Turn 16: Troublesome Pirates - End
Turn 16 - Troublesome Pirates
Date: 12/818 AS
One of the more intriguing events this turn is a visit by an Asari matriarch from Larrisa, who you suspect to be part of their intelligence apparatus. Ostensible visiting to clarify a few minor issues regarding the trade agreement she also mentions that in recent months Larrisa has noticed a significant increase in foreign ships arriving in their system, some seemingly more interested in gathering information about their new trading partner than anything else. While you don't think that this is necessarily a problem for you and the UTA you still have Tomoe increase the readiness of the fleet and the various outposts.
Rumors:
You have 7 (6+1) Action Points that you can spend any way you wish at generally 1 point per action. You can also add 1 Focus Point (giving a + 20 Bonus) to a chosen action, representing UTA focusing on that action.
Sirius Sector:
With the restructuring of the DSX into the UTA your offcial activities in Sirius have been heavily reduced, in some ways to little more than guard duty. However, with your position and ability to act dependent on the political support of the Houses it is still important to maintain strong ties to the rest of Sirius.
[] Hunt for Element Zero - Sirius Version:
While there is currently no need for large amounts of eezo it is all but certain to become a key resource once you unlock the secret behind the Mass Effect technology. From what you gather from your Larrisan contacts it is one of the most important (trade) goods in the greater galaxy and locating this strange element has become one of the goals of the UTA, even if only to auction or otherwise transfer the claim to a Sirius company.
Result: Look for eezo deposits in the Kappan Gate subsector
Rolled: 31
Eezo continues to be rare in Sirius, or at least in the region near the Hypergate, as most of your survey missions return once again mostly empty handed. They did however manage to locate a few relatively minor deposits in the Omircon Theta system that may be viable for commercial exploitation and which may help to fuel some of the initial Mass Effect Drive upgrades and research in Sirius proper.
With your own element zero mining project in the Voss system demanding most of your resources in this field you decide to get together with your advisors from the Houses and to give one of the megacompanies an opportunity there. Quite a few interesting offers are made but in in the end the Houses and you decide on a joint consortium between DSE of Liberty and the Rheinland company Kruger Minerals who had mobilized considerable political support in their bid and who both possess extensive experience in mining and processing exotic materials.
Result: Small eezo deposit found in Omicron Theta, +1 eco
[] Omicron Kappa Jumpholes:
A closer survey of the Omicron Kappa system unveiled the existence of two additional viable jumpholes. Satellites and rudimentary defensive system have been placed on each and probes have been send through each for a preliminary report. With Omicron Kappa attracting ever more attention it might be time to investigate those two systems, called Omicron Iota and Phi.
Result: Explore Omicron Iota and Phi (how complete this exploration is will depend partly on a dice roll)
Rolled: 39
Your recent increase and ships finally gave the opportunity to explore the two systems connected to Omicron Kappa and the result has been somewhat mixed. Omicron Phi is indeed located towards Outcast territory and seems to be a rather normal system with several noteworthy heavy metal deposits as well as an ice planet that looks like an ideal candidate for terraforming. It is not a high priority candidate but may become a target for future expansion if Omicron Kappa continues to grow.
Less welcome is the news that your scouts have come across repeated evidence of either Nomad or Outcast ships being active in one of the nebulas, suspected of hiding a jumphole, though so far they seem to have chosen to avoid your ships. Still, the presence of a potential enemy force so near one your central system is worrisome and you have scheduled a meeting with the Order as well as your own military advisers to deliberate on how to proceed. For the moment Tomoe has increased the defenses around the jumphole on both sides and organized a number of patrols of the system.
Omicron Iota on the other hand luckily seems to empty of such threats though your people have also not found any evidence of the suspected Dom'Kavash ruin. Besides that, the system seems to be relatively poor of free floating minerals, with the one non-gaseous planet being of the very inhospitable Venus variant. That said your team was unable to fully survey the hundreds of moons that orbit the two massive gas giants that dominate the outer sphere of the system due to time constraints so another mission might be advisable.
Result: Initial survey of Omicron Iota and Phi completed, possible hostile activity discovered in Omicron Phi.
The Corsair Question:
You have made phenomenal progress in regards to your initiative to turn the Corsairs into a legitimate faction and have not only secured the support of most major Houses but also both the public and a number of highly influential megacompanies. Of course all that is useless if you can't convince the Corsair leadership to abandon their current confrontational course.
(To be successful (as in unlock the relevant action) in this you will at least need the support of Bretonia (who historically are the one most opposed to such an idea) and the Corsairs (leadership) - additional "supporters" are optional but will ensure for a smoother process and may result in a stronger position for the Corsairs.)
Attention: Actions costs are halved (which means you can pick 2 actions for the cost of one point)(or 4 for the price of two)
(Your focus point will however still be limited to a single action)
(Current boni= +5 to all actions (+ 10 Corsair actions negated by increased difficulty due to Crisis), + 5 to Corsair Crisis action, )
[] Corsair Crisis: Confidential Information
One of the key reason why the Corsairs feel confident in refusing you is the perceived impossibility of assaulting their position due to its remote location and difficult terrain. And to be fair as it stands the House militaries would indeed have a difficult time attacking the Corsairs effectively with most predictions suggesting prohibitive casualties and material costs that make such an attack highly unlikely. However, the Mass Effect Drive promises to change this and if it functions as it seems Crete, which is still the powerbase for most Dons) would be far more vulnerable than the Corsairs think though of course that information is currently tightly controlled and the Corsairs (as well as the rest of Sirius) remain blissfully ignorant of this. If you were to leak some of that information to the Corsairs you are pretty confident that quite a lot of them would drastically reevaluate their position though of course the Houses would be somewhat unhappy if this ever came to light.
Chance of Success: 75% Result: No matter if success or failure: gather additional support (+10) and significantly weaken traditionalist faction, if failure: - 5 political support from all factions
Needed: 25 Rolled: 14 (9+5)
Well, in some ways it worked like intended with the rumors of the new Mass Effect Drive causing several influential Dons to turn their back on the traditionalist faction but sadly it seems like they were not the only ones who heard the news for the Oversight Committee has publicly expressed their dissatisfaction with the treatment of classified information by the UTA. Privately they told you they would let it pass this one time but made it clear further "accidents" of this nature are likely to result in serious repercussions.
Result: Plan succeeds in weakening the traditionalist faction and increases support for your initiative but is also discovered by the Houses who censure you (- 5 political support of all factions)
[] Corsair Crisis: Hated Foe
Admiral Tomoe has suggested an interesting, if somewhat risky, idea. She wants to utilize the hatred of the Corsairs for their Outcast cousins and tempt them with an offer of (mostly covert) armed support against them. What makes her idea so innovative and risky is that, besides the traditional weapon deliveries, her plan calls for an Kusari Naval Force action the north eastern regions of the Sigma systems, supported by the other Houses. You are aware that Kusari (as well as the Gas Miner Guild and others) has long since harbored such plans but judged them to dangerous and expensive to do alone but this could change if you would convince the other Houses of the need to support such a "policing" action. Tomoe indicates that her friends back on New Tokyo would look favorable on such a thing but you are unsure if you want to provoke the Outcasts in such a manner when your major supply lines still run through territory bordering theirs.
Result: Gather additional support (+5 to Diplomacy action), + 10 Kusari support but also danger of an resources and attention away from you and the UTA (+ hate of the Outcasts and related groups).
GM Note: This is not intended to be an UTA military action and ideally your ships/people would stay out of it
It still feels a bit strange to influence politics on such a level but this time at least it seems to have paid off. Arguing that the presence of the Outcast in Sigma system presented a significant danger to the operations of the UTA and any trade with the various organizations in the Terminus region you were able to convince the houses of the need to act now. Both Liberty and Bretonia have offered their support to Kusari, though mostly by taking over certain duties in the border regions with Bretonia for example promising to increase their anti-piracy operations in the Tau systems (which they were able to thanks to the significant decrease in attacks by Corsairs and the destruction of the Mollies), while Rheinland, never the biggest fan of Kusari, opted to mostly stay out of it though still promised to do their best to prevent the Red Hessian from coming to the assistance of the Outcasts (also partly possible thanks to you).
Kusari is still in process of assembling its fleet and combat operations haven't started so far but the promise of an renewed offensive against the Outcasts as well as additional weapon shipments made you quite a few friends on Crete. Tomoe meanwhile reports that the interventionist faction on New Tokyo is thankful for your support in this and will remember you favorably in the future.
Result: KNF starts preparations for anti-Outcast operations in the eastern Sigma's as well as limited military assistance to the Corsairs
[] Corsair Crisis: Friends in Need
Some of those hardest hit by the traditionalist actions have been those who have supported you the longest and it sits ill with you to simply abandon them to their fate. By utilizing your many contacts you should be able to give them and their operations the necessary breathing room and opportunities to regain some of their former power and influence.
Chance of success: 85% Result: Additional support for diplomacy action (+5), Reputation increase with Corsairs
Needed: 15 Rolled: 24 (19+5)
As planned your assistance enables many of the moderate Dons to recover from their political (and often economical) defeat though maybe not as quickly and as much as you might have hoped for. As always reputation, which is very important in the Corsair society, is far easier lost than gained. Still that you have stood by your friends in hard times has not gone unremarked by them or the rest of the Corsairs and are solidifying your reputation as friend and ally of the Corsairs, something that should come in handy in the future.
Result: Progressive dons recover more quickly and slight increase in reputation
[] Corsair Crisis: Diplomacy
The traditionalist Dons might have convinced large number of their colleagues to agree with their position by conducting a massive fear campaign (as well as widespread imitation and bribes) but you doubt that this represents a true change of heart for many of them. Your local ambassador as well as a large portion of your diplomatic team at home is confident that with the right arguments and enough time they can assemble enough support for your initiative, especially since the majority of the population seems to supportive, without resorting to any drastic measures or costly measures.
Chance of success: 50% Result: A majority of the Dons supports you but the traditionalists are likely to remain a powerful faction
Needed: 50 Rolled: 125
The traditionalists might have beat you last time but they were not ready for your quick recovery and willingness to devote so many resources and time to this matter. With their confidence shaken by the rumors of the Mass Effect Drive, the possibility of an Outcast defeat in the Sigma systems and the progressive faction regaining their lost strength many Dons prove to be very susceptible to the arguments brought forth by your people and your local allies. The Corsairs greatest strength has always been their practicality and ability to adapt to changing circumstances and if they want to continue to prosper cooperation and trade with the rest of the Sirius will be key – as their very successful cooperation with the IMG, which has drastically accelerated their own mining programs, clearly shows.
In the end a clear majority of the Dons agree to follow your proposal to enter talks with the other Houses and try to get acknowledged as a sovereign state. They are currently still conferring about their precise position and demands as well as who to send to the proposed talks but you are optimistic that your initiative can go forward and finally enter the final phase.
And even many of the more traditional Dons are willing to go along for now, if perhaps less because they agree with you and more because they want to husband their strength for other conflicts. No matter the reason, without them most of the more raiding inclined Corsairs should fall in line too, though undoubtedly there will be some who will be unwilling to return to legality.
Result: The large majority of the Corsairs, leadership as well as normal people, are convinced that your initiative is the right idea and are willing to give up some aspects of their former lifestyle. Final phase of Corsair plotline unlocked. Also fewer Corsairs will remain criminals after the change while Corsair are likely to support UTA in the future
[] The Omicron Conference:
To finish their campaign about the discoveries in the Terminus region and Omicron systems the Houses have planned a large conference with several thousand expected attendees. It is mostly intended as a discussion forum as well as way to publicly present the agreements and decisions made in the last few months. While you and the UTA are of course part of the conference it might be a good idea to really focus on the event and really capitalize on this opportunity to gather some additional support and make useful contacts with the political elite of Sirius.
Result: Chance for additional political support from the Houses
Note: This is a limited action and will only be available this turn
The conference is quite an interesting experience and you are surprised by just how many deals and agreements seem to be made in informal talks far away from the stage. You even have to hold your own talk on the center stage and speaking in front of so many people, many of which coming from a social strata far above your own, is certainly something you are not used to.
Luckily most of the actual work is done is small, often informal, meetings and dinners which is something you have become quite skilled in. With a mix of charisma, compliments and deals you are able to convince quite a few people of the use of having an organization like the UTA and the great work you have already done so far. You are especially successful in convincing a number of important Liberty delegates, who truly appreciate your accomplishments in regards to the Larrisan republic, as well as a few key Kusari functionaries, partially thanks to the efforts of your old friend Lord Hakkera who introduces to a number of his friends.
Result: Omicron Conference is a success, reputation of UTA increased, gain Liberty and Kusari +5
Terminus Sector:
The new frontier, full of alien artifacts to discover and resources to exploit.
[] Rapid Prototyping:
Barring any truly unfortunate developments you should soon get access to the complete blueprints and production manuals for a Mass Effect Drive system. Of course even with that it will likely take quite a while to mesh the drive with your existing systems and get to a useable model which is why it might be a good idea to set aside the necessary resources and manpower to accelerate the process as quickly as possible.
Result: Quicker and more expansive prototyping of the Mass Effect Drive system and thus a higher chance for early adoption
As expected and hoped for the trade talks with Larrisa conclude successfully and within days of it being signed delegates from both sides exchange the specified goods in a secret meeting on Hylia in the Hyrule system. The Asari continue to be honest traders and provide you not only with the necessary blueprints but even with a number of working models of the Mass Effect drive, of which you send a number to various research labs in Rheinland and Co. but also ensure that your own labs and researchers get what appear to be the best pieces.
In any case your scientist are more than happy to receive such a treasure trove of information and work overtime to try and understand it. They early findings are promising with your own mass effect drive system seemingly being accelerated by decades and they are confident that they will soon be able to replicate the process and present you a completely self-built drive system. However, they also point out that even with the information provided by the Asari they are still unable to fully understand several of the fundamental physics involved in the process and that the Mass Effect phenomena continues to conflict with several of your own gravity based technologies. Networking with the provided systems itself also proves to be something of a challenge since your own, optronic based, computers and electronics seem to operate quite differently than the, admittedly very likely highly outdated, Asari models.
The highlight of their experiments is undoubtedly however the successful refitting and testing of an small Rhino freighter, chosen for his size and relatively simple internal mechanics. Your researches manage to install on of the Mass Effect drive systems provided by the Asari on it and complete a short (intra-system) jump. It is still far from a refined experience and both the precision as well as fuel efficiency, speaking of which some improvement in the refinement process of eezo is also likely required, is terrible but it still presents a massive step forward and you are optimistic that you will able to refit at least some of your ships in one to two years.
Your enthusiasm for the new drive is albeit tempered by both the reports from your own labs as well as those from the Houses suggest that the drive system, at least in its current, form seems to be optimized for small to medium scaled ships with for example the energy requirements rising quasi-exponential once certain sizes are reached. It is yet unclear if this is a conscious design decision or something simply inherent to the nature of the Mass Effect but considering how dependent the Sirius economy is on massive shipping capacity (best seen in the ubiquitous, kilometer long "trains") you suspect that jumpgates and tradelanes will remain an important part of the space infrastructure for quite some time to come.
In related news your scientist working on the biotic phenomena have made significant process, partly due to the far easier access to the Larrisa, and have promised to brief fully as soon as possible. The teams working on the "Mass Effect Relay" in the Voss system have made similar promises though they seem to be faced with a similar situation than your drive engineer, they are starting to understand how to use the strange alien structure and what it is supposed to do but not yet how it does so nor how it was constructed though from your experiences with the nomads and the Dom'Kavash that can often be a problem when coming into contact with remnants of an alien hyper civilization. Less interesting is the information coming from the Cimmeria system where your researches seem to have focused on categorizing the plant life on the planet which makes for a somewhat dry reading.
Result: Successful first jump with Mass Effect Drive, you will soon be able to build your own (primitive) mass effect drives, information
[] Explore Terminus Central V2:
You have completed a rough survey of the systems but to truly discover all their secrets more exploration is needed.
Result: Continue to explore Alpha 8,9,10
Your decision to push for a closer survey of the three system pays off big when your teams not only discover that the continued high radiation has resulted in some very rare materials being present in the rings of one the gas giants in Alpha 8, tentatively named Caph, as well as confirming the earlier reports about the earlier reports about the resources in Alpha 9, called Nokkar, and Alpha 10, which your explorers have decided to call Syrma, but also a number of even far more intriguing discoveries.
In Nokkar what they initially believed to be a small asteroid field turned out to be the remnants of an ancient battlefield which since then has turned into a massive field of debris, preliminary analysis dates the wrecks as being several hundred thousand years old. How much useful information you will be able to gather is still a bit unclear but it certainly serves as an ample reminder of humanity is just one in a very long line of civilizations exploring the galaxy and its mysteries.
The discovery in Syrma is of an less philosophical nature with the strange readings leading to a small deserted base on an asteroid that for all intents and purposes seems to function as a hidden storage facility for most likely a small gang of pirates. Alexandria and her investigative team are on-site but so far there doesn't seem that great a chance for more useful information. For the moment you had Tomoe install a few surveillance satellites near the jumphole and ordered her to keep on eye on the jumphole but both you and her have a number of ideas of how to make use of this discovery.
Result: Exploration of Terminus Central finished for now, several interesting discoveries
UTA information can now be found in a googledoc for hopefully easier access and use.
"Civilian" Information
Military Information
Diplomatic Information
Date: 12/818 AS
One of the more intriguing events this turn is a visit by an Asari matriarch from Larrisa, who you suspect to be part of their intelligence apparatus. Ostensible visiting to clarify a few minor issues regarding the trade agreement she also mentions that in recent months Larrisa has noticed a significant increase in foreign ships arriving in their system, some seemingly more interested in gathering information about their new trading partner than anything else. While you don't think that this is necessarily a problem for you and the UTA you still have Tomoe increase the readiness of the fleet and the various outposts.
Rumors:
You have 7 (6+1) Action Points that you can spend any way you wish at generally 1 point per action. You can also add 1 Focus Point (giving a + 20 Bonus) to a chosen action, representing UTA focusing on that action.
Sirius Sector:
With the restructuring of the DSX into the UTA your offcial activities in Sirius have been heavily reduced, in some ways to little more than guard duty. However, with your position and ability to act dependent on the political support of the Houses it is still important to maintain strong ties to the rest of Sirius.
[] Hunt for Element Zero - Sirius Version:
While there is currently no need for large amounts of eezo it is all but certain to become a key resource once you unlock the secret behind the Mass Effect technology. From what you gather from your Larrisan contacts it is one of the most important (trade) goods in the greater galaxy and locating this strange element has become one of the goals of the UTA, even if only to auction or otherwise transfer the claim to a Sirius company.
Result: Look for eezo deposits in the Kappan Gate subsector
Rolled: 31
Eezo continues to be rare in Sirius, or at least in the region near the Hypergate, as most of your survey missions return once again mostly empty handed. They did however manage to locate a few relatively minor deposits in the Omircon Theta system that may be viable for commercial exploitation and which may help to fuel some of the initial Mass Effect Drive upgrades and research in Sirius proper.
With your own element zero mining project in the Voss system demanding most of your resources in this field you decide to get together with your advisors from the Houses and to give one of the megacompanies an opportunity there. Quite a few interesting offers are made but in in the end the Houses and you decide on a joint consortium between DSE of Liberty and the Rheinland company Kruger Minerals who had mobilized considerable political support in their bid and who both possess extensive experience in mining and processing exotic materials.
Result: Small eezo deposit found in Omicron Theta, +1 eco
[] Omicron Kappa Jumpholes:
A closer survey of the Omicron Kappa system unveiled the existence of two additional viable jumpholes. Satellites and rudimentary defensive system have been placed on each and probes have been send through each for a preliminary report. With Omicron Kappa attracting ever more attention it might be time to investigate those two systems, called Omicron Iota and Phi.
Result: Explore Omicron Iota and Phi (how complete this exploration is will depend partly on a dice roll)
Rolled: 39
Your recent increase and ships finally gave the opportunity to explore the two systems connected to Omicron Kappa and the result has been somewhat mixed. Omicron Phi is indeed located towards Outcast territory and seems to be a rather normal system with several noteworthy heavy metal deposits as well as an ice planet that looks like an ideal candidate for terraforming. It is not a high priority candidate but may become a target for future expansion if Omicron Kappa continues to grow.
Less welcome is the news that your scouts have come across repeated evidence of either Nomad or Outcast ships being active in one of the nebulas, suspected of hiding a jumphole, though so far they seem to have chosen to avoid your ships. Still, the presence of a potential enemy force so near one your central system is worrisome and you have scheduled a meeting with the Order as well as your own military advisers to deliberate on how to proceed. For the moment Tomoe has increased the defenses around the jumphole on both sides and organized a number of patrols of the system.
Omicron Iota on the other hand luckily seems to empty of such threats though your people have also not found any evidence of the suspected Dom'Kavash ruin. Besides that, the system seems to be relatively poor of free floating minerals, with the one non-gaseous planet being of the very inhospitable Venus variant. That said your team was unable to fully survey the hundreds of moons that orbit the two massive gas giants that dominate the outer sphere of the system due to time constraints so another mission might be advisable.
Result: Initial survey of Omicron Iota and Phi completed, possible hostile activity discovered in Omicron Phi.
The Corsair Question:
You have made phenomenal progress in regards to your initiative to turn the Corsairs into a legitimate faction and have not only secured the support of most major Houses but also both the public and a number of highly influential megacompanies. Of course all that is useless if you can't convince the Corsair leadership to abandon their current confrontational course.
(To be successful (as in unlock the relevant action) in this you will at least need the support of Bretonia (who historically are the one most opposed to such an idea) and the Corsairs (leadership) - additional "supporters" are optional but will ensure for a smoother process and may result in a stronger position for the Corsairs.)
Attention: Actions costs are halved (which means you can pick 2 actions for the cost of one point)(or 4 for the price of two)
(Your focus point will however still be limited to a single action)
(Current boni= +5 to all actions (+ 10 Corsair actions negated by increased difficulty due to Crisis), + 5 to Corsair Crisis action, )
[] Corsair Crisis: Confidential Information
One of the key reason why the Corsairs feel confident in refusing you is the perceived impossibility of assaulting their position due to its remote location and difficult terrain. And to be fair as it stands the House militaries would indeed have a difficult time attacking the Corsairs effectively with most predictions suggesting prohibitive casualties and material costs that make such an attack highly unlikely. However, the Mass Effect Drive promises to change this and if it functions as it seems Crete, which is still the powerbase for most Dons) would be far more vulnerable than the Corsairs think though of course that information is currently tightly controlled and the Corsairs (as well as the rest of Sirius) remain blissfully ignorant of this. If you were to leak some of that information to the Corsairs you are pretty confident that quite a lot of them would drastically reevaluate their position though of course the Houses would be somewhat unhappy if this ever came to light.
Chance of Success: 75% Result: No matter if success or failure: gather additional support (+10) and significantly weaken traditionalist faction, if failure: - 5 political support from all factions
Needed: 25 Rolled: 14 (9+5)
Well, in some ways it worked like intended with the rumors of the new Mass Effect Drive causing several influential Dons to turn their back on the traditionalist faction but sadly it seems like they were not the only ones who heard the news for the Oversight Committee has publicly expressed their dissatisfaction with the treatment of classified information by the UTA. Privately they told you they would let it pass this one time but made it clear further "accidents" of this nature are likely to result in serious repercussions.
Result: Plan succeeds in weakening the traditionalist faction and increases support for your initiative but is also discovered by the Houses who censure you (- 5 political support of all factions)
[] Corsair Crisis: Hated Foe
Admiral Tomoe has suggested an interesting, if somewhat risky, idea. She wants to utilize the hatred of the Corsairs for their Outcast cousins and tempt them with an offer of (mostly covert) armed support against them. What makes her idea so innovative and risky is that, besides the traditional weapon deliveries, her plan calls for an Kusari Naval Force action the north eastern regions of the Sigma systems, supported by the other Houses. You are aware that Kusari (as well as the Gas Miner Guild and others) has long since harbored such plans but judged them to dangerous and expensive to do alone but this could change if you would convince the other Houses of the need to support such a "policing" action. Tomoe indicates that her friends back on New Tokyo would look favorable on such a thing but you are unsure if you want to provoke the Outcasts in such a manner when your major supply lines still run through territory bordering theirs.
Result: Gather additional support (+5 to Diplomacy action), + 10 Kusari support but also danger of an resources and attention away from you and the UTA (+ hate of the Outcasts and related groups).
GM Note: This is not intended to be an UTA military action and ideally your ships/people would stay out of it
It still feels a bit strange to influence politics on such a level but this time at least it seems to have paid off. Arguing that the presence of the Outcast in Sigma system presented a significant danger to the operations of the UTA and any trade with the various organizations in the Terminus region you were able to convince the houses of the need to act now. Both Liberty and Bretonia have offered their support to Kusari, though mostly by taking over certain duties in the border regions with Bretonia for example promising to increase their anti-piracy operations in the Tau systems (which they were able to thanks to the significant decrease in attacks by Corsairs and the destruction of the Mollies), while Rheinland, never the biggest fan of Kusari, opted to mostly stay out of it though still promised to do their best to prevent the Red Hessian from coming to the assistance of the Outcasts (also partly possible thanks to you).
Kusari is still in process of assembling its fleet and combat operations haven't started so far but the promise of an renewed offensive against the Outcasts as well as additional weapon shipments made you quite a few friends on Crete. Tomoe meanwhile reports that the interventionist faction on New Tokyo is thankful for your support in this and will remember you favorably in the future.
Result: KNF starts preparations for anti-Outcast operations in the eastern Sigma's as well as limited military assistance to the Corsairs
[] Corsair Crisis: Friends in Need
Some of those hardest hit by the traditionalist actions have been those who have supported you the longest and it sits ill with you to simply abandon them to their fate. By utilizing your many contacts you should be able to give them and their operations the necessary breathing room and opportunities to regain some of their former power and influence.
Chance of success: 85% Result: Additional support for diplomacy action (+5), Reputation increase with Corsairs
Needed: 15 Rolled: 24 (19+5)
As planned your assistance enables many of the moderate Dons to recover from their political (and often economical) defeat though maybe not as quickly and as much as you might have hoped for. As always reputation, which is very important in the Corsair society, is far easier lost than gained. Still that you have stood by your friends in hard times has not gone unremarked by them or the rest of the Corsairs and are solidifying your reputation as friend and ally of the Corsairs, something that should come in handy in the future.
Result: Progressive dons recover more quickly and slight increase in reputation
[] Corsair Crisis: Diplomacy
The traditionalist Dons might have convinced large number of their colleagues to agree with their position by conducting a massive fear campaign (as well as widespread imitation and bribes) but you doubt that this represents a true change of heart for many of them. Your local ambassador as well as a large portion of your diplomatic team at home is confident that with the right arguments and enough time they can assemble enough support for your initiative, especially since the majority of the population seems to supportive, without resorting to any drastic measures or costly measures.
Chance of success: 50% Result: A majority of the Dons supports you but the traditionalists are likely to remain a powerful faction
Needed: 50 Rolled: 125
The traditionalists might have beat you last time but they were not ready for your quick recovery and willingness to devote so many resources and time to this matter. With their confidence shaken by the rumors of the Mass Effect Drive, the possibility of an Outcast defeat in the Sigma systems and the progressive faction regaining their lost strength many Dons prove to be very susceptible to the arguments brought forth by your people and your local allies. The Corsairs greatest strength has always been their practicality and ability to adapt to changing circumstances and if they want to continue to prosper cooperation and trade with the rest of the Sirius will be key – as their very successful cooperation with the IMG, which has drastically accelerated their own mining programs, clearly shows.
In the end a clear majority of the Dons agree to follow your proposal to enter talks with the other Houses and try to get acknowledged as a sovereign state. They are currently still conferring about their precise position and demands as well as who to send to the proposed talks but you are optimistic that your initiative can go forward and finally enter the final phase.
And even many of the more traditional Dons are willing to go along for now, if perhaps less because they agree with you and more because they want to husband their strength for other conflicts. No matter the reason, without them most of the more raiding inclined Corsairs should fall in line too, though undoubtedly there will be some who will be unwilling to return to legality.
Result: The large majority of the Corsairs, leadership as well as normal people, are convinced that your initiative is the right idea and are willing to give up some aspects of their former lifestyle. Final phase of Corsair plotline unlocked. Also fewer Corsairs will remain criminals after the change while Corsair are likely to support UTA in the future
[] The Omicron Conference:
To finish their campaign about the discoveries in the Terminus region and Omicron systems the Houses have planned a large conference with several thousand expected attendees. It is mostly intended as a discussion forum as well as way to publicly present the agreements and decisions made in the last few months. While you and the UTA are of course part of the conference it might be a good idea to really focus on the event and really capitalize on this opportunity to gather some additional support and make useful contacts with the political elite of Sirius.
Result: Chance for additional political support from the Houses
Note: This is a limited action and will only be available this turn
The conference is quite an interesting experience and you are surprised by just how many deals and agreements seem to be made in informal talks far away from the stage. You even have to hold your own talk on the center stage and speaking in front of so many people, many of which coming from a social strata far above your own, is certainly something you are not used to.
Luckily most of the actual work is done is small, often informal, meetings and dinners which is something you have become quite skilled in. With a mix of charisma, compliments and deals you are able to convince quite a few people of the use of having an organization like the UTA and the great work you have already done so far. You are especially successful in convincing a number of important Liberty delegates, who truly appreciate your accomplishments in regards to the Larrisan republic, as well as a few key Kusari functionaries, partially thanks to the efforts of your old friend Lord Hakkera who introduces to a number of his friends.
Result: Omicron Conference is a success, reputation of UTA increased, gain Liberty and Kusari +5
Terminus Sector:
The new frontier, full of alien artifacts to discover and resources to exploit.
[] Rapid Prototyping:
Barring any truly unfortunate developments you should soon get access to the complete blueprints and production manuals for a Mass Effect Drive system. Of course even with that it will likely take quite a while to mesh the drive with your existing systems and get to a useable model which is why it might be a good idea to set aside the necessary resources and manpower to accelerate the process as quickly as possible.
Result: Quicker and more expansive prototyping of the Mass Effect Drive system and thus a higher chance for early adoption
As expected and hoped for the trade talks with Larrisa conclude successfully and within days of it being signed delegates from both sides exchange the specified goods in a secret meeting on Hylia in the Hyrule system. The Asari continue to be honest traders and provide you not only with the necessary blueprints but even with a number of working models of the Mass Effect drive, of which you send a number to various research labs in Rheinland and Co. but also ensure that your own labs and researchers get what appear to be the best pieces.
In any case your scientist are more than happy to receive such a treasure trove of information and work overtime to try and understand it. They early findings are promising with your own mass effect drive system seemingly being accelerated by decades and they are confident that they will soon be able to replicate the process and present you a completely self-built drive system. However, they also point out that even with the information provided by the Asari they are still unable to fully understand several of the fundamental physics involved in the process and that the Mass Effect phenomena continues to conflict with several of your own gravity based technologies. Networking with the provided systems itself also proves to be something of a challenge since your own, optronic based, computers and electronics seem to operate quite differently than the, admittedly very likely highly outdated, Asari models.
The highlight of their experiments is undoubtedly however the successful refitting and testing of an small Rhino freighter, chosen for his size and relatively simple internal mechanics. Your researches manage to install on of the Mass Effect drive systems provided by the Asari on it and complete a short (intra-system) jump. It is still far from a refined experience and both the precision as well as fuel efficiency, speaking of which some improvement in the refinement process of eezo is also likely required, is terrible but it still presents a massive step forward and you are optimistic that you will able to refit at least some of your ships in one to two years.
Your enthusiasm for the new drive is albeit tempered by both the reports from your own labs as well as those from the Houses suggest that the drive system, at least in its current, form seems to be optimized for small to medium scaled ships with for example the energy requirements rising quasi-exponential once certain sizes are reached. It is yet unclear if this is a conscious design decision or something simply inherent to the nature of the Mass Effect but considering how dependent the Sirius economy is on massive shipping capacity (best seen in the ubiquitous, kilometer long "trains") you suspect that jumpgates and tradelanes will remain an important part of the space infrastructure for quite some time to come.
In related news your scientist working on the biotic phenomena have made significant process, partly due to the far easier access to the Larrisa, and have promised to brief fully as soon as possible. The teams working on the "Mass Effect Relay" in the Voss system have made similar promises though they seem to be faced with a similar situation than your drive engineer, they are starting to understand how to use the strange alien structure and what it is supposed to do but not yet how it does so nor how it was constructed though from your experiences with the nomads and the Dom'Kavash that can often be a problem when coming into contact with remnants of an alien hyper civilization. Less interesting is the information coming from the Cimmeria system where your researches seem to have focused on categorizing the plant life on the planet which makes for a somewhat dry reading.
Result: Successful first jump with Mass Effect Drive, you will soon be able to build your own (primitive) mass effect drives, information
[] Explore Terminus Central V2:
You have completed a rough survey of the systems but to truly discover all their secrets more exploration is needed.
Result: Continue to explore Alpha 8,9,10
Your decision to push for a closer survey of the three system pays off big when your teams not only discover that the continued high radiation has resulted in some very rare materials being present in the rings of one the gas giants in Alpha 8, tentatively named Caph, as well as confirming the earlier reports about the earlier reports about the resources in Alpha 9, called Nokkar, and Alpha 10, which your explorers have decided to call Syrma, but also a number of even far more intriguing discoveries.
In Nokkar what they initially believed to be a small asteroid field turned out to be the remnants of an ancient battlefield which since then has turned into a massive field of debris, preliminary analysis dates the wrecks as being several hundred thousand years old. How much useful information you will be able to gather is still a bit unclear but it certainly serves as an ample reminder of humanity is just one in a very long line of civilizations exploring the galaxy and its mysteries.
The discovery in Syrma is of an less philosophical nature with the strange readings leading to a small deserted base on an asteroid that for all intents and purposes seems to function as a hidden storage facility for most likely a small gang of pirates. Alexandria and her investigative team are on-site but so far there doesn't seem that great a chance for more useful information. For the moment you had Tomoe install a few surveillance satellites near the jumphole and ordered her to keep on eye on the jumphole but both you and her have a number of ideas of how to make use of this discovery.
Result: Exploration of Terminus Central finished for now, several interesting discoveries
UTA information can now be found in a googledoc for hopefully easier access and use.
"Civilian" Information
Military Information
Diplomatic Information
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