that supposedly betrayed them to the pirates who enslaved them.
Comstar.
You’d heard the word before, reading old documents from the debriefing of Dagny back in your great-grandmother’s day. An organization that managed interstellar communications and was supposedly a large NGO charity.
Something to consider.
Meanwhile closer to home there is a somewhat delicate matter to consider. Years ago your grandfather had approved the research and development into exotic genetic modifications which required in vitro application. The ethics panels overseeing this had put together exceptionally robust and sound processes to ensure against abuses and prevent serious issues.
They hadn’t anticipated this.
One of the new athletes for Team Griffon who is the single hottest athlete on your women’s decathlon team had undergone those procedures, with feline DNA augmentations. In short, the top female decathlete in the Empire is a catgirl. She runs faster, jumps higher, recovers faster, swims better, is physically stronger and more resilient, and much more agile, than any baseline human, male or female. Part of this is that she is extremely dedicated to her craft, training hard and well, part of this is simple genetic advantage on her human side, as her parents were elite tier athletes in their own right, as were her grandparents and great-grandparents. Part of it is the extreme synergy between her own human heritage and the catgirl augmentation package.
For all of that, she is exceptionally popular with her teammates, as she is a genuinely nice person who even her rivals know works twice as hard as anybody else, yet is still willing to drop everything to lend a hand to even a competitor. She has a strong enough sense of sportsmanship that, when in one hurdles race she spotted that one of her competitors hurdles was placed incorrectly, such that it would be impossible to successfully hurdle it with the standard timing, she pulled up and called for an immediate stewards inquiry rather than put a competitor at a further disadvantage. She still won the race when it was restarted with an Imperial record pace, but the fact that she was willing to bend over backwards to make sure the contest was fair won her many plaudits.
And she qualified for Team Griffon, not merely in the Women’s Decathlon, but also the Women’s Athletics, Women’s Swimming, and Women’s Marathon teams.
Neither the NRI nor the NRR have raised any objections, they are quite familiar with your genetic augmentation programs after all. You know for a fact, though, that once the Bourbon’s see her on the track they are going to start raising a massive ruckus.
Now there have been augmented people before in the games, although most of them had been purely aesthetic, such as elf ears and such, with minimal to no actual impact on competitiveness. Even when there had been an impact, in general the physical differences had been minor enough that it had never been an issue. But in this case you have a very obvious catgirl, complete with tail, ears, and digitigrade legs.
Meanwhile, it is budget time!
General Jenkins is up first. “Your Majesty, there is really one area where we need to continue to focus on increasing strategic material output, and that is Ferro Fibrous. This is not, however, a signal to stop expanding production of other strategic materials. Better to have more than we need than not enough, after all. General Bradley?”
The Army CO stomps up to the podium. “First things first, the current situation in regards to strategic materials.” She brings up the display, showing a familiar graphic.
“We can now build three Infantry divisions a year, Your Majesty, which will allow us to hopefully complete our planned defensive force expansion in less time than we’d feared. Continued growth of production is paramount, however, since as the Empire expands so do our defensive commitments. One bit of good news, we have been able to clear and contract with additional construction companies, so now we are able to build up to five new facilities of any given type of strategic material forge per year, rather than only one. Even so, the most efficient method of growth remains a combination of new and upgraded facilities.”
She checks her notes. “Overall our procurement requests remain very similar to last years, updated to take into account the changing production levels.”
She sits down as General Romanov takes over the podium. “Your Majesty, extended tests have allowed us to work out the ideal wing composition for the new Wright-class pods. We do not need to procure any new types of birds, but the best use for these pods appears to be defensive in nature, countering the Black Steel’s swarm ASF tactics. Therefore we have organized the Fleet Defense Wing, composed of squadrons of those ASFs that have historically performed best against the Black Steel Black Wasp swarms. We continue to be comfortable with our production output, 90 wings a year is at the sweet spot for our current training facilities after all.”
Admiral Fisher is already heading towards the podium even before General Romanov sits down, then glares at everybody for a moment. “The Navy continues to hold the line, and if given enough resources can start to push the bastards back more readily. We’re a few years away from our first real capital ships, but our men and women in the fleet are using what we can give them to the best of their ability. Therefore, we need to make sure to give them more of what they need.”
He pauses a moment, then brings up a graphic. “I know that some of you will want to see this, so take a look, the upgrades last year brought our Core situation into the green, and the pending boost to overall germanium refinery efficiency that we are anticipating in a few years should solve the issue for the foreseeable future. If you want to spend money on padding the difference, feel free, but we’re not requesting it just on a maybe.”
“For the rest, we propose continuing to build up Fortress Command, and build the fleet as much as possible.”
Elizabeth Lee is up next, once the good admiral sits back down. “Your Majesty, Interior is prepared to fully support colonization, terraforming, and economic development projects this year.” She smiles a bit.
“To begin with, there are three systems which are candidates for colonization. We have coordinated with DoME to come up with a new classification system for prospective colonies to better reflect the amount of effort needed to make them independently viable.” She brings up a small chart to explain it.
“As such, we’ve rated the three new potential colonies by these criteria.”
“While on the surface Steingarten is a poor choice to colonize, it is ideally located to serve as a trade port with the Masters of Ikea, making it valuable for its location if nothing else.” Elizabeth explains. “We are prepared to support colonization efforts in all three systems.”
She checks her notes. “Next, with Nowy Wrocław now being a Core world, it is possible to invest heavily into the infrastructure of the system in an effort to quickly bring it up to par with the rest of the Core. In addition, we have the following recommendations this year for economic foci and investments.”
“Finally, we have a large number of idle DoME teams, and idle DoME teams are recipes for shenanigans and hilarity, neither of which would be particularly useful right now. I for one do not wish to wake up to find a thousand meter tall statue of myself floating in the asteroid belt. We have the following project recommendations for those mad lads.”
Leila is looking rather exhilarated, as if she’d downed a bit too much caffeine before the meeting. “Your Majesty, I’m still enthused by just how well our Olympic team did last year, as such we won’t be recommending any sports camps or such. Rather we recommend that we hold a Cultural Festival of some sort, simply to celebrate the people who live in our Empire.”
Tiberius had been absent, but as if summoned by some means, and you pretend not to see Admiral Fisher discretely putting his mobile phone away, he bursts into the meeting room, wearing a full suit of Lorica Segmentum, his helmet cradled under one arm, and flanked by… your palm resists the urge to meet your face in loving embrace, and you likewise remember that the security system is catching all of this and you can ask them for pictures later, as all of your kids, and his, are lined up next to him in play versions of the same armor, complete with foam rubber ‘gladius’.
You have an even harder time keeping from laughing as he begins his ‘Speech To Caesar’.
“Ave gloriosissimi Caesar! Nos, Tui fideles servi, Imperio et Tibi servituri sumus! Ad mandatum tuum gloriosum exibimus ad impiam chartam et officialitatem ad percutiendum imperium tuum divinum infestandum!” he declares in a ringing voice, drawing his own foam-rubber sword and thrusting it in the sky, as all the kids call out a slightly ragged, but extremely cute ‘AVE!” in response.
In a more normal tone, grinning slightly. “Or, at least, your political office is ready to support anything you need, including those new colonies, plus if you want we can hire more bureaucrats for you to curse.” He pauses. “If we have the budget, we might want to consider increasing the Parks & Recreation budget as well. The growth of the Empire is putting strain on the existing recreational infrastructure and our people would appreciate expanding it some.”
He then pauses, flourishes his sword, and declares. “Legionaries! About FACE!” the younger kids giggle as they turn around and proceed to march out of the room and back to the park.
Grace is giggling as she takes the podium. “How do I follow that, Your Majesty? We have one free team, unless you wish to release the two teams doing contract research, and we recommend having them work on advanced high energy physics research.” She grins and sits back down.
General Messerschmidt is absent, overseeing the questioning of the pirate prisoners and liberated slaves, but he’s sent a memo stating that there’s nothing of significance that Intelligence requires budget wise this year.
Martina is similarly engaged, although primarily with the liberated slaves as she oversees efforts to fully regularize their legal status in the best, most respectful, manner. She did send a memo that her department is ready to support extending the legal system to any new colonies founded this year.
A pair of Black Steel Congress-class Frigates were driven away from the Pryyemnyy system, prompting the immediate deployment of the Grand Fleet to the system just in case. After several weeks it becomes obvious that it was just another recon probe and not a precursor for an attack, as evidently the nearest Black Steel base is still rebuilding after the Battle of Bohren.
Meanwhile in a blast from the past a couple Jolly Rogers show up and engage the light picket you have in the Venenatus system, being handily dispatched even by the very light units present there to protect your interests in the system. The behavior of the attackers is identical to that of the pirate bands that used to cause trouble in this region, however your evolved doctrines and equipment allow you to actually rescue most of the slave pilots before the pirates are able to activate remote destruct sequences on the Swarmer type ASFs.
Initial interrogations show that the pirates are based out of the galactic northeast, and have evidently found a ‘sponsor’ of some sort who is providing them with equipment and slaves. The liberated slaves were children when brought to the pirates base, having spent most of their childhood in pens aboard dropships transporting them from wherever they’d originated, they say that their parents told them stories about the Federated Suns and the Taurian Concordat, a few about the Magistracy of Canopus, and even one evidently had Capellan Confederation ancestry.
The freed slaves are very willing to talk, giving you everything they know without requiring any real prompting, and your counselors are already preparing to work with them as refugees.
General Messerschmidt does note that one thing comes up over and over again, in all of the stories their parents worked for the same organization that supposedly betrayed them to the pirates who enslaved them.
Comstar.
You’d heard the word before, reading old documents from the debriefing of Dagny back in your great-grandmother’s day. An organization that managed interstellar communications and was supposedly a large NGO charity.
Something to consider.
Meanwhile closer to home there is a somewhat delicate matter to consider. Years ago your grandfather had approved the research and development into exotic genetic modifications which required in vitro application. The ethics panels overseeing this had put together exceptionally robust and sound processes to ensure against abuses and prevent serious issues.
They hadn’t anticipated this.
One of the new athletes for Team Griffon who is the single hottest athlete on your women’s decathlon team had undergone those procedures, with feline DNA augmentations. In short, the top female decathlete in the Empire is a catgirl. She runs faster, jumps higher, recovers faster, swims better, is physically stronger and more resilient, and much more agile, than any baseline human, male or female. Part of this is that she is extremely dedicated to her craft, training hard and well, part of this is simple genetic advantage on her human side, as her parents were elite tier athletes in their own right, as were her grandparents and great-grandparents. Part of it is the extreme synergy between her own human heritage and the catgirl augmentation package.
For all of that, she is exceptionally popular with her teammates, as she is a genuinely nice person who even her rivals know works twice as hard as anybody else, yet is still willing to drop everything to lend a hand to even a competitor. She has a strong enough sense of sportsmanship that, when in one hurdles race she spotted that one of her competitors hurdles was placed incorrectly, such that it would be impossible to successfully hurdle it with the standard timing, she pulled up and called for an immediate stewards inquiry rather than put a competitor at a further disadvantage. She still won the race when it was restarted with an Imperial record pace, but the fact that she was willing to bend over backwards to make sure the contest was fair won her many plaudits.
And she qualified for Team Griffon, not merely in the Women’s Decathlon, but also the Women’s Athletics, Women’s Swimming, and Women’s Marathon teams.
Neither the NRI nor the NRR have raised any objections, they are quite familiar with your genetic augmentation programs after all. You know for a fact, though, that once the Bourbon’s see her on the track they are going to start raising a massive ruckus.
Now there have been augmented people before in the games, although most of them had been purely aesthetic, such as elf ears and such, with minimal to no actual impact on competitiveness. Even when there had been an impact, in general the physical differences had been minor enough that it had never been an issue. But in this case you have a very obvious catgirl, complete with tail, ears, and digitigrade legs.
| [] | Action | Result |
| [] | And? The worst that will happen is the Duc de Nouvelle Picardie sending a Very Angry Letter(™) to be read by an extremely bored Duc de Nouvelle Normandie while you both try very hard to pretend not to find it all hilariously funny |
|
| [] | Funny as that would be, let’s at least try to be diplomatic and not rub the Bourbons nose into things? |
|
Meanwhile, it is budget time!
General Jenkins is up first. “Your Majesty, there is really one area where we need to continue to focus on increasing strategic material output, and that is Ferro Fibrous. This is not, however, a signal to stop expanding production of other strategic materials. Better to have more than we need than not enough, after all. General Bradley?”
The Army CO stomps up to the podium. “First things first, the current situation in regards to strategic materials.” She brings up the display, showing a familiar graphic.
“We can now build three Infantry divisions a year, Your Majesty, which will allow us to hopefully complete our planned defensive force expansion in less time than we’d feared. Continued growth of production is paramount, however, since as the Empire expands so do our defensive commitments. One bit of good news, we have been able to clear and contract with additional construction companies, so now we are able to build up to five new facilities of any given type of strategic material forge per year, rather than only one. Even so, the most efficient method of growth remains a combination of new and upgraded facilities.”
She checks her notes. “Overall our procurement requests remain very similar to last years, updated to take into account the changing production levels.”
- Imperial Griffon Army
- Production
- Conventional Factories
- 5 new Conventional Factories on Glorreich
- 5 new Conventional Factories on Novolar
- 5 new Conventional Factories on New Phoenix
- 5 new Conventional Factories on New Pollux
- Strategic Materials
- Endosteel
- 5 new factories
- Upgrade existing factories
- Ferro Fibrous
- 5 new Factories
- Upgrade existing factories
- Double Heat Sinks
- 5 new Factories
- Upgrade existing factories
- Endosteel
- Conventional Factories
- Procurement
- Conventional
- 3 Infantry Divisions
- Battlemech
- 3 Battlemech Divisions
- Garrison
- 8 Garrison Divisions
- 9 Militia Divisions
- Conventional
- Production
She sits down as General Romanov takes over the podium. “Your Majesty, extended tests have allowed us to work out the ideal wing composition for the new Wright-class pods. We do not need to procure any new types of birds, but the best use for these pods appears to be defensive in nature, countering the Black Steel’s swarm ASF tactics. Therefore we have organized the Fleet Defense Wing, composed of squadrons of those ASFs that have historically performed best against the Black Steel Black Wasp swarms. We continue to be comfortable with our production output, 90 wings a year is at the sweet spot for our current training facilities after all.”
- Imperial Griffon Aerospace Force
- Procurement
- 30 Heavy Carrier Wing
- 30 Fleet Defense Wing
- 30 Naval Patrol Wing
- Procurement
Admiral Fisher is already heading towards the podium even before General Romanov sits down, then glares at everybody for a moment. “The Navy continues to hold the line, and if given enough resources can start to push the bastards back more readily. We’re a few years away from our first real capital ships, but our men and women in the fleet are using what we can give them to the best of their ability. Therefore, we need to make sure to give them more of what they need.”
He pauses a moment, then brings up a graphic. “I know that some of you will want to see this, so take a look, the upgrades last year brought our Core situation into the green, and the pending boost to overall germanium refinery efficiency that we are anticipating in a few years should solve the issue for the foreseeable future. If you want to spend money on padding the difference, feel free, but we’re not requesting it just on a maybe.”
“For the rest, we propose continuing to build up Fortress Command, and build the fleet as much as possible.”
- Imperial Griffon Navy
- Production
- Strategic Materials
- OPTIONAL - Germanium Refineries
- Orbital Shipyards
- Upgrade all Orbital Shipyards
- Refit & Repair Yards
- Upgrade all Refit & Repair Yards
- Escort Yards
- Bohren
- Iskra
- Stahlfurt
- Nox
- Chuma
- Bari
- Glorreich
- Pryymenyy
- Novolar
- Grand View
- Large Warship Yards
- Griffon
- Calliope IV
- New Phoenix
- New Castor
- New Pollux
- Edelsteine
- Kainga
- Nowy Wrocław
- Strategic Materials
- Procurement
- Standard Dropships
- 200 Bainbridge-class Parasite Destroyers
- 20 Wright-class Dockable ASF Platforms
- 4 Trenton-class Transports
- Large Dropships
- 30 Saipan-class Parasite Carriers
- 16 Meteor-class Parasite Missile Battleships
- 32 Aetna-class Parasite Missile Battleships
- 32 Canopus-class Parasite Battleships
- Jumpships
- 8 Windjammer-class Jumpships
- Escorts
- 40 Fubuki-class Destroyers
- 40 Lyr-class Corvettes
- Small Warships
- 20 Dido-class Light Cruisers
- 10 Hosho-class Carriers
- Medium Warships
- 20 Prinz Eugen-class Heavy Cruisers
- Standard Dropships
- Fortress Command
- Build Jump Point Defenses
- Steingarten
- Pustina
- Kurortas
- Black Tower
- Steingarten
- Awha
- Bohren
- Kaiyo
- Olej
- Oasis II-recharge stations
- Steingarten
- Pustina
- Kurortas
- Build Jump Point Defenses
- Production
Elizabeth Lee is up next, once the good admiral sits back down. “Your Majesty, Interior is prepared to fully support colonization, terraforming, and economic development projects this year.” She smiles a bit.
“To begin with, there are three systems which are candidates for colonization. We have coordinated with DoME to come up with a new classification system for prospective colonies to better reflect the amount of effort needed to make them independently viable.” She brings up a small chart to explain it.
| Habitability Index | |
| Gaia | An absolutely ideal system |
| Terran | Fully independent of any need for external support to maintain the population, capable of becoming a Core world |
| Habitable | Can survive without special equipment, but still dependent on terraforming equipment to some degree or another. Not Core qualified |
| DoME 0 | The DoME rating indicates the tier of terraforming that needs to be completed to qualify a system for Habitable. Once this is accomplished, one additional terraforming project will result in the system reaching ‘Terran’ level and becoming capable of becoming a Core world |
| DoME 1 | |
| DoME 2 | |
| DoME 3 | |
| DoME 4 | |
| DoME 5 | |
| None | Cannot be terraformed in any way, usually denotes a system that requires Colony Core Clusters to settle |
| Mineral Wealth | |
| Ultra-Rich | Major easily accessible deposits of industrial metals |
| Rich | Good access to significant industrial metals |
| Average | An average world |
| Poor | Difficult to access industrial metals |
| Ultra-Poor | Extremely difficult to access industrial metals |
| Negligible | No industrial metals present |
“As such, we’ve rated the three new potential colonies by these criteria.”
| System | Habitability Index | Mineral Wealth Index |
| Steingarten | DoME 4 | Ultra-Poor |
| Pustina | DoME 2 | Rich |
| Kurortas | Gaia | Poor |
“While on the surface Steingarten is a poor choice to colonize, it is ideally located to serve as a trade port with the Masters of Ikea, making it valuable for its location if nothing else.” Elizabeth explains. “We are prepared to support colonization efforts in all three systems.”
She checks her notes. “Next, with Nowy Wrocław now being a Core world, it is possible to invest heavily into the infrastructure of the system in an effort to quickly bring it up to par with the rest of the Core. In addition, we have the following recommendations this year for economic foci and investments.”
- Economic
- Focus
- Core
- New Capricorn
- Periphery
- Nox
- Core
- Investment
- Massive Investment
- Core
- New Pollux
- Periphery
- Nox
- Core
- Investment
- Nya Kopenhamn
- Massive Investment
- Focus
“Finally, we have a large number of idle DoME teams, and idle DoME teams are recipes for shenanigans and hilarity, neither of which would be particularly useful right now. I for one do not wish to wake up to find a thousand meter tall statue of myself floating in the asteroid belt. We have the following project recommendations for those mad lads.”
- DoME Projects
- Terraforming
- Bari
- Pieklo
- Awha
- Iskra
- Kaiyo
- Study Venenatus Ecosystem
- Terraforming
Leila is looking rather exhilarated, as if she’d downed a bit too much caffeine before the meeting. “Your Majesty, I’m still enthused by just how well our Olympic team did last year, as such we won’t be recommending any sports camps or such. Rather we recommend that we hold a Cultural Festival of some sort, simply to celebrate the people who live in our Empire.”
Tiberius had been absent, but as if summoned by some means, and you pretend not to see Admiral Fisher discretely putting his mobile phone away, he bursts into the meeting room, wearing a full suit of Lorica Segmentum, his helmet cradled under one arm, and flanked by… your palm resists the urge to meet your face in loving embrace, and you likewise remember that the security system is catching all of this and you can ask them for pictures later, as all of your kids, and his, are lined up next to him in play versions of the same armor, complete with foam rubber ‘gladius’.
You have an even harder time keeping from laughing as he begins his ‘Speech To Caesar’.
“Ave gloriosissimi Caesar! Nos, Tui fideles servi, Imperio et Tibi servituri sumus! Ad mandatum tuum gloriosum exibimus ad impiam chartam et officialitatem ad percutiendum imperium tuum divinum infestandum!” he declares in a ringing voice, drawing his own foam-rubber sword and thrusting it in the sky, as all the kids call out a slightly ragged, but extremely cute ‘AVE!” in response.
In a more normal tone, grinning slightly. “Or, at least, your political office is ready to support anything you need, including those new colonies, plus if you want we can hire more bureaucrats for you to curse.” He pauses. “If we have the budget, we might want to consider increasing the Parks & Recreation budget as well. The growth of the Empire is putting strain on the existing recreational infrastructure and our people would appreciate expanding it some.”
He then pauses, flourishes his sword, and declares. “Legionaries! About FACE!” the younger kids giggle as they turn around and proceed to march out of the room and back to the park.
Grace is giggling as she takes the podium. “How do I follow that, Your Majesty? We have one free team, unless you wish to release the two teams doing contract research, and we recommend having them work on advanced high energy physics research.” She grins and sits back down.
General Messerschmidt is absent, overseeing the questioning of the pirate prisoners and liberated slaves, but he’s sent a memo stating that there’s nothing of significance that Intelligence requires budget wise this year.
Martina is similarly engaged, although primarily with the liberated slaves as she oversees efforts to fully regularize their legal status in the best, most respectful, manner. She did send a memo that her department is ready to support extending the legal system to any new colonies founded this year.
[X]And? The worst that will happen is the Duc de Nouvelle Picardie sending a Very Angry Letter(™) to be read by an extremely bored Duc de Nouvelle Normandie while you both try very hard to pretend not to find it all hilariously funny
Val the Moofia Boss
Well-known member
I don't see the big deal here. Surely the Bourbon emissaries would have noticed the tremendous level of modification work that some people have? Perhaps some Bourbons might be interested in getting some modifications.
[X] And?
[X] Hold cultural festival
It's a nice thing to do, and it raises morale as we are decades into a forever war.
[X] And?
[X] Hold cultural festival
It's a nice thing to do, and it raises morale as we are decades into a forever war.