Knowledgeispower
Ah I love the smell of missile spam in the morning
[X] Plan: Waffle-wards push
Quest Deep Periphery Quest (Battletech Sandbox Empire Builder)
- Thread starter LordSunhawk
- Start date
Thors_Alumni
Well-known member
[X] Defer to the Lord High Executioner
[X] Decide in favor of preservationists
[X] Plan: Waffle-wards push
[X] Decide in favor of preservationists
[X] Plan: Waffle-wards push
Disappointed that no option to put pressure on the other states for playing games with our tech
Winter_Wind45
Well-known member
[X] Plan: Waffle-wards push
Joyousmadman
Well-known member
[X] Defer to the Lord High Executioner
[X] Decide in favor of preservationists
[X] Plan: Waffle-wards push
[X] Decide in favor of preservationists
[X] Plan: Waffle-wards push
Turn 69 - Dirty Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap)
Turn 69 - Dirty Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap)
-----
You decide to side with the preservationist society in regards to the structure on Nowa Warszawa. There is zero evidence hinting at what it was for, no archival information, no markings. But it’s very old and that is that. The company backing the resort is very upset and files for bankruptcy and dissolution, as the preservation of the structure completely invalidates their entire business plan and makes it impossible for them to build the resort. Contractors who lost business due to this are also upset, as are the people who had been planning on working for the resort when it opened.
The preservationists are quite happy, however. The fact that none of them live in the area, most are idle rich, and all of the costs of maintaining the structure are now being borne by the system government means that they lost nothing and gained the satisfaction that the old structure is preserved. None of them have ever bothered to visit it.
You are of the opinion that it is very possible that the structure has some significance, it is too solid and well built to be trivial, and the truth of it will eventually be found. Destroying it for some short term economic gain would be short sighted. You have some archivists working on the problem, along with some historians, and you are confident that eventually they’ll come to the bottom of things.
The new Kilburroughan embassy has arrived, and it is just as annoying a group as the last emissary from there. The same pure black guards that are rocking the whole ‘Men In Black’ look far too hard, the same flamboyance, the same complete disregard for any social conventions, the same complete lack of anything even vaguely resembling self-awareness.
They set up shop in the building that you provided for them, right off of the main plaza outside the palace itself. Apart from presenting their credentials, in the most over-the-top tone deaf manner imaginable, the Kilburroughans appear to be keeping mostly to themselves. Then again, the diplomatic scene in Griffsport is not precisely hopping, with only the NRR and NRI having embassies besides the Kilburroughans.
You leave dealing with this to Isoroku. Next year it will be Jeremy’s problem after all, and it wouldn’t do for you to leave him with any undue messes. That’s your story and you are sticking to it.
The Black Pumpernickels arrive in the Griffon system, thoroughly annoying traffic control when they start firing packets of confetti out of their naval autocannons and loudly broadcasting ‘celebration music’. Thankfully the ‘confetti’ turns out to be packets of dust that rapidly disperse, limiting the navigational hazard. More amusingly, at least to you, at least one of the ‘packets’ is a paint bomb that hits the Kilburrough jumpship, splattering it with an unholy mix of glitter, neon, and bizarre pastels. The Pumpernickels' thoroughly unapologetic ‘oops’ doesn’t convince anybody, but who’s going to argue with a battleship?
Much more positively, they are in negotiation with several major venues in Griffsport to host their performance next year, and are offering very generous terms. The venues are pretty much falling all over themselves to get the contract.
Several days later you are extremely glad that you sent HMS Morristown with the survey crew to GX-D5, as she returns with a bit of light armor damage. The system was swarming with Drac ASFs, but fortunately none had nukes. HMS Morristown had blotted the jump point defenses into scrap and the single Sentinel class recon vessel had performed a high speed survey of the system, being chased by Drac ASFs and light dropships the entire way. The red giant primary supports no habitable worlds, just several asteroid belts with extensive mining operations, several gas giants that likewise are being used for resource collection, and little else.
HMS Morristown jumped out just as a Drac reaction force, summoned by the nadir forces, arrived, firing a single parting volley moments before engaging her KF drive. The heavy naval PPC shots had vaporized a pair of Drac Monoliths that hadn’t yet even started releasing their dropships.
She’s in the repair yard for three days getting minor patches done to the armor, no reason not to have her in anything less than perfect condition for the coronation next year after all.
You do get to attend a pair of commissioning ceremonies for HMS Pilum and HMS Pfeil. The first two Dart-class light cruisers to be built and commissioned in your Navy, and the first domestically produced warships. Both are beautiful ships, lethal in appearance and clearly designed around a paradigm emphasizing long range combat. You are given a full tour of HMS Pilum by Thanh, who is quite obviously pleased as punch about the new ship.
The current intention is to deploy two Dagger class corvettes with each Dart, with both formations joining HMS Morristown whenever she deploys into a potential combat situation. In the future the same 2 Dagger per Dart construction tempo is intended to be made standard, at least until you have something better.
At the commissioning ceremonies you get to chat with the NRR and NRI ambassadors and the subject of the various reactions to the warships comes up. The NRR folks had been rather shocked initially at the first reports about HMS Morristown, but had encountered the Jolly Rogers of the pirates before, so the idea of armed jump capable vessels being a ‘thing’ wasn’t completely alien to them. The NRI had a great deal of experience with the armed primitive jumpships used by the pirates and had simply considered the Morristown to be a bigger and badder version of the same concept.
Neither had been particularly panicked, the NRR because they did have institutional memory of anti-Warship tactics and the NRI due to their rather fatalistic attitude towards such things.
You get a report from your intelligence people that agents have been successfully inserted onto both planets in the Nya Kopenhamn system without, as far as can be told, being detected. Meanwhile propaganda broadcasts have begun aimed at both worlds, the agitprop being developed by your best marketing and psychology people at the Aerie and run through a vigorous ethical screening process.
A number of new jumpship and warship construction docks have been completed and are now available for use, significantly increasing the construction capacity for these vital units. Likewise four new orbital shipyard modules have been built and installed at the yards in the New Capricorn and Nowy Slask systems.
The Colonial Office expansion has slightly improved your ability to administrate the Empire, just in time for your son to take over, bless him. New orbital facilities in Griff’s Leap allow for profitable access to the resources in the various asteroid belts, while initial colonization of Nowy Wroclaw is very successful, with full administrative and legal systems already up and running to the benefit of the initial colonists.
Luckily the clothes-eating bacteria on Nowy Wroclaw proves to be incredibly sensitive to certain wavelengths of ulta-violet light that are currently blocked by the planet’s atmosphere. Even luckier, these are wavelengths that are harmless to humans. Simply installing UV transmitters is sufficient to ward off any chance of the bacteria spreading off world. It is estimated that basic terraforming work on the planet will result in the bacteria being confined, if not eradicated, in the near future. Work is underway to determine what, if any, other properties beyond eating fibers the bacterium is useful for.
Your Ferro-Carbide production numbers have seen a significant boost, as refinements in techniques used to produce plates of the armor have allowed for more efficient use of initial raw materials.
A large art show, themed around the concept of Liberty, Freedom, and Liberation, is held in the square directly outside the Kilburroughan embassy. Thousands of artists across the Empire gather to show works on these themes, with many outright comparing Kilburrough to the worst examples of historical slavery. The artist who managed to get the spot directly across from the entrance to the embassy has an updated version of the ancient classic featuring a raging John Brown figure wearing the latest version of Griffon battle armor sans helmet, clutching a bible in one hand and a rifle-pattern anti-personnel gauss rifle in the other. A banner reading ‘History is Coming’ hangs above it, and the artist has brought several freed victims from Nowa Warszawa.
The Kilburroughans rather uncharacteristically seem to follow the old saw of discretion being the better part and remain inside the embassy throughout the exhibition.
Imperial investment in basic infrastructure and such on Calliope IV results in a boost to the local economy as several factories producing such staples as uniforms and boots open their doors, feeding the growing logistical needs of your military.
Four new White Tower stations have been built, locking down the jump points for Nowy Wroclaw and Catachan. Sufficient ASF wings to fully staff all of them complete training in time, likewise Griff’s Leap now has one of the largest ASF concentrations in the Empire as a full ten light fighter wings are deployed, luckily the new shelters have sufficient housing and facilities to support 360 ASFs. The new dropships are also in service, boosting your forces.
Economic investment and focused development on the capital world, while forced upon you by the Chamber of Delegates, does result in some significant economic effects here at home. The somewhat stagnant, at least in comparison to the rest of the Empire, local economy revives somewhat.
You attend the final unit parades celebrating new units reaching establishment strength. This, you might miss just a bit. There’s just something about taking the salutes of all those fresh-faced young soldiers that stirs something in your soul. You have to remind yourself that it’s been 70 years since you were one of them, marching in the ranks, feeling proud of completing training, of proving that you did, in fact, have what it took despite the best efforts of the drill sergeants to prove otherwise. Then realizing that the drill sergeants were just working to help you realize that and had not, in fact, been hateful ogres who ate babies for breakfast and existed purely to be cruel sadists.
But when you were a young officer, there weren’t any BattleMechs, there weren’t any suits of power armor. The flyby’s were by conventional aircraft and a few clunky ASFs that barely qualified for the word. Your rifle would have been recognizable to a veteran of that old Earth conflict called the Vietnam War, at least according to the history books. Armor? You wore a flak vest that today wouldn’t even meet civilian standards.
You somewhat regret that you don’t fit into your old uniform anymore. In many ways those few months between your graduation in a parade much like this one and the Drac attack on the planet were the happiest days of your life.
When you get back to the office, the three new HPG stations on Gotland, Tarentum, and Ravenna are online, fully linking you to your allies.
You also get a report from Jake. The Imperial Senate was ecstatic to meet with him, very enthusiastic in their meetings, and quite bluntly the Senators love you about as much as any politician loves anybody. Getting their cooperation on bills and such is almost trivial, at least until something irritates them then the entire dance starts again. You wish Jeremy luck with this.
The Chamber of Delegates on the other hand? Jake can’t even get them to return his calls, let alone listen to his pitch. They categorically refuse to meet with him except at the lowest staff level, and working with the disgruntled Assemblymen is a complete nightmare.
Near the end of the year the first in a series of small ice asteroids impacts the surface of Edelsteine, releasing water onto the planet for the first time in over a million years if the geologists are right. DoME crews are now preparing for the hard work of making the planet actually habitable.
In a few weeks the coronation ceremony for your son will take place. Jeremy will be wearing the crown. And you will be on vacation. Permanently. Calliope III looks like a lovely place to visit. With the grandkids and great grandkids. Jeremy will just have to muddle along without you, because ba will have left the building, thank you, and enjoy the canapes.
| Meta Event | 9 | |
| Dynasty Luck | 39 | |
| Successes | ||
| Imperial Approval | 4 | |
| Approval Change | 4 | |
| Political Event | -1 | |
| Successes | ||
| Imperial Economy | 0 | |
| Economic Event | 4 | |
| Research Event | 1 | |
| Griffon | Econ | 0 |
| Health | 0 | |
| Event | 0 | |
| Nowa Warszawa | Econ | 0 |
| Health | 2 | |
| Event | 0 | |
| Calliope IV | Econ | 0 |
| Health | 1 | |
| Event | 1 | |
| TTP | Econ | 2 |
| Health | 3 | |
| Event | 0 | |
| New Capricorn | Econ | -3 |
| Health | 0 | |
| Event | 0 | |
| Nowy Śląsk | Econ | 0 |
| Health | -1 | |
| Event | 0 | |
| Edelsteine | Econ | 0 |
| Health | ||
| Event | 1 |
Plan: Waffle-wards push
- Procurement [$ 18,437,010.94 ]
-- Lay Down Major Unit [Construction - $13,217,639.12 ] (85)
--- 46 Trenton [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 77
Result - SUCCESS
--- 6 Independence [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 47
Result - SUCCESS
--- 12 Shannon [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 77
Result - SUCCESS
-- Lay down Jumpship [Jumpship Construction - $148,640.92 ] (65)
--- 1 Caravel [65]
Target - 65
Roll – 95, Reroll Gurk - 34
Result - SUCCESS
-- Lay down Warship [Warship Construction - $2,804,747.87 ] (70)
-- Purchase New Units [ $ 2,265,983.03 ] (75)
--- 4 Fighter Wing [auto]
--- 10 Carrier Wing [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 62
Result - SUCCESS
--- 10 Light Fighter Wing [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 45
Result - SUCCESS
--- 1 Raider Regiment [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 16
Result - SUCCESS
--- 1 Assault Regiment [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 1
Result - Critical SUCCESS
--- 2 Standard Mech Regiment [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 44
Result - SUCCESS
--- 1 Armored Cavalry Regiment [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 24
Result - SUCCESS
--- 1 Garrison Mech Regiment [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 78
Result - SUCCESS
--- 2 Light Horse Regiment [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 66
Result - SUCCESS
--- 5 Militia Mech Regiment [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 37
Result - SUCCESS
--- 2 Mechanized Regiment [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 15
Result - SUCCESS
--- 1 Armored Regiment [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 67
Result - SUCCESS
--- 1 Imperial Guard Regiment [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 41
Result - SUCCESS
- General [$ 563,199,261.14 ]
-- Construct White Tower Nowy Wroclaw Nadir [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 33
Result - SUCCESS
-- Construct White Tower Nowy Wroclaw Zenith [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 89
Result - SUCCESS
-- Focus Development on Core World Griffon [65]
Target - 65
Roll – 89, Reroll GURK - 58
Result - SUCCESS
-- Economic Investment Griffon [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 11
Result - SUCCESS
-- Construct White Tower Catachan Nadir [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 30
Result - SUCCESS
-- Construct White Tower Catachan Zenith [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 76
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build HPG Station Gotland* [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 59
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build HPG Station Tarentum* [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 19
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build HPG Station Ravenna* [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 69
Result - SUCCESS
-- Begin Colonization of Nowy Wroclaw [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 32
Result - SUCCESS
-- Establish Nowy Wroclaw System Government [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 85
Result - SUCCESS
-- Extend Judicial System to Nowy Wroclaw [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 8
Result - SUCCESS
-- Organize Embassy to Kilburrough [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 43
Result - SUCCESS
-- Culture - Art Show [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 1
Result – Critical SUCCESS
-- Expand Military Industrial Infrastructure Calliope [85]
Target - 85
Roll – 96, Reroll GURK - 45
Result - SUCCESS
-- Upgrade All Ferro Carbide Forges [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 69
Result - SUCCESS
-- Survey D3 [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 41
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Relations with Senate [60]
Target - 60
Roll – 74, Reroll GURK - 10
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Relations with Chamber [60]
Target - 60
Roll - 62
Result – Bare FAILURE (auto success next turn)
-- Broadcast Propaganda to Nya Kopenhamn III [~]
-- Broadcast Propaganda to Nya Kopenhamn IV [~]
-- Infiltrate Nya Köpenhamn [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 7
Result - SUCCESS
-- Final Preparations for Coronation of Jeremy [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 44
Result - SUCCESS
-- Expand Colonial Office (per level) [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 53
Result - SUCCESS
-- Construct Capital Shipyard Sukiashi [75]
Target - 75
Roll – 88, Reroll JAROW - 59
Result - SUCCESS
-- Construct Jumpship Yard Kuroisora [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 52
Result - SUCCESS
-- Construct Jumpship Yard New Capricorn [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 85
Result - SUCCESS
-- Expand Capital Shipyards [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 66
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build ASF Factory Complex Calliope IV* [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 20
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build ASF Factory Complex New Capricorn* [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 88
Result - SUCCESS
-- Expand All Shipyards [100]
Target - 100
Roll - 63
Result - SUCCESS
-- Expand Refit and Repair Yard [100]
Target - 100
Roll - 70
Result - SUCCESS
- DoME [$ 51,000,000.00 ]
-- Edelsteine Ice Asteroid Redirection and Seeding* [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 72
Result - SUCCESS
- Research [$ 180,050,000.50 ]
-- Research fabrics immune to Nowy Wroclaw bacteria [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 43
Result - SUCCESS
- Miscellaneous [$ 4000000 ]
-- Random Rebuilding [2,000,000][->2]
-- Peacekeeping [2,000,000]
-- DOME - Plant Subarctic Forests GIV* [QM Penance][->3]
- Procurement [$ 18,437,010.94 ]
-- Lay Down Major Unit [Construction - $13,217,639.12 ] (85)
--- 46 Trenton [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 77
Result - SUCCESS
--- 6 Independence [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 47
Result - SUCCESS
--- 12 Shannon [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 77
Result - SUCCESS
-- Lay down Jumpship [Jumpship Construction - $148,640.92 ] (65)
--- 1 Caravel [65]
Target - 65
Roll – 95, Reroll Gurk - 34
Result - SUCCESS
-- Lay down Warship [Warship Construction - $2,804,747.87 ] (70)
-- Purchase New Units [ $ 2,265,983.03 ] (75)
--- 4 Fighter Wing [auto]
--- 10 Carrier Wing [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 62
Result - SUCCESS
--- 10 Light Fighter Wing [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 45
Result - SUCCESS
--- 1 Raider Regiment [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 16
Result - SUCCESS
--- 1 Assault Regiment [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 1
Result - Critical SUCCESS
--- 2 Standard Mech Regiment [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 44
Result - SUCCESS
--- 1 Armored Cavalry Regiment [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 24
Result - SUCCESS
--- 1 Garrison Mech Regiment [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 78
Result - SUCCESS
--- 2 Light Horse Regiment [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 66
Result - SUCCESS
--- 5 Militia Mech Regiment [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 37
Result - SUCCESS
--- 2 Mechanized Regiment [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 15
Result - SUCCESS
--- 1 Armored Regiment [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 67
Result - SUCCESS
--- 1 Imperial Guard Regiment [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 41
Result - SUCCESS
- General [$ 563,199,261.14 ]
-- Construct White Tower Nowy Wroclaw Nadir [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 33
Result - SUCCESS
-- Construct White Tower Nowy Wroclaw Zenith [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 89
Result - SUCCESS
-- Focus Development on Core World Griffon [65]
Target - 65
Roll – 89, Reroll GURK - 58
Result - SUCCESS
-- Economic Investment Griffon [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 11
Result - SUCCESS
-- Construct White Tower Catachan Nadir [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 30
Result - SUCCESS
-- Construct White Tower Catachan Zenith [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 76
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build HPG Station Gotland* [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 59
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build HPG Station Tarentum* [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 19
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build HPG Station Ravenna* [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 69
Result - SUCCESS
-- Begin Colonization of Nowy Wroclaw [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 32
Result - SUCCESS
-- Establish Nowy Wroclaw System Government [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 85
Result - SUCCESS
-- Extend Judicial System to Nowy Wroclaw [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 8
Result - SUCCESS
-- Organize Embassy to Kilburrough [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 43
Result - SUCCESS
-- Culture - Art Show [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 1
Result – Critical SUCCESS
-- Expand Military Industrial Infrastructure Calliope [85]
Target - 85
Roll – 96, Reroll GURK - 45
Result - SUCCESS
-- Upgrade All Ferro Carbide Forges [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 69
Result - SUCCESS
-- Survey D3 [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 41
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Relations with Senate [60]
Target - 60
Roll – 74, Reroll GURK - 10
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build Relations with Chamber [60]
Target - 60
Roll - 62
Result – Bare FAILURE (auto success next turn)
-- Broadcast Propaganda to Nya Kopenhamn III [~]
-- Broadcast Propaganda to Nya Kopenhamn IV [~]
-- Infiltrate Nya Köpenhamn [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 7
Result - SUCCESS
-- Final Preparations for Coronation of Jeremy [95]
Target - 95
Roll - 44
Result - SUCCESS
-- Expand Colonial Office (per level) [75]
Target - 75
Roll - 53
Result - SUCCESS
-- Construct Capital Shipyard Sukiashi [75]
Target - 75
Roll – 88, Reroll JAROW - 59
Result - SUCCESS
-- Construct Jumpship Yard Kuroisora [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 52
Result - SUCCESS
-- Construct Jumpship Yard New Capricorn [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 85
Result - SUCCESS
-- Expand Capital Shipyards [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 66
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build ASF Factory Complex Calliope IV* [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 20
Result - SUCCESS
-- Build ASF Factory Complex New Capricorn* [90]
Target - 90
Roll - 88
Result - SUCCESS
-- Expand All Shipyards [100]
Target - 100
Roll - 63
Result - SUCCESS
-- Expand Refit and Repair Yard [100]
Target - 100
Roll - 70
Result - SUCCESS
- DoME [$ 51,000,000.00 ]
-- Edelsteine Ice Asteroid Redirection and Seeding* [80]
Target - 80
Roll - 72
Result - SUCCESS
- Research [$ 180,050,000.50 ]
-- Research fabrics immune to Nowy Wroclaw bacteria [85]
Target - 85
Roll - 43
Result - SUCCESS
- Miscellaneous [$ 4000000 ]
-- Random Rebuilding [2,000,000][->2]
-- Peacekeeping [2,000,000]
-- DOME - Plant Subarctic Forests GIV* [QM Penance][->3]
-----
You decide to side with the preservationist society in regards to the structure on Nowa Warszawa. There is zero evidence hinting at what it was for, no archival information, no markings. But it’s very old and that is that. The company backing the resort is very upset and files for bankruptcy and dissolution, as the preservation of the structure completely invalidates their entire business plan and makes it impossible for them to build the resort. Contractors who lost business due to this are also upset, as are the people who had been planning on working for the resort when it opened.
The preservationists are quite happy, however. The fact that none of them live in the area, most are idle rich, and all of the costs of maintaining the structure are now being borne by the system government means that they lost nothing and gained the satisfaction that the old structure is preserved. None of them have ever bothered to visit it.
You are of the opinion that it is very possible that the structure has some significance, it is too solid and well built to be trivial, and the truth of it will eventually be found. Destroying it for some short term economic gain would be short sighted. You have some archivists working on the problem, along with some historians, and you are confident that eventually they’ll come to the bottom of things.
The new Kilburroughan embassy has arrived, and it is just as annoying a group as the last emissary from there. The same pure black guards that are rocking the whole ‘Men In Black’ look far too hard, the same flamboyance, the same complete disregard for any social conventions, the same complete lack of anything even vaguely resembling self-awareness.
They set up shop in the building that you provided for them, right off of the main plaza outside the palace itself. Apart from presenting their credentials, in the most over-the-top tone deaf manner imaginable, the Kilburroughans appear to be keeping mostly to themselves. Then again, the diplomatic scene in Griffsport is not precisely hopping, with only the NRR and NRI having embassies besides the Kilburroughans.
You leave dealing with this to Isoroku. Next year it will be Jeremy’s problem after all, and it wouldn’t do for you to leave him with any undue messes. That’s your story and you are sticking to it.
The Black Pumpernickels arrive in the Griffon system, thoroughly annoying traffic control when they start firing packets of confetti out of their naval autocannons and loudly broadcasting ‘celebration music’. Thankfully the ‘confetti’ turns out to be packets of dust that rapidly disperse, limiting the navigational hazard. More amusingly, at least to you, at least one of the ‘packets’ is a paint bomb that hits the Kilburrough jumpship, splattering it with an unholy mix of glitter, neon, and bizarre pastels. The Pumpernickels' thoroughly unapologetic ‘oops’ doesn’t convince anybody, but who’s going to argue with a battleship?
Much more positively, they are in negotiation with several major venues in Griffsport to host their performance next year, and are offering very generous terms. The venues are pretty much falling all over themselves to get the contract.
Several days later you are extremely glad that you sent HMS Morristown with the survey crew to GX-D5, as she returns with a bit of light armor damage. The system was swarming with Drac ASFs, but fortunately none had nukes. HMS Morristown had blotted the jump point defenses into scrap and the single Sentinel class recon vessel had performed a high speed survey of the system, being chased by Drac ASFs and light dropships the entire way. The red giant primary supports no habitable worlds, just several asteroid belts with extensive mining operations, several gas giants that likewise are being used for resource collection, and little else.
HMS Morristown jumped out just as a Drac reaction force, summoned by the nadir forces, arrived, firing a single parting volley moments before engaging her KF drive. The heavy naval PPC shots had vaporized a pair of Drac Monoliths that hadn’t yet even started releasing their dropships.
She’s in the repair yard for three days getting minor patches done to the armor, no reason not to have her in anything less than perfect condition for the coronation next year after all.
You do get to attend a pair of commissioning ceremonies for HMS Pilum and HMS Pfeil. The first two Dart-class light cruisers to be built and commissioned in your Navy, and the first domestically produced warships. Both are beautiful ships, lethal in appearance and clearly designed around a paradigm emphasizing long range combat. You are given a full tour of HMS Pilum by Thanh, who is quite obviously pleased as punch about the new ship.
The current intention is to deploy two Dagger class corvettes with each Dart, with both formations joining HMS Morristown whenever she deploys into a potential combat situation. In the future the same 2 Dagger per Dart construction tempo is intended to be made standard, at least until you have something better.
At the commissioning ceremonies you get to chat with the NRR and NRI ambassadors and the subject of the various reactions to the warships comes up. The NRR folks had been rather shocked initially at the first reports about HMS Morristown, but had encountered the Jolly Rogers of the pirates before, so the idea of armed jump capable vessels being a ‘thing’ wasn’t completely alien to them. The NRI had a great deal of experience with the armed primitive jumpships used by the pirates and had simply considered the Morristown to be a bigger and badder version of the same concept.
Neither had been particularly panicked, the NRR because they did have institutional memory of anti-Warship tactics and the NRI due to their rather fatalistic attitude towards such things.
You get a report from your intelligence people that agents have been successfully inserted onto both planets in the Nya Kopenhamn system without, as far as can be told, being detected. Meanwhile propaganda broadcasts have begun aimed at both worlds, the agitprop being developed by your best marketing and psychology people at the Aerie and run through a vigorous ethical screening process.
A number of new jumpship and warship construction docks have been completed and are now available for use, significantly increasing the construction capacity for these vital units. Likewise four new orbital shipyard modules have been built and installed at the yards in the New Capricorn and Nowy Slask systems.
The Colonial Office expansion has slightly improved your ability to administrate the Empire, just in time for your son to take over, bless him. New orbital facilities in Griff’s Leap allow for profitable access to the resources in the various asteroid belts, while initial colonization of Nowy Wroclaw is very successful, with full administrative and legal systems already up and running to the benefit of the initial colonists.
Luckily the clothes-eating bacteria on Nowy Wroclaw proves to be incredibly sensitive to certain wavelengths of ulta-violet light that are currently blocked by the planet’s atmosphere. Even luckier, these are wavelengths that are harmless to humans. Simply installing UV transmitters is sufficient to ward off any chance of the bacteria spreading off world. It is estimated that basic terraforming work on the planet will result in the bacteria being confined, if not eradicated, in the near future. Work is underway to determine what, if any, other properties beyond eating fibers the bacterium is useful for.
Your Ferro-Carbide production numbers have seen a significant boost, as refinements in techniques used to produce plates of the armor have allowed for more efficient use of initial raw materials.
A large art show, themed around the concept of Liberty, Freedom, and Liberation, is held in the square directly outside the Kilburroughan embassy. Thousands of artists across the Empire gather to show works on these themes, with many outright comparing Kilburrough to the worst examples of historical slavery. The artist who managed to get the spot directly across from the entrance to the embassy has an updated version of the ancient classic featuring a raging John Brown figure wearing the latest version of Griffon battle armor sans helmet, clutching a bible in one hand and a rifle-pattern anti-personnel gauss rifle in the other. A banner reading ‘History is Coming’ hangs above it, and the artist has brought several freed victims from Nowa Warszawa.
The Kilburroughans rather uncharacteristically seem to follow the old saw of discretion being the better part and remain inside the embassy throughout the exhibition.
Imperial investment in basic infrastructure and such on Calliope IV results in a boost to the local economy as several factories producing such staples as uniforms and boots open their doors, feeding the growing logistical needs of your military.
Four new White Tower stations have been built, locking down the jump points for Nowy Wroclaw and Catachan. Sufficient ASF wings to fully staff all of them complete training in time, likewise Griff’s Leap now has one of the largest ASF concentrations in the Empire as a full ten light fighter wings are deployed, luckily the new shelters have sufficient housing and facilities to support 360 ASFs. The new dropships are also in service, boosting your forces.
Economic investment and focused development on the capital world, while forced upon you by the Chamber of Delegates, does result in some significant economic effects here at home. The somewhat stagnant, at least in comparison to the rest of the Empire, local economy revives somewhat.
You attend the final unit parades celebrating new units reaching establishment strength. This, you might miss just a bit. There’s just something about taking the salutes of all those fresh-faced young soldiers that stirs something in your soul. You have to remind yourself that it’s been 70 years since you were one of them, marching in the ranks, feeling proud of completing training, of proving that you did, in fact, have what it took despite the best efforts of the drill sergeants to prove otherwise. Then realizing that the drill sergeants were just working to help you realize that and had not, in fact, been hateful ogres who ate babies for breakfast and existed purely to be cruel sadists.
But when you were a young officer, there weren’t any BattleMechs, there weren’t any suits of power armor. The flyby’s were by conventional aircraft and a few clunky ASFs that barely qualified for the word. Your rifle would have been recognizable to a veteran of that old Earth conflict called the Vietnam War, at least according to the history books. Armor? You wore a flak vest that today wouldn’t even meet civilian standards.
You somewhat regret that you don’t fit into your old uniform anymore. In many ways those few months between your graduation in a parade much like this one and the Drac attack on the planet were the happiest days of your life.
When you get back to the office, the three new HPG stations on Gotland, Tarentum, and Ravenna are online, fully linking you to your allies.
You also get a report from Jake. The Imperial Senate was ecstatic to meet with him, very enthusiastic in their meetings, and quite bluntly the Senators love you about as much as any politician loves anybody. Getting their cooperation on bills and such is almost trivial, at least until something irritates them then the entire dance starts again. You wish Jeremy luck with this.
The Chamber of Delegates on the other hand? Jake can’t even get them to return his calls, let alone listen to his pitch. They categorically refuse to meet with him except at the lowest staff level, and working with the disgruntled Assemblymen is a complete nightmare.
Near the end of the year the first in a series of small ice asteroids impacts the surface of Edelsteine, releasing water onto the planet for the first time in over a million years if the geologists are right. DoME crews are now preparing for the hard work of making the planet actually habitable.
In a few weeks the coronation ceremony for your son will take place. Jeremy will be wearing the crown. And you will be on vacation. Permanently. Calliope III looks like a lovely place to visit. With the grandkids and great grandkids. Jeremy will just have to muddle along without you, because ba will have left the building, thank you, and enjoy the canapes.
Jarow
Well-known member
Well, very good thing I thought to try exploring around Drac space. And that the admiralty thought to use our Potemkin rather than a Caravel. So now we know they are expanding (if away from us), and destroyed two of their jumpships and some jump point defenses. I should probably stick to one scout a turn, to make sure we can afford to send the Morristown (ideally, with escorts)
Thors_Alumni
Well-known member
A follow up strike in that system to destroy all the Drac Facilities might be a good idea.
Turn 70 - Here Comes Johnny
Turn 70 - Here Comes Johnny
Your name is Jeremy Desmond Griffith, first of your name, fifth of your house… and newly crowned Emperor of the Griffon Empire.
And you hadn’t even finished your first speech as Emperor when you realize that something is amiss. It’s far too quiet behind you.
So you look, and find that your mother, your father, your kids, all of the grandkids, all of your nieces and nephews, and their kids, have all quietly left, leaving behind a large banner reading ‘Gone Fishing!’. Even as you open your mouth to inquire of your guards where they’ve gone you find out, as the thunder of a dropship can be heard and… off they go.
The crowd loves it. Right now you want to strangle your dear old mum.
You should have known something was up when she actually went along with all of the proposals for an ultra-formal coronation ceremony with absolute maximum pomp and circumstances, requiring you to wear the full mess dress uniform suitable for an Emperor, underneath heavy robes and a crown that you swear must be made of the degenerate matter found in a neutron star in order to be as heavy as it was.
So of course she promptly jumped ship at the very first possible opportunity, leaving you standing there sweating like a pig and feeling quite put upon. And no doubt HMS Renown will suffer communications glitches preventing you from calling her up and yelling at her for ditching the ceremony SHE insisted on.
You love your mother. Really. You do. Sometimes, though…
You share a commiserating look with Alita, who was very obviously just as much in the dark about your mom’s plans as you were, then, well, the show must go on.
A few hours later you do get a small measure of revenge, as the ‘Little List’ in the performance of the Mikado includes several lines needling your mother, to general laughter. It certainly raises YOUR spirits!
“Empress mums who always fancy parties ditch. Yes she did insist, so I put her on the list!”
You do attend several balls and galas as well over the next several days, celebrating your coming to the throne. Of course, you are in your 60’s already, there’s no way you’ll be ruling as long as your mother did.
You also have to make several decisions right away. For one thing, Janet had resigned as Justice Minister, leaving behind a list of qualified candidates to replace her.
Robert Michels is a current Constitutional Court judge with a solid reputation for legal brilliance. It’s said that he became a judge because being a lawyer was too easy for him. He came up through criminal defense law, but nobody has ever questioned his commitment to ethics and justice. He has very little familiarity with military law, however, which might be a weakness.
Janet’s last deputy, Martina Kalinowski, has also been nominated. She’s the youngest of the candidates, but already has a good reputation within the Justice Ministry as Janet’s good right hand. She has spent several years as the legal counsel for the Special Branch on top of her usual duties as the deputy.
Colonel Peter Williamson is a JAG officer and the current deputy director of the AFGE’s JAG Corps. He is a strict, no-nonsense officer who has a spectacular record in the courtroom. His subordinates refer to him as the Hatchet. You’ve worked with him before, he has absolutely nothing even vaguely resembling social grace, but is a bonafide legal genius.
Dr Fuji Taketada is the current Dean of the Griffon’s Roost University School of Law. She is a lifelong academic lawyer, as opposed to a courtroom specialist, who has an exceptionally strong background in the philosophy of law and the history of the Griffon legal system. You actually took classes from her as an undergrad, and remember her as an extremely tough but fair professor. She would only serve for a few years, being almost as old as your mother, but her experience could be invaluable.
Freya Rogers comes from a corporate law background, serving as chief legal counsel to Lee Industries for ten years. She has little experience in criminal or military law, but none of the candidates have as strong a grasp of pure corporate law as she does.
Potentially more important, your mother left dealing with the apparent industrial espionage vis-a-vis double heat sinks to you. The NRI government, according to reports, had nothing to do with the initial tech transfer, the examples of DHS in the hands of the NRR coming from a private salvage company. Indeed, said company was already facing civil and criminal charges for looting various battlefields without valid permits. Most of the charges are purely administrative.
The issue is that making any use of this intelligence to either browbeat the NRR or the NRI would reveal the depths of your infiltration of the NRR. You currently have multiple highly placed agents within the NRR, including deep enough within their R&D complex to alert you to the existence of the stolen double heat sinks. Acting on this intelligence would inevitably lead to internal questions as to how you found out in the first place, which would make things incredibly uncomfortable for your agents.
Harry points out to you that if we burn these assets we will have a much harder time finding others to fill the void. Better to keep an open link into the bowels of the NRR establishment in order to know for certain what capabilities they are developing, what they are doing, and how, than throwing it away for little to no positive gain.
It would be viscerally satisfying to rub the NRR’s weakness in their face, to threaten and intimidate them into backing down and giving up the project, no doubt grovelling in the process. But then what? All you’d do is breed resentment, cause them to lock down security even tighter in the future, and what happens if you need something from the NRR in the future and you’ve burned your bridges? Or worse yet, what if the NRR is developing something truly game-changing that could be a serious threat to the Empire, and we know nothing of it because we sacrificed all of our agents in place in a fit of chest pounding?
He advises that you simply grit your teeth, smile winningly at the NRR ambassadors, make absolutely no show by word or deed that you know anything at all about what they are up to, and wait until they build their first orbital DHS foundry to confront them with something you would have a perfectly reasonable explanation for noticing.
Your sister has a proposal for you. Dubbed Operation Brass Dragon, a full complement of Independence, Majestic and Lancer dropships carried by HMS Morristown, HMS Pilum and HMS Pfiel would raid GX-D5, destroying every single resource collection station in the system and blowing up anything that could feasibly be blown up. You have enough navigation data to jump in at a pirate point, and Thanh proposes that they do just that.
You do get intelligence reports this year. The NRR’s economy is recovering somewhat, with noticeable growth on New Rasalhague itself as the local recession seems to be at an end. The agents report, however, that at least some of this growth is due to transient factors and may not be fully sustainable, and there are signs of trouble on Gotland as several major earthquakes are reported. Internal NRR documents that you’ve obtained indicate that there are concerns that the current quakes are feared to be precursors to a ‘Big One’ of at least magnitude 9 centered on the southern continent of Gotland. As this is the most heavily settled continent on the planet, a massive quake would be devastating. The NRR government seems to be making reasonable precautions, including evacuating as many people from the projected area as possible while keeping quiet, masking the evacuations under the need to resettle people de-housed by the current quakes.
The NRi appears to be in talks with the Black Pumpernickels for a tour of NRI space following their run of the Mikado on Griffon. Otherwise there is little in the intelligence summaries from the NRI that you couldn’t get just from watching the evening news.
Your name is Jeremy Desmond Griffith, first of your name, fifth of your house… and newly crowned Emperor of the Griffon Empire.
And you hadn’t even finished your first speech as Emperor when you realize that something is amiss. It’s far too quiet behind you.
So you look, and find that your mother, your father, your kids, all of the grandkids, all of your nieces and nephews, and their kids, have all quietly left, leaving behind a large banner reading ‘Gone Fishing!’. Even as you open your mouth to inquire of your guards where they’ve gone you find out, as the thunder of a dropship can be heard and… off they go.
The crowd loves it. Right now you want to strangle your dear old mum.
You should have known something was up when she actually went along with all of the proposals for an ultra-formal coronation ceremony with absolute maximum pomp and circumstances, requiring you to wear the full mess dress uniform suitable for an Emperor, underneath heavy robes and a crown that you swear must be made of the degenerate matter found in a neutron star in order to be as heavy as it was.
So of course she promptly jumped ship at the very first possible opportunity, leaving you standing there sweating like a pig and feeling quite put upon. And no doubt HMS Renown will suffer communications glitches preventing you from calling her up and yelling at her for ditching the ceremony SHE insisted on.
You love your mother. Really. You do. Sometimes, though…
You share a commiserating look with Alita, who was very obviously just as much in the dark about your mom’s plans as you were, then, well, the show must go on.
A few hours later you do get a small measure of revenge, as the ‘Little List’ in the performance of the Mikado includes several lines needling your mother, to general laughter. It certainly raises YOUR spirits!
“Empress mums who always fancy parties ditch. Yes she did insist, so I put her on the list!”
You do attend several balls and galas as well over the next several days, celebrating your coming to the throne. Of course, you are in your 60’s already, there’s no way you’ll be ruling as long as your mother did.
You also have to make several decisions right away. For one thing, Janet had resigned as Justice Minister, leaving behind a list of qualified candidates to replace her.
Robert Michels is a current Constitutional Court judge with a solid reputation for legal brilliance. It’s said that he became a judge because being a lawyer was too easy for him. He came up through criminal defense law, but nobody has ever questioned his commitment to ethics and justice. He has very little familiarity with military law, however, which might be a weakness.
Janet’s last deputy, Martina Kalinowski, has also been nominated. She’s the youngest of the candidates, but already has a good reputation within the Justice Ministry as Janet’s good right hand. She has spent several years as the legal counsel for the Special Branch on top of her usual duties as the deputy.
Colonel Peter Williamson is a JAG officer and the current deputy director of the AFGE’s JAG Corps. He is a strict, no-nonsense officer who has a spectacular record in the courtroom. His subordinates refer to him as the Hatchet. You’ve worked with him before, he has absolutely nothing even vaguely resembling social grace, but is a bonafide legal genius.
Dr Fuji Taketada is the current Dean of the Griffon’s Roost University School of Law. She is a lifelong academic lawyer, as opposed to a courtroom specialist, who has an exceptionally strong background in the philosophy of law and the history of the Griffon legal system. You actually took classes from her as an undergrad, and remember her as an extremely tough but fair professor. She would only serve for a few years, being almost as old as your mother, but her experience could be invaluable.
Freya Rogers comes from a corporate law background, serving as chief legal counsel to Lee Industries for ten years. She has little experience in criminal or military law, but none of the candidates have as strong a grasp of pure corporate law as she does.
| [] | Robert Michels |
| [] | Martina Kalinowski |
| [] | Peter Williamson |
| [] | Fuji Taketada |
| [] | Freya Rogers |
Potentially more important, your mother left dealing with the apparent industrial espionage vis-a-vis double heat sinks to you. The NRI government, according to reports, had nothing to do with the initial tech transfer, the examples of DHS in the hands of the NRR coming from a private salvage company. Indeed, said company was already facing civil and criminal charges for looting various battlefields without valid permits. Most of the charges are purely administrative.
The issue is that making any use of this intelligence to either browbeat the NRR or the NRI would reveal the depths of your infiltration of the NRR. You currently have multiple highly placed agents within the NRR, including deep enough within their R&D complex to alert you to the existence of the stolen double heat sinks. Acting on this intelligence would inevitably lead to internal questions as to how you found out in the first place, which would make things incredibly uncomfortable for your agents.
Harry points out to you that if we burn these assets we will have a much harder time finding others to fill the void. Better to keep an open link into the bowels of the NRR establishment in order to know for certain what capabilities they are developing, what they are doing, and how, than throwing it away for little to no positive gain.
It would be viscerally satisfying to rub the NRR’s weakness in their face, to threaten and intimidate them into backing down and giving up the project, no doubt grovelling in the process. But then what? All you’d do is breed resentment, cause them to lock down security even tighter in the future, and what happens if you need something from the NRR in the future and you’ve burned your bridges? Or worse yet, what if the NRR is developing something truly game-changing that could be a serious threat to the Empire, and we know nothing of it because we sacrificed all of our agents in place in a fit of chest pounding?
He advises that you simply grit your teeth, smile winningly at the NRR ambassadors, make absolutely no show by word or deed that you know anything at all about what they are up to, and wait until they build their first orbital DHS foundry to confront them with something you would have a perfectly reasonable explanation for noticing.
Your sister has a proposal for you. Dubbed Operation Brass Dragon, a full complement of Independence, Majestic and Lancer dropships carried by HMS Morristown, HMS Pilum and HMS Pfiel would raid GX-D5, destroying every single resource collection station in the system and blowing up anything that could feasibly be blown up. You have enough navigation data to jump in at a pirate point, and Thanh proposes that they do just that.
| [] | Approve Operation Brass Dragon |
| [] | Deny Operation Brass Dragon |
You do get intelligence reports this year. The NRR’s economy is recovering somewhat, with noticeable growth on New Rasalhague itself as the local recession seems to be at an end. The agents report, however, that at least some of this growth is due to transient factors and may not be fully sustainable, and there are signs of trouble on Gotland as several major earthquakes are reported. Internal NRR documents that you’ve obtained indicate that there are concerns that the current quakes are feared to be precursors to a ‘Big One’ of at least magnitude 9 centered on the southern continent of Gotland. As this is the most heavily settled continent on the planet, a massive quake would be devastating. The NRR government seems to be making reasonable precautions, including evacuating as many people from the projected area as possible while keeping quiet, masking the evacuations under the need to resettle people de-housed by the current quakes.
The NRi appears to be in talks with the Black Pumpernickels for a tour of NRI space following their run of the Mikado on Griffon. Otherwise there is little in the intelligence summaries from the NRI that you couldn’t get just from watching the evening news.
Knowledgeispower
Ah I love the smell of missile spam in the morning
[X] Approve Operation Brass Dragon
[X] Martina Kalinowski
[X] Martina Kalinowski
Last edited:
Thors_Alumni
Well-known member
[X] Martina Kalinowski
[X] Approve Operation Brass Dragon
[X] Approve Operation Brass Dragon
Val the Moofia Boss
Well-known member
[X] Peter Williamson
[X] Approve Operation Brass Dragon
How long until our military is big enough that we can assault the Dragon's bunker planet? They still have a bioweapon with a near total lethality rate that they could try deploying to worlds in our area which would be bad. They're trying to expand so we should defeat the Dracs sooner rather than later. If we're big enough to assault the bunker planet then I guess we should jump in and once again offer them to negotiate. If the dragon is still alive then he'll probably decline and we'll have to invade anyway but maybe he died of old age and he has a replacement who might be more amenable to talk?
If we can't assault the bunker planet yet then maybe we should send an expedition to hunt for those pirates, or maybe some guys coreward to scout out what nations are there and the state of the galaxy closer to the core.
[X] Approve Operation Brass Dragon
How long until our military is big enough that we can assault the Dragon's bunker planet? They still have a bioweapon with a near total lethality rate that they could try deploying to worlds in our area which would be bad. They're trying to expand so we should defeat the Dracs sooner rather than later. If we're big enough to assault the bunker planet then I guess we should jump in and once again offer them to negotiate. If the dragon is still alive then he'll probably decline and we'll have to invade anyway but maybe he died of old age and he has a replacement who might be more amenable to talk?
If we can't assault the bunker planet yet then maybe we should send an expedition to hunt for those pirates, or maybe some guys coreward to scout out what nations are there and the state of the galaxy closer to the core.
Jarow
Well-known member
[X] Martina Kalinowski
I'm happy with our current Justice system, might as well keep someone similar.
[X] Approve Operation Brass Dragon
Destroying everything we can of there's sounds pretty smart.
I'm happy with our current Justice system, might as well keep someone similar.
[X] Approve Operation Brass Dragon
Destroying everything we can of there's sounds pretty smart.
If I had to guess, bigger problem than having enough military force is having enough military to not mess with our garrison forces. And transport, though that's rapidly approaching a solved issue. Though, should probably be safe enough to claim their orbitals once our current batch of warships is done (We just got two Darts to add to our Potemkin, and we have 4 Daggers and 2 Mirandas done soon). For pirate scouting, I don't think it's safe to scout without an active warship. Mirandas are meant for doing that, but I don't want to lose anything scouting (especially if scouts don't have mobile HPGs, which, thinking about it, really needs to get researched soon)
Thors_Alumni
Well-known member
We might want to plan on forming raiding fleets of a Miranda and 2 or 3 Darts, And their only purpose would be to fly around hunting both Drac locations and Pirate bases. Depending on what they find and the difficulty, They would either engage or retreat and return with heavier elements to finish wiping the location out.
This is kind of what I did in SWEAW where I built raiding fleets of Corellian Corvettes and Gunboats to engage and inflict damage on the empire when I played the Rebel Alliance side.
This is kind of what I did in SWEAW where I built raiding fleets of Corellian Corvettes and Gunboats to engage and inflict damage on the empire when I played the Rebel Alliance side.
AlphaOmega
Well-known member
[X] Approve Operation Brass Dragon