[X] Grant asylum, these people are victims of the Dracs, not the Dracs themselves
[X] Summon the NRI ambassador and turn over this intelligence. They are our friends, and friends warn friends of pending betrayals. Something Lord Palmerston said in the 19th century shouldn’t be binding in the 30th.
[X] Agree with emergency request
---
[X] Approve Operation Twister
[X] Approve Operation Full Throttle
Operation Twister is essentially the limited counter-raid campaign we were planning to start running with the one Tramp, only taking advantage of our unexpected acquisition of larger and more capable Monoliths.
Operation Full Throttle is the 'strategic spoiler' raid we were planning to run when we had Morristown fixed up, only using our windfall Monoliths to do it sooner. Granted, using normal JumpShips instead of a Potemkin denies us the opportunity to push that particular trauma button for the Dracs, but it is absolutely worth it to hit them while they're still rebuilding, and while they're also still in the dark about what happened to their "invincible" Battlemech invasion.
Doing both at the same time while still keeping Morristown secret as our trump card in waiting? All the gravy.
[X] Grant asylum, these people are victims of the Dracs, not the Dracs themselves
We have a decent counterintelligence service right now, and these guys did kill several Drac intelligence agents. Probably a good idea to keep a carfeul watch on them, but sleeper agents aren't things that are revealed by holding people as POWs for a bit. So the option is basically imprison them forever for being forced to serve the Dracs, or let them out into our civilization. Going with the latter.
[X] Summon the NRI ambassador and turn over this intelligence. They are our friends, and friends warn friends of pending betrayals. Something Lord Palmerston said in the 19th century shouldn’t be binding in the 30th.
We might be able to absorb NRI remnants if a big enough civil war kicks off, but I doubt it. Better a strong friend than a chaotic neighbor. And we're already on the path towards friendship, no reason to make things worse.
[X] Agree with emergency request
$6m is a significant expense, but it's less than the kind of actions I generally think of as "expensive." Given this gets us defenses in Calliope and gets us goodwill to better annex them, all for the cost of 0 actions, I think this is pretty reasonable.
[X] Approve Operation Twister
I like this one, seems relatively safe way to venture out offensively, and learn more about current Drac territory.
[X] Approve Operation Full Throttle
This one makes me a bit nervous, but is more likely to do significant damage, and might actually do something significant to hurt them.
[X] Grant asylum, these people are victims of the Dracs, not the Dracs themselves
[X] Summon the NRI ambassador and turn over this intelligence. They are our friends, and friends warn friends of pending betrayals. Something Lord Palmerston said in the 19th century shouldn’t be binding in the 30th.
[X] Agree with emergency request
[X] Approve Operation Twister
[X] Approve Operation Full Throttle
It will be nice to get some eyes on the enemy system directly instead of relying on second hand reports. With any luck they have bunched up their orbital infrastructure in an effort to better defend it. If they have we can take a page from their earlier attack and accelerate clouds of tungsten spikes via Dropship and shred their stations. Based on some quick calculations a single Mule can haul over a million 2 inch wide and 8 inch long tungsten rods to 0.08c with fuel to spare.
It will be nice to get some eyes on the enemy system directly instead of relying on second hand reports. With any luck they have bunched up their orbital infrastructure in an effort to better defend it. If they have we can take a page from their earlier attack and accelerate clouds of tungsten spikes via Dropship and shred their stations. Based on some quick calculations a single Mule can haul over a million 2 inch wide and 8 inch long tungsten rods to 0.08c with fuel to spare.
As far as they're aware, we have super-nasty aerospace forces but are very weak on the ground, having only light conventional forces with *no* Battlemechs at all. And the last word they had from their mighty invasion force (assuming at least one Monolith made it home, which is probable but not guaranteed) was that they took worst-case casualties but a decisive Battlemech force successfully landed on the planet. Given the lack of HPG tech, the communications silence since then *isn't* necessarily alarming; what they expect at this point is that their invincibly-superior Battlemechs have won a glorious victory and are now busily subjugating our system for the greater glory of the Dragon.
I would argue that the moment is right for a counterattack. If we wait much longer, we're not going to have nearly as much of a surprise advantage, because sooner or later they're going to put together that we *must have* captured at least one or two of the JumpShips from their forces or pirates.
We don't have to hold them as POW's forever due to our counter intel, but giving our intel guys a chance to look everyone over while we give them VIP POW treatment to keep them in one place for a turn or two would make their job a lot easier.
-[X Grant asylum, these people are victims of the Dracs, not the Dracs themselves
-[X] Summon the NRI ambassador and turn over this intelligence. They are our friends, and friends warn friends of pending betrayals. Something Lord Palmerston said in the 19th century shouldn’t be binding in the 30th.
-[X] White Tower System Defense Fortress
-[X] PGL-50
-[X] Agree with emergency request
-[X] Deny Operation Twister
-[X] Approve Operation Full Throttle
I think just one operation should be carried and Operation Full Throttle promises greater effect
[X] Grant asylum, these people are victims of the Dracs, not the Dracs themselves
[X] Summon the NRI ambassador and turn over this intelligence. They are our friends, and friends warn friends of pending betrayals. Something Lord Palmerston said in the 19th century shouldn’t be binding in the 30th.
[X] Agree with emergency request
[X] Approve Operation Twister
[X] Approve Operation Full Throttle
There were minimal defenses found in the system. A single barely habitable world supported extensive asteroid mining operations throughout the system. A single pass from maximum capital range destroyed Drac forces present in the Operational Area. AKA-01 wound up carrying mostly refugees, however, as it was discovered that the Dracs made use of slave labor to operate an orbital Sabre factory. The factory itself was destroyed, attached Marines interrupted DCMS forces in the process of massacring slaves, and were able to rescue less than ten thousand from criminally appalling conditions. The CO of Operation Twister is urgently requesting permission to directly transport the freed slaves to Nowy Gdansk and the assignment of counselors, including a disturbing number of rape counselors for survivors of the ‘garrison support personnel’ as she tactfully puts it.
A large amount of cargo shipping was destroyed. There was a Mule yard present, however the defenders destroyed the habitation module rather than allow our forces to rescue any of the enslaved workers. The yard itself was mostly intact but several volleys of sub-capital laser fire thoroughly wrecked the facility and denied it to the enemy.
[]
Resettle the refugees on Nowy Gdansk immediately
[]
Keep them aboard AKA-01 until counter-intel can vet them, then resettle them
Atarashi System Report
HMS Sentinel reports the detection of a bioweapons development center on Atarashi II. The planet itself is only marginally habitable, requiring supplemental oxygen due to the thin atmosphere if one is to be at all active. It appears to primarily be an agricultural world, and preliminary analysis is that the workers are native to the planet, as there are settlements on the planet with fairly refined architecture that would be unlikely to be present in slave labor camps or military garrisons. There are obvious military bases on the planet, indicative of a powerful ground garrison, along with a number of relatively small apparent factories buried into the low mountain ranges of the main continent. Relative humidity is exceptionally high on the planet, even though it appears that the plant life consists either of crops or low grasses. Temperatures are also rather scorching hot.
Otherwise the overall system composition consists of an orange main sequence star that appears to be slightly variable, with significant flare activity noted although the intensity was well within tolerances.
The innermost planet is a giant scorched rocky ball that is half lava on the ‘day’ side; it appears to be tidally locked to the star. There is a massive set of mobile structures on the ‘night’ side of the planet, taking advantage of the nearly glass smooth surface to keep pace with the planets rotation. There are signs of very intense mining.
There is an extensive asteroid field, notably riddled with mining operations. A fairly small gas giant with anemic rings is next, with about a dozen large moons at least one of which appears to have ammonia oceans. Two icy terrestrial planets follow, both are extremely small and very heavily cratered. Finally a pair of extremely small gas giants round out the system, neither with anything of note.
Combat Report - Operation Full Throttle
Losses were significantly higher with this force. HMS Magnificent was lost with all hands following a suicide strike by an enemy Achilles, HMS Langley caught a golden BB when a Drac subcapital cannon shell managed to catch her in the midst of launching fighters, causing an internal detonation and destroying the carrier. HMS Conflict and Fervent were lost in the course of the melee around the jump point, while HMS Porcupine, HMS Waveney, HMS Dee, HMS Vistula and HMS Erne were too badly damaged to be salvageable.
In exchange for these losses, however, the Dracs took near total losses of their jump point defenses. The raid came in as the Dracs were evidently assembling a fresh attack force. Over a hundred enemy dropships were destroyed, along with nearly 300 enemy ASFs. A lightly armed recharge station at the jump point itself was destroyed, along with hundreds of cargo Mules. Unfortunately you were unable to capture any jumpships, as all of the ones at the jump point were able to jump away cleanly.
You were only able to get very basic astrographical information from the system, which mostly confirms what you’ve been told by the old timers on Nowy Gdansk. However the planet itself is heavily polluted rather than the blue-green marble that they describe.
You were able to loot portions of an Energy Storage Battery from the recharge station, reducing the challenges you would face in replicating the technology. In addition, a high speed ‘thunder run’ in system allowed your Royal Sovereigns to get in range of a shipyard complex, several volleys later and you have delivered a brutal hammer blow to Drac production. Unfortunately your sensors did pick up at least 3 other such complexes in the system.
The raiding force withdrew before Drac reinforcements from elsewhere in the system could concentrate and strike back, returning home after ensuring that the wreckage left behind was thoroughly sanitized.
Not a flawless victory, by any means, but you’ve now kicked the Dragon in the teeth and degraded its capabilities, which is a significant victory in and of itself.
The Lotus Room was usually a place of great tranquility. A meticulously cared for stone garden dominated the space, with artfully placed boulders and carefully sculpted sand. A cunningly wrought artificial stream trickled through the center of the room, the water splashing happily over smoothed stones.
Tranquility, peace, a place of meditation and relaxation.
Normally.
Not today.
Today the lord and master of this space was… seething. There was no peace. There was no tranquility. There was an iron will barely holding back seething rage.
The Dragon never raised his voice. But the Dragon’s silence was terrifying. A vein throbbed on the Dragon’s forehead as he glared at the prostrate form of one of his Warlords who had the dual misfortune of delivering this news and having been one of the most confident that the gaijin who’d defied the Dragon had been suitably dealt with.
This was a zen garden.
Today it bore witness to the greatest example of zen it had ever hosted.
The zen of pure rage.
Meanwhile, Admiral Benjamin stops by with some procurement decisions for you to make relating to a pair of design tenders that went out recently.
First up is a contest for a small point defense dropship, intended to serve as a parasite aboard the two Tower type Orbital Defense Fortresses. The desired craft is so small that it can be built in ordinary factories. The design brief required an ‘aerodyne’ layout, but none of the designs are capable of operating in atmosphere. To the maximum extent possible curved surfaces were completely avoided in order to simplify production.
“Well, Your Majesty, we had five proposals initially, but two of them got tossed out and one will require some reworking before going into production if it is selected. First for the eliminated designs, since we’re almost certain we’re going to hear protests about it. One was from our own internal design team, but in the end was rejected for being too heavy. The other was from Majeure Electrique and was likewise rejected for mass considerations, as both designs would have required regular dropship yards, civilian or otherwise, for production.” Admiral Benjamin explains.
“In the end, we have three designs. First of all, we have one that comes from our friends obsessed with pyramids.” you can’t help chuckling. “Surprisingly, it’s not actually a pyramid. It is the cheapest and lightest of the three and the only one that doesn’t use ferro-aluminium armor. However their inexperience shows in that the designers forgot to include escape pods for the crew. This isn’t an unsurmountable difficulty, but be aware that if selected the final product will likely be slightly heavier and more expensive.” he checks his notes.
“Next we have the internal submission, the Bee Point Defense Gunboat. It is the most expensive of the three as well as the largest, but is also the most capable. It is well armored for the size, with a potent long range missile battery and solid point defense capabilities.” he switches to the last page on the flipchart. “And finally the surviving entry from Majeure Electrique, the Cobra Point Defense Gunboat. This design is somewhat larger than the Mastaba design, but significantly more capable, albeit not as potent as the Bee. It is cheaper than the Bee, while more expensive than the Mastaba, making it a solid middle ground performer.”
[]
Name
Cost
Materials
HP
A/D
Specials
[]
Mastaba Gunboat
23,893.92
DHS
145
55
Armored 4
Swift
Missile 2
AMS 12
Capital AMS 1
[]
Bee Point Defense Gunboat
39,413.88
DHS, FAA
245
115
Armored 8
Swift
Missile 6
AMS 18
Capital AMS 1
[]
Cobra Point Defense Gunboat
27,205.92
DHS, FAA
202
102
Armored 5
Swift
Missile 3
AMS 12
Capital AMS 1
The Admiral pauses a moment, then continues. “Secondly, we have the designs submitted for the Parasite Destroyer RFP. These ships are intended as outer screen units for our heavier vessels, a requirement made even more obvious by the situation in Operation Full Throttle. We have a quite diverse set of responses to the RFP.”
“First up is the cheapest and smallest of the four, the Wawel class. This design has a similar tonnage profile to the current Lightning-class. It is also, unfortunately, also the least survivable, with a very thin hull.” he checks his notes. “It is also one of two Aerodynes in the competition.”
“Second we have the second cheapest, and one of two Spheroid designs entered. This comes to us courtesy of Lee Aerospace in collaboration with the Imperial Griffon Aerospace Werk. The Clemson class offers an appealing mix of speed, being the fastest in the offering, firepower, armor, and value for money.”
“The second most expensive, and the second lightest overall, design is the Cholula, from our good friends the Pyramid builders, although again they are offering an Aerodyne instead. At this rate we may need to retire the Pyramid joke, although considering that the executive who hand delivered the proposal paperwork was dressed as an Egyptian and came into the office to the strains of Walk Like An Egyptian, I have a feeling that they’re owning it. But I digress. The Cholula is only barely less expensive than the most expensive design, while having less firepower and armor than either the Clemson or the next design.”
“And finally, the design from Majeure Electrique is another of their dinosaurs. The Oviraptor is both the most expensive and is also significantly more powerful than any of the others. This is a spheroid, and is very missile heavy. It has less armor than the Clemson, and it is slightly slower at a maximum of 5.5g of acceleration compared to the 6g of the Clemson, but has massively more firepower on the same tonnage, albeit at a price premium.”
[]
Name
Cost
Materials
HP
A/D
Specials
[]
Wawel Parasite Destroyer
158,839.20
FAA, DHS
547
447
Armored 5
Swift
Missile 16
AMS 60
Capital Missile 6
Capital AMS 6
Capital 4/10
[]
Clemson Parasite Destroyer
160,996.64
FAA, DHS
901
551
Armored 30
Swift
Missile 16
AMS 68
Capital Missile 6
Capital AMS 6
Capital 4/10
Capital 2/38
[]
Cholula Parasite Destroyer
194,965.20
FAA, DHS
672
442
Armored 18
Swift
Missile 40
AMS 60
Capital Missile 6
Capital AMS 6
Capital 4/10
[]
Oviraptor Parasite Destroyer
198,522.80
FAA, DHS
965
815
Armored 10
Swift
Missile 72
AMS 60
Capital Missile 6
Capital AMS 6
Capital 4/10
Capital 3/54
While you are finishing up with the Admiral, Jeremy pops his head into your office and tosses a datapad on your desk before vanishing before you can say anything. You shake your head and take a look at the pad. On it is a proposal from the Colonial Office that they sent first to the AFGE for review.
You still have massive stockpiles of rifles, machine guns, and such from before you began upgrading your infantry all those years ago. Not even your militia forces are still using such obsolete gear, but military bureaucracy, and quartermasters, being what they were, still have warehouses full of the stuff.
What is being proposed is to transfer all this obsolete kit to Calliope IV along with several incredibly basic armored vehicles, although your lips do quirk a bit at seeing the new ‘Improved’ class 5 autocannon listed as the main armament for the tank, the reasoning is quite sound. The differences are in materials, not function, maintenance, or use and getting your own industry used to those materials is worth the marginally higher cost of the tanks in question.
[]
You still have your old rifle, but it’s time to let the rest go.
-1% Interest Rate this turn
Improved Relations with Calliope IV
[]
Are they nuts? You never know when you’ll need them!
No change
Parliament is up to well, Parliament things. The Chamber of Delegates has voted to publicly commemorate the success of Operation Twister and Operation Full Throttle by having commemorative gold medals struck for every officer involved in the two operations. They’ve asked you for your approval, which was pretty foregone as the medals are quite tasteful and well deserved, but the Chamber does quietly ask that you not participate in the actual awards ceremony.
[]
Let them have their time in the spotlight
+1 Politics
+1 Support Chamber of Delegates
+1 Influence - Chamber of Delegates
[]
I’m the Empress, them cameras are on ME
+1 Politics
-1 Support Chamber of Delegates
The Imperial Senate, meanwhile, has requested permission to send a small delegation, made up almost exclusively of your supporters… including the Eldest’s granddaughter, to Calliope IV to see the situation on the ground for themselves. The move is widely seen in the press as the first political step towards integrating Calliope into the Empire.
[]
Approve
+1 Politics
+1 Support - Imperial Senate
You get licked by the Eldest, and he promises not to slobber
[]
Disapprove
-1 Politics
-1 Support - Imperial Senate
-1 Influence - Imperial Senate
You suffer the Gaze Of Disapproval from the Eldest
[X]Resettle the refugees on Nowy Gdansk immediately
- [X] It's a small risk, but counter-intelligence can still vet them planetside.
[X]Cobra Point Defense Gunboat
The Cobra delivers the highest value for cost, being built to meet the Navy requirements and then "round up" from there.
[X]Oviraptor Parasite Destroyer
[X] You still have your old rifle, but it’s time to let the rest go.
[X]Let them have their time in the spotlight
- [X] However, if they politically 'backstab' us by using the Empress' absence against her, this will be remembered.
[X] Approve
[X]Resettle the refugees on Nowy Gdansk immediately
- [X] It's a small risk, but counter-intelligence can still vet them planetside.
[X]Cobra Point Defense Gunboat
The Cobra delivers the highest value for cost, being built to meet the Navy requirements and then "round up" from there.
[X]Oviraptor Parasite Destroyer
[X] You still have your old rifle, but it’s time to let the rest go.
[X]Let them have their time in the spotlight
- [X] However, if they politically 'backstab' us by using the Empress' absence against her, this will be remembered.
[X] Approve
First for the eliminated designs, since we’re almost certain we’re going to hear protests about it.
Majeure Electrique's protests are filed in triplicate, and mostly involve pointing out that the Navy did not specify any maximum tonnage for the contract, only a maximum cost which the rejected "Super Cobra" fell well under while being vastly more capable than any other proposal. The only tonnage restriction which was even implied was that it should be smaller than the Defiant class...which the Super Cobra is, by exactly 100 tons.
In fact, the Super Cobra exceeds every single Navy requirement, most of them by exactly one. It's required to have four ER Medium Lasers and two Large Pulse Lasers. . . so it has five ER Medium and three Large Pulse. You get the idea that Majeure Electrique's engineers were being a little passive aggressive about the Navy forcing them to dilute their beloved ER PPC + Gauss Rifle combination.
ME further complains that they were not able to "properly optimize" their proposal because the Navy withheld the tonnage limitations; the Super Cobra is "too big" but the Cobra is not as big and capable as it could have been.
Good news is that the Dracs did not turn that system into a deathtrap and our attack had excellent timing. Bad news is that we have triggered a lunatic that has access to RKKVs and a functioning WMD program. Nuclear weapons are bad enough but BT bio-weapons go from Class III nerve toxins to Class V planetary depopulation plagues.
[X]Resettle the refugees on Nowy Gdansk immediately
- [X] It's a small risk, but counter-intelligence can still vet them planetside.
[X]Cobra Point Defense Gunboat
The Cobra delivers the highest value for cost, being built to meet the Navy requirements and then "round up" from there.
[X]Oviraptor Parasite Destroyer
[X] You still have your old rifle, but it’s time to let the rest go.
[X]Let them have their time in the spotlight
- [X] However, if they politically 'backstab' us by using the Empress' absence against her, this will be remembered.
[X] Approve
[X] Resettle the refugees on Nowy Gdansk immediately
Again, infiltrators aren't a problem, as they have no motivation to help the Dracs and are physically incapable of doing anything that could seriously threaten us.
Do we have any idea of what kind of culture the natives of Atarashi II have? If the planet's atmosphere is so thin that it needs addition oxygen, then the natives must either live underground or in enclosed cities, or they have advanced terraforming tech that can keep pumping oxygen into the atmosphere.
Very wary of the biological weapons center on the planet. Even if Drac ships and stations in space couldn't get a message off the surface, surely the Dracs on the surface would have detected our presence, either with sensors on the surface or by lack of communication with their fellows in space. They might go scorched earth and release biological weapons on the planet out of spite. Who knows if dropping high yield nukes on the bio weapon center would vaporize ALL of the deadly microbes, and there could be a huge amount of collateral damage if the center is located near civilian settlements (not to mention the deaths of any prisoners inside the facility who haven't been used as test subjects yet).
What are the Dracs mining on the innermost planet of the Atarashi system? Germanium?
We lost 9 out of the 21 ships we sent to the Polish system. Yikes.
How much time and effort would it take to restore the Polish homeworld? Cleaning the air, purifying the pollutants, etc? Plant a lot of forests and hope that they displace the pollutants with oxygen?
The Polish should know that help is on the way now (but not this year). There must be pockets of resistance who have access to radios and could hear the Dracs freaking out when our raid happened.
[X] You still have your old rifle, but it’s time to let the rest go.
All of our forces in our system should already be using the best stuff we have. It only costs us fuel to transport this pre-existing equipment to Calliope.
[X] I’m the Empress, them cameras are on ME
Kinda torn on this one. On the one hand, this is pretty trivial and throwing Parliament a bone would help improve our relations with them with pretty much zero effort. On the other hand, the Empress did sorta directly order these men out to die, so the least we can do is show up and thank them.
[X] Keep them aboard AKA-01 until counter-intel can vet them, then resettle them
[X]Resettle the refugees on Nowy Gdansk immediately
- [X] It's a small risk, but counter-intelligence can still vet them planetside.
[X]Cobra Point Defense Gunboat
The Cobra delivers the highest value for cost, being built to meet the Navy requirements and then "round up" from there.
[X]Oviraptor Parasite Destroyer
[X] You still have your old rifle, but it’s time to let the rest go.
[X]Let them have their time in the spotlight
- [X] However, if they politically 'backstab' us by using the Empress' absence against her, this will be remembered.
[X] Approve
Normally i'd be fine with letting them settle on Nowy and vetting them there after something so harrowing but the fact we might be dealing with slaves from Atarashi as well means we need to take a little time to figure out what sort of people they actually are.
[X]Resettle the refugees on Nowy Gdansk immediately
- [X] It's a small risk, but counter-intelligence can still vet them planetside.
[X]Cobra Point Defense Gunboat
The Cobra delivers the highest value for cost, being built to meet the Navy requirements and then "round up" from there.
[X]Oviraptor Parasite Destroyer
[X] You still have your old rifle, but it’s time to let the rest go.
[X]Let them have their time in the spotlight
- [X] However, if they politically 'backstab' us by using the Empress' absence against her, this will be remembered.
[X] Approve
[X] Keep them aboard AKA-01 until counter-intel can vet them, then resettle them
[X]Resettle the refugees on Nowy Gdansk immediately
- [X] It's a small risk, but counter-intelligence can still vet them planetside.
[X]Cobra Point Defense Gunboat
The Cobra delivers the highest value for cost, being built to meet the Navy requirements and then "round up" from there.
[X]Oviraptor Parasite Destroyer
[X] You still have your old rifle, but it’s time to let the rest go.
[X]Let them have their time in the spotlight
- [X] However, if they politically 'backstab' us by using the Empress' absence against her, this will be remembered.
[X] Approve
