Your analysts are continuing to work on the Inner Sphere Almanac. You have a complete index, but are missing the majority of the actual articles as the Almanac consists of over twenty volumes each year, and you only have two. You still are gleaning a great deal of information, although much is, granted, speculative.
For example, the immediate aftermath of the fall of the Star League appears to consist of the collapse of the Terran Hegemony, followed by the Succession War, with subheadings for the Federated Suns - Draconis Combine front, the Lyran Commonwealth - Draconis Combine Front, the Free Worlds League - Capellan Confederation Front, and the Free Worlds League - Lyran Commonwealth Front. There apparently was then an extended Cold War, with subheadings highlighting major confrontations during this period that appear to be more flashpoints and raids than actual invasions, then the Ten Minute War, and, which appears to have still been ongoing in 3033 as of the publication of the Almanac, the Great War.
The included maps show minimal to no details within the Free Worlds League, only noting that none-FWL traffic is forbidden. Of particular interest to your analysts are the large number of systems listed as ‘Restricted - Naval Shipyard’.
Your great-aunt is one of the historians who are pouring over the data, so you are certain she’ll let you know if anything important is discerned. In the meantime, the Pan-Griffon Games are beginning, and your eldest granddaughter is participating in the mountain biking events.
Granted, she’s nineteen, but she’ll be racing a mountain bike down a mountain wearing sneakers, a helmet, elbow and knee pads, and a helmet cam. A smile is optional. In your opinion it’s ridiculously dangerous, and you know that the Imperial Guard agrees, but she had been quite adamant about this and in the end she’d won the argument.
Still, that is an issue for Future-You, not Present-You, since the mountain biking event isn’t for a few months. The opening ceremony for the Pan-Griffon Games, this year held on Novolar, is quite impressive, returning to the pomp and ceremony of previous such ceremonies rather than the raucous party of the recent games on Okusawa. They still manage to put on an exceptional show.
There have been a series of massive clashes between your raiding forces and the Black Steel, with thankfully relatively moderate losses on both sides considering the intensity of the fighting. You have lost a number of older model cruisers and battlecruisers, as well as several squadrons of destroyers and a large number of parasites, but all-in-all your admirals consider the battles to be a net victory for the Empire, with the Black Steel being forced to retreat in every instance rather than driving off your raiders.
Black Steel scouting forces are sniffing around the Arvum system again, although your analysts are divided as to whether or not they’ll strike there yet again or choose a different target. As all of the most likely targets are receiving substantial increases in both fixed and mobile defenses, your admirals are confident in the Empire’s ability to withstand any assault.
Anti-Piracy actions are continuing in the Fringe, with a number of your old
Dido-class light cruisers distinguishing themselves as pirate hunters. First Corps has remained in the region as a ready ground force and has assisted in a number of minor surface actions against pirate outposts.
There have been no recent reports of that ‘Fedcom
Aegis’, either confirmed or not. Your forces are finding evidence of past attacks by that ship, but the reports tend to be… contradictory and confusing.
A somewhat macabre discovery has been made in an otherwise empty system in the Fringe, an ancient
Princess-class luxury liner dropship was discovered drifting without any power by your patrols. There was no sign of damage to the vessel, and the builder’s plate indicates that it was one of the oldest ships of that class, dating back to 2660. The last entry in the log dates from 2670 and indicates that there had been a catastrophic misjump and the jumpship it had been attached to had been destroyed and that life support was failing. The crew and passengers were discovered frozen to death. However there were a number of extreme oddities. For one thing, while the clothing and uniforms and such appear to indicate a normal distribution of ages among the passengers and crew, all of the bodies are that of children, ranging from infants to pre-teens. There is absolutely nothing in the logs to explain this, although the handwriting of the logs abruptly becomes far more indicative of a child writing it than an adult.
Your scientists are classifying this as an extremely bizarre and odd case of a catastrophic misjump and KF shenanigans.
A number of representatives of the various Agriworlds of the Empire have come to Griffon to petition the crown, specifically over the poor economic conditions on those worlds. They are among the poorest planets in the Empire, despite their critical role in feeding the teeming masses in the Core Worlds. Per-Capita GDP drops to as low as under $800 on some of them, and they are experiencing increasing issues with finding sufficient workers at the wages they are able to pay, considering the low prices they get for their output.
They are not, however, requesting handouts or artificial subsidies, rather they are requesting that the Empire invest in the base infrastructure of these planets, assisting in building roads, irrigation networks, drop ports, and the like. Currently the system governments here are barely able to maintain the bare minimum of such on the meager tax revenues available, and the representatives believe that with Imperial support they’ll be able to redirect those tax revenues into diversifying and improving the overall economy without losing the ability to serve as breadbaskets for the Empire.
[] | Action | Argument | Result |
[] | Make the investment | These farmers and ranchers quite literally feed the entire Empire, allowing your more industrialized worlds to produce war material and consumer goods to drive your military and economy. They still need to pay their own bills, however, and despite the universal demand bulk food prices have remained extremely low. While you do subsidize agriculture in general, this is an empire-wide thing, rather than limited to the agriworlds, and is geared more towards small ‘truck farms’ than the larger operations, mostly still family owned, on those worlds.
A long time ago, when we were limited to just the Griffon system, and indeed before we became interplanetary, we provided just the sort of assistance that these farmers are asking for now. Doing so will be the best of both worlds, allowing for the continued production of inexpensive high-quality foodstuffs to keep the Empire fed while allowing the farmers and ranchers to live on the proceeds of their labor. |
- Will cost $10,000,000.00 per year per Agriworld
- Currently this will total $30,000,000.00
- Prevents certain events
- -1 Imperial Economy
- +1 Politics
|
[] | They are on their own | If they can’t survive on the prices offered, then they shouldn’t sell, it’s as simple as that. While rising prices would cause issues across the economy, that is simply the price of letting the free-market run. Subsidizing anything further, even such supposedly ‘common good’ items as roads, drop ports, and irrigation systems, is simply a slippery slope towards everybody begging for handouts. We must hold the line here and take the hit if need be. |
- -1 Economic Event
- -1 Approval Change
- Unlocks certain events
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