GDIOnline Q3 2056
Fashion Sense And New Clothes
MikoNyan
I have found a couple of neat new headdresses for my environment suit. Really liked customizing it for my own needs, plus some aftermarket hardware. Added an air conditioning unit, an extra set of filters, and then some skirting and decorations.
And then some more personal stuff, but I don't really need to talk about that.
CrystalWizard
I wonder if I can get a new set of light blue shirts, my old ones have a few holes by now.
FloatingWood
I'm sure that over the next few years we'll see fashion evolve rapidly, but right now I think I'm perfectly fine with my standard issue BZ wear.
VintageNut
They've got white suits! I'm getting one and hitting the floor Tony Manero style this month's end.
LastLizard
Personally I'm excited about the new boots and shoes. It's been a long while since I've had a chance to get new ones. My current ones were good when I got them, but they've gotten kind of… used.
MermaidKyoto
Do you think I could get away with wearing a Kimono to my office job? I've been wearing suits and pants for years and I can't feel cute or dateable in them. At my age, it's a terrible thing to be single, and we're in a very high-pressure work environment with little personal time.
FloatingWood
#MermaidKyoto, I don't see why you shouldn't, but I'm not your manager or HR department so...
Ormonde2020
These custom gas masks are amazing! I can't believe I can finally walk around and look good while also not having to breathe unfiltered air, which has been amazing for my PTSD. I've only had three panic attacks this month, usually it's closer to ten by now! I tell you one thing, being originally from a blue zone, it was hard as hell to try justifying wearing gear when I got back home, which would also set off attacks after an extremely bad encounter with a NOD confessor. Now I don't have to justify shit! I'm safe and fashionable!
KropotkinsGhost
I know that there are standard measurements for everything, but I'm still offended that my three foot tall crown I custom ordered makes it hard to get through doorways.
Solan
You know, everytime I contact home they show me new packages I will have to open when I return. This time it's clothes. Everyone in the MARVs assembly and construction center who has been working in Chicago got to meet the new Treasury vice secretary too. A nice if eccentric fellow but knows what it is. Anyways, my siblings bought clothes for me and while I can say they're stylish for Blue Zone use I might miss a bit on the uniforms when they have been my companion in the Americas getting a few months out of rotation thanks to new hires will get me to enjoy the fruits of my labor.
Vice Secretary Seo Thoki's Chicago Speech
Dr. Henry Olvier
The apparent next Treasury Secretary has given a speech in Chicago as his first real public appearance. So far, I have to say I am very nervous. My career has been focused on mining and abating Tiberium. The speech has said that "we need to focus on the technology of peace"
That phrasing means Tiberium technologies. And I am very worried that Thoki will try something stupid. And with Tiberium, there are a lot of stupid things that can happen.
FloatingWood
Reading the transcript I'm wondering if this was a GDI press event or a particularly milquetoast Nod propaganda broadcast. I mean, there's nothing
inherently objectionable about what was said, but there were more than a few references that seem to have been copied from old Nod programming and aimed at Nod supporters in ways GDI normally does not.
I hope I'm just being paranoid and it was merely a speechwriter making a few bad calls of judgement, but damn.
Dr. Henry Olvier
#FloatingWood
It was pretty clear that it was aimed as an attack on the values of the Brotherhood. He did call the products of the Brotherhood little more than "making weapons and monsters" after all.
Born2Mine
Guess I don't need to worry about being out of work anytime soon. Not sure about utilizing Tiberium outside of turning it into other materials, I've seen enough harvesting ops go wrong and those have a pretty thorough manual by this point. Would hate to see what can go wrong when it's something new.
AgathaH
With the mention of new technologies, and the discovery of deep-underground Tiberium veins, I have to wonder… what don't we know yet? Sure, we're getting a handle on surface spread, but are we going to have Tiberium doing a repeat of that old Tremors movie?
Mikoto Arsikawa (Health and Services Office, Philadelphia Station)
It is the sincere hope of the Health and Services Office that rumors about 'tiberium volcanism' in Blue or Yellow zones are not repeated in the forum. These are baseless conspiracy theories, and cause people who have little need for them to hoard essential medical supplies and safety gear, sometimes for years, which then goes out of date without ever serving a useful end.
The new vice-secretary's speech was a clear message to both GDI and those outside our networks. Both of GDI's military confidence and our resurgent efforts to treat the ills of both the people and the Earth. With due foresight and sage judgement, the assistant secretary may prosper in his new role.
AgathaH
To be clear, I was thinking about long-term issues - stuff decades down the road, which most of us have no way to predict, but is kinda their job to prepare for anyway.
...That said, I'd totally watch a movie with Tiberium-eating Graboids.
AccomplishingProvidence
#DrHenryOliver, caution is always needed with Tiberium, but unlike substances like plutonium, or even worse, FOOF, Tiberium
really does hold an extraordinary range of possibilities. That is the foundation of the powerhouse that GDI's industrial and economic sectors are becoming, yes? As well, I would wager he is signaling an intent to continue to build up non-military infrastructure
alongside military infrastructure. Perhaps also a callback to the days of the "arsenal of democracy".
#FloatingWood, I had hoped you were not one of the posters here who had a knee-jerk "NOD Sympathizer!" reaction. I recognize Thoki's words bring caution to many, but they are clearly in support of GDI. It's a time-honored tradition to co-opt the language of your enemy (or "rival" or what have you) to attempt to pull in at least some of those on the fringes of that group into your own. Everyone does it.
#AgathaH while we are most assuredly safe from Tiberium-boosted Ass Blasters, it never hurts to gently ask if those whose job centers on containing Tiberium are being as rigorous and thorough as possible. Is it not the core principle of GDI's democratic system that we can ask those questions without fear? It does sound as if, taking #Mikoto Arsikawa's statement at face value (which I think we can), it sounds as if those responsible for managing Tiberium are absolutely keeping an eye on all associated factors. Which makes me feel safer at night, to be sure!
IFarmPotatoesAndPotatoAccessories
I'm... actually kinda feeling where the new guy is coming from? Everyone seems to be freaking out a bit, but I think the reaction is overblown. The first step to dealing with something is understanding it, and frankly, we've been so caught up in the mindset of not even trying that it took until a few years ago before we even started thinking up proper treatments for things like Rocklung, which has been around since literally before I, or my mother and father, existed. Grandpa is the only member of my family who was even around before Tiberium was a thing, and we're all still running around not knowing shit about it.
I'm not saying we need to fling ourselves face first into Noddie insanity like juicing up people with Tiberium Steroids, or making tiberium based Scalp polish like Kane uses, but we're really still stuck in our 'fire bad' phase with this stuff. Yeah, no shit 'fire bad' but we literally run our civilization on this crap, and despite the fact we have the universities, the scientists, the economy and all that other shit, NOD has been running circles around us for literal decades when it comes to Tiberium knowledge. They're mostly based in uninhabitable hell holes covered in vore rock and they still almost managed to gank us in Tib war III. It's embarrassing, like Mad Max hillbillies managing to overthrow an old world nation state.
I feel like #AccomplishingProvidence is the only other person in this thread who's even giving this guy a fair shake.
FloatingWood
#Dr. Hendry Oliver Huh, so he did. Hadn't gotten to that part yet. That does calm my worries a fair bit.
#AccomplishingProvidence I had thought I wasn't one of those too. I will have to reexamine some of my assumptions.
And yeah, after taking a bit of time to look through the text and comparing it to what the Vice-Secretary said it's a fair bit more reasonable than the sound bites make it seem. I think I'll keep an eye on him for a good long while nonetheless. Some of the things he proposed have an unpleasant history.
AccomplishingProvidence
#FloatingWood if you have the humility to self-examine, you have nothing to be truly ashamed about. We only bring shame upon ourselves when we refuse to stop, consider, learn, and grow.
As for Vice-Secretary Thoki, I would agree. He is someone we will
all watch with great interest, for a long time to come.
KropotkinsGhost
This Loki sounds exactly like what we need. Fighting the green doesnt only consist of mindlessly throwing MARVs and stuff at it, but also of understanding the grey goo so that we can better improve the MARVs and stuff we throw at it. I'm still laughing at how nobody really knew where the man was going to give a speech until it was happening. Did InOps help plan Chicago and install secret underground tunnels? Hah!
Akira Oda (Office of the Vice Secretary, Treasury)
Hopefully this will end my time in jumping around departments when I can work on one thing again. Anyway, it seems I was chosen as part of the new staff for the Vice Secretary and this visit to Chicago got very interesting because well it's the boss' first political dig. Though Seo-san (by the way Eastern ordering last name first I use my first name in the international and western portions of this site thanks to habit but my kanji characters do say Oda Akira when I go to the more Asian BZ parts of the site) seems to be good at some improv because some parts of the speech didn't mention those things he said live. He also got inspired with this speech, good thing Nod didn't come, in fact the perimeter around Chicago was the quietest it has ever been since the city started being rebuilt.
Q3 2056 results
Resources: 615 + 0 in reserve (15 allocated to the Forgotten) (20 allocated to grants)
Political Support: 50
Free Dice: 6
Fusion Dice: 7 (+1 per turn)
Tiberium Spread
15.21 Blue Zone
27.42 Yellow Zone (86 points of mitigation)
57.37 Red Zone (59 points of mitigation)
Current Economic Issues:
Housing: Significant Surplus (+15) (26 population in low quality housing) (2 points of refugees)
Energy: Significant Surpluses (+5) (+2 in reserve)
Logistics: Major Surpluses (+5)
Food: Marginal Surpluses (+5) (+4 in reserve)
Health: Substantially improved (+5) (2 consumed by emergency refugee healthcare)
Capital Goods: Significant Surplus (+4)
Consumer Goods: Meeting Demand (+1)
Labor: Gargantuan Surpluses (+38)
Tiberium Processing Capacity (1265/1420)
Yellow Zone
Water: Limited Surpluses (+3)
Status of the Parties
(strong support, weak support, weak opposition, strong opposition)
Free Market Party: 125 seats (0; 5; 25; 95)
Market Socialist Party: 329 seats (150; 129; 35; 15)
Militarist: 237 seats (37; 160; 20; 20)
Initiative First: 178 seats (0; 0; 74; 104)
United Yellow List: 72 seats (57; 15; 0; 0)
Starbound Party: 153 seats (73; 80; 0; 0)
Socialist Party: 45 seats (30; 13; 2; 0)
Independents 12 seats
-Biodiversity Party (3 seats: Weak Support)
-Dominion Party (1 seat: Strong Opposition)
-Reclamation Party (5 seats: Weak Support)
-Homeland Party (3 seats: Weak Support)
Developmentalists: 649 seats (349; 210; 90; 0)
Military Confidence
Ground Forces : Decent
Air Force : Decent
Space Force : Decent
Steel Talons: Low
Navy: Low
ZOCOM: High
Plan Goals
Capital Goods: 9 points remaining
Food: 20 (15) points remaining
MARV Fleets: 1 remaining
GDI Income: 15 remaining
Grooming a successor
Seo's first major public speaking event was the source of much speculation in the weeks leading up to it. While public announcements of speeches from undisclosed locations are common, usually the civilian sphere can at least determine where it will be held from the preparations. In this case however, the preparedness has been subtle enough that avoid even the well honed noses of the most interested investigative journalists. This meant that for most people, the first time they realized where he was, he was already on stage, speaking to them.
I have grown up, like many of you in the age of Tiberium. Much like historians classified the ancient past as a series of material ages, first stone, and then copper, bronze, and iron, our age has been defined by a single material. Tiberium. It is one material with two visions of it. First, the vision of the Brotherhood. Second, the vision of the Initiative.
The Brotherhood has often claimed to bring the technology of peace. But they have brought not peace, but a sword. They claim to know the true power of Tiberium, but have only used it to create weapons and monsters. Here we stand after half a century of conflict, the ruination of entire continents, and the fall of the old world order. Here we stand, amid billions dead and the ruins of the old, no wiser than the age of guided missiles and misguided men. But we cannot give up hope for our future and a future for all mankind.
As for the Initiative, our failures have been driven by arrogance, or our lack of comprehension or readiness to sacrifice. We have built our own technology of peace. Ripped an understanding of the greater secrets of the universe through the valiant sacrifices of the men and women of the Initiative. We have turned the wildest dreams of yesterday into the fact of today. We have taken the stone that bound our fate, and forged it into a warm light for all mankind. But even so, that warm light must be defended, against both those who would take it for themselves and from those who would see it extinguished.
To defend it, we must continue to work towards understanding. Not just of each other, or of the world around us, but in all aspects of life. We must remain true to the vision of the Initiative as it has been rebuilt in these last years, and build a society where none need go hungry. None need go without shelter. A society where none are damned for the accident of their birth. I have been given the responsibility to be a torchbearer in these dark times. I hope to carry it well. Thank you.
New Trait: Forward Thinker: +5 to all technology rolls.
(This trait adjusts dice for development rolls, for technology results, and forming technology working groups)
Dear Doctor Granger,
As representatives of the Initiative Parliament, we believe that it is our duty to draw your attention to a number of projects that require your attention. First is the dolorous state of the global rail networks. Finishing the rebuilding process may look to be a daunting task, but it has been close to a decade since it was destroyed. Equally, with a large minority of the population currently inadequately housed, we believe that focusing your energies on the construction of new housing is of the utmost importance.
-Sincerely, Representatives Andrea Oakes and Melissa Wu
Surveys
SCED has completed not only the Lunar Surveys but the Martian ones as well. With this, the Exploration Division is prepared for actively engaging in more in depth surveys and exploration, ones that will prepare the planets for colonization and resource extraction. While this will take a significant further infusion of funds, it will also pave the way for the future. Additionally, more rare mineral deposits have been discovered on the moon.
Military
A number of large transient signatures have been spotted shadowing Initiative convoys. While none have been at the same time, and none have been spotted above the surface, they are clearly very large, bigger than any known submarine on record. While Initiative carriers and land bases in the area sent strike groups of Orcas to the location, by the time they arrived, the submarine had already slipped away and broken contact. While so far there has been no attempt by the submarine or submarines to engage any Initiative forces, it is likely to be only a matter of time until their purpose becomes more clear. So far, no warlord has claimed responsibility or has clear new construction that indicates shipbuilding capacity for something this size.
Brotherhood of NOD
Africa
Alazar Mehretu began his career in the Brotherhood shortly before the Second Tiberium War. A relatively young warlord at the time, he found his focus in special operations. As Marcion split the Black Hand, Mehretu, among others, took in the losing splinters. In contrast to the other Warlords' contentment in having 'simple' specialist field infiltrators, Mehretu chose another path. He forgeds them into relatively low tech deep penetration field operatives. While his men are certainly capable of conventional warfare, as demonstrated by the tests of some of the first Redeemer platforms, their key tasking has always been deep penetration raids and sabotage.
Additionally, while his core territory is in the African Yellow Zone, he has a global network of contacts and has been linked to attacks and terror activities as far away as the Americas and even Korea. While these attacks are of a much smaller scale, more oriented towards lone wolf attacks, they tend to target political flashpoints, such as the attack on a reopening university immediately after the war.
[ ] Tidal Power Plants (Phase 2)
Phase 2 of the Tidal Power Plants is looking at major tidal power plants, such as the Penzin Bay Facility. These massive installations will provide almost as much energy as a standard nuclear power plant in many cases, although unlike those nuclear plants, these are geographically limited.
(progress 450/450: 10 resources per die) (++++ Energy)
(progress 154/300: 10 resources per die) (+++ Energy)
A final major surge of construction on the major tidal power projects has been completed, with a series of smaller facilities nearly halfway complete. Unlike previous designs, these are primarily tidal current installations. Instead of a containment and turbine system, these are positioned far deeper off the coasts, often in conjunction with offshore solar and wind installations. These are far more expensive for the energy generated, and can produce less total, as a single installation cluster can cover tens of kilometers. In effect, they are underwater wind turbines equipped with adjustable flow turbines. Placed in tidal currents, they collect energy from the inflow and outflow, providing a more constant stream of energy than the dam systems.
These have become targets in Europe for attempted attacks by the Ten Rings organization. While so far they have been singularly unsuccessful, intercepted by hydrofoils and aircraft, the attacks have been increasing in the last weeks of the quarter, with two 450 ton craft being spotted as part of these operations. Elsewhere, hostilities have been more desulatory, with most being little more than abortive harassment by Vertigo bombers.
[ ] Chicago Planned City (Phase 3)
With GDI's ongoing development of Chicago, the next phase is likely to significantly increase total effective abatement as the more proximate Chicago means less wasted effort transferring Tiberium from the Red Zone to processing centers. The expansion will also entail a major expansion to the processing facility in order to cope with this increased throughput.
(Progress 363/360: 20 resources per die) (++ Housing, --- Labor, -- Logistics, --- Energy) (Can spend mixed Tiberium and Infrastructure dice, at least 1 die must be Tiberium) (+2 Red Zone Abatement, +2 Yellow Zone Abatement, +120 Tiberium Processing Capacity)
A massive surge of resources has been directed towards the Chicago area. Most notably, a forward aviation cluster has been erected. While many field bases can boast a few flights of Firehawks or Orcas, the forward aviation cluster is actually a runway with the hardware to sustain long term flight operations. Right now, two squadrons of Apollos have been moved forward, only really enough for sustained combat air patrols rather than contesting the air across the region, but more than enough to make heavy bomber overflight an elaborate form of suicide. However, a full six squadrons are expected to make their base there before the end of the year, providing air cover for not only Chicago, but for operations across the Ohio River Valley.
Beyond the limits of the Chicago perimeter, the network of harvesting operations across the American North has been completely reorganized, routed north into Chicago. This has had rippling impacts as far away as the European and South American Blue Zones as processing capacity earmarked for the products of, for example, the containment lines have been freed up for other operations. In fact, with the concentration of processing capacity in Chicago, it has become one of the largest single complexes existing in the world, an appetizing target for the Brotherhood and a very exposed one. While Initiative forces have begun pushing forward under cover of abatement efforts and established a wide front, it is still a relatively thin and porous one. However, that will change with the MARV fleet currently under construction coming online.
[ ] Mecca/Jeddah Planned City (Phase 1)
With Mecca currently under threat from Tiberium, a planned city complex, based on the Chicago pattern is a clear requirement. However, it is unfortunately going to be expensive, as the situation requires a pair of planned cities. One in Mecca to support the Hajj and Red and Yellow Zone operations, and one in Jeddah, some seventy kilometers away.
(Progress 276/160: 20 resources per die) (---- Labor) (Can spend mixed Tiberium and Infrastructure dice, at least 1 die must be Tiberium) (5 Political Support)
(Progress 116/320: 20 resources per die) (--- Labor) (5 Political Support) (+1 Red Zone Abatement, +1 Yellow Zone Abatement, +60 Processing Capacity)
A massive surge of GDI funding and forces pushed their way up the Arabian peninsula this quarter. While representatives from the Treasury, Armed Forces, and the local Forgotten tribes made contact with Warlords, neutral or not, in order to offer safe passage through to the sacred city and coordination on abatement efforts, it is an effort that by design is a holding action. Organized by Brigadier General Suleiman Hamrawi, it had been a self-sponsored work borne out of networking and ties that crossed faction lines ever since the days when the Warlord Hassan led the Brotherhood to preserve the first and last intact Islamic Holy City, with Jerusalem deep in the Red Zone and Medina being far too close to the precipice of Red Zone for even consistent Forgotten habitation. The construction of the Jeddah water purification facilities has lent credence to their words, especially as water trucks have begun to crisscross the desert under Initiative escort. More out of luck than intention, Initiative forces began construction during the Islamic new year, an auspicious start to what is likely to turn into a decades long commitment.
Initiative Forces have also established three zones. First, a tight exclusion zone around Jeddah itself. This zone is intended to protect Initiative civilians who have been brought into the semipermanent barracks that have been erected there. Second is a loose perimeter around Mecca, providing medicine, food, and water to all who come there. And third is a forward arc of observation outposts, intended to keep NOD from sneaking Spectres or Stealth Tanks into range to bombard either city. Though it's almost certain that none of the surviving NOD-Aligned Warlords will have any intent to strike the Holy City, it's better to be safe than sorry.
Construction wise, the overwhelming focus has been on Jeddah rather than Mecca itself. While the city and the Kaaba are the overall goals, they are completely nonviable without a steady supply of freshwater, which has to be gathered from Jeddah and the desalination plants there. Rendered nonfunctional due to Tiberium incursion during the First Tiberium War, and with both cities being abandoned shortly thereafter, the Initiative has had to build nearly entirely new facilities. Based on the same reverse osmosis plus sonics approach as GDI's portable water filters, the new facilities and support staff for it has been the core of the new project.
In Mecca itself, all that is actually there is a series of prefabricated complexes. Primarily these are interface points for locals, and in some cases, upgrades on existing local housing. However, there are not yet any serious accommodations for the pilgrimage or serious diplomatic affairs for the region.
"Be quick."
"Three Forgotten Tribes and four Warlords"
"How many can we flip?"
"Legitimate or underhanded?"
"Clean on-the-books?"
"Good chances. But pray for Granger to keep the tempo. Otherwise, we may need to settle for fewer birds in hand than there are in the bushes."
-[REDACTED]
[ ] Blue Zone Microgeneration Program (Stage 2)
Building additional distributed power production and a more redundant grid, plus a number of in building battery banks will provide a power reserve that can serve even on an industrial scale. While it cannot serve as a replacement for major power stations, it can give some amount of flexibility in case of minor problems with the energy system.
(Progress 160/120: 5 resources per die) (++ Energy Reserve) (40/120)
A systematic array of rooftop microgeneration systems, basement battery banks, and similar systems have spread across the Blue Zones like weeds. Under regular operations, blackouts are a thing of the past. Even in the cases of the worst weather yet recorded, GDI can ensure that the lights and life support stay on for weeks at a minimum. With even a trickle of external power, those lights can stay on indefinitely. However, in more day to day operations, a very different convenience has emerged. Now, GDI's power plant maintenance schedule does not have to be connected to the needs of the civilian population, as any repair or maintenance work that takes less than roughly 72 hours can be done without preparation by local civilian authorities. However, that does not mean regular safety operations are not being continued. Instead, it is a small edge in emergency cases.
Beyond that, there is significant hardening of the grid as a whole. NOD's increasing counterstrikes against the Initiative's positions have raised concerns that they will attempt to strike at the power grid, as they repeatedly did during the Third Tiberium War. While this has not yet occurred in any meaningful way, it is one of the potential threat vectors that the Initiative will have significant difficulties producing a counter to. One of the most significant ways this has been done is a mix of partially and wholly redundant substations, and the elimination of bottlenecks. While this has been an expensive project, it is one that has ensured that no single point can be taken out to create long term blackouts.
[ ] Synchronized Cycle Fusion Plants
The next wave of fusion hardware is a series of synchronized cycle plants. Running either four or six fusion reactors in a synchronized cycle is a serious developmental step towards producing clean, universal power solutions, ones that will provide energy for the Initiative for decades to come.
(Progress 289/350: 20 Resources per Die) (++++ Energy) (High Priority)
Development of the major fusion facilities has continued. With few real problems during construction, the systems have not quite yet come online. There are two key parts to the problem. First is the problem of the nearly excessive startup energy costs. While once the synchronized cycles are prepared, they can sustain themselves off of a shared reserve, each one charging the capacitors to kickstart the next. However, in the first startup, they must be charged off of the broader power grid without overstraining the system as a whole and without causing blackouts. Second is the more prosaic problem of regular safety and emissions checks. While the last of the first wave has been completed, the second requires that the plants be brought online, as a fusion plant is completely radiologically cold before it begins initiating fusion.
On the more research oriented side, the synchronized cycle plants are obsolescent before they have come online. In the struggles to fully develop the system, a new generation of continual fusion systems have been prototyped, and are remarkably close to being ready for at least initial construction efforts.
[ ] North Boston Chip Fabricator (Phase 4)
A Fourth stage of North Boston will be substantially more costly than the previous three stages combined. A massive new complex adjacent to the existing one will produce even more chips, and even more dedicated computing hardware, ranging from single integrated systems for extreme miniaturization, to single purpose microcontrollers and multi core processors. While expensive, this will bring with it a substantial surplus in some forms of capital goods, allowing for substantial investments in future projects.
(Progress 116/1200: 15 resources per die) ( +++++ Capital Goods ++++ Consumer Goods -- Labor --- Energy)
After over two years of standing by, the North Boston plant has finally received authorization and funding for major expansions. Consuming the blocks to the north of the existing facility, work has begun on clearing the area, laying foundations, and the vital utility hookups that make everything work. Additionally, a dedicated port facility has been set up on the southeastern corner of the complex. Here, barges will be able to take finished silicon down the Charles River to Logan Point, and the broader Boston port complex, and to the airport. From there, C-35s, Carryalls, and cargo ships can haul loads out across the eastern seaboard, and around the world if needed. While the river is not the most navigable of places, with many obstacles for ships with over three meters of draft, it is also a solution that minimizes strain on other parts of the logistical system, as few other elements are using that particular stretch of water.
While it is intended to produce little aside from just more supplies of existing technologies, computing hardware has seen proposals for radical new developments, such as 3 dimensional crystal based computing hardware, fully optical computers and others. None are ready for full development, let alone deployment, but are areas of interest to the Initiative's scientific community.
[ ] Johannesburg Myomer Macrospinner (Phase 3)
With initial production already starting, the macrospinner needs to be severely scaled up in the coming quarters as current production is far from enough for any serious attempt to use myomers across the broad swathes of Initiative industrial and military needs.
(Progress 308/360: 20 resources per die) (++ Capital Goods, + Energy) (Reduces cost of mech projects) (High Priority)
Major expansions of the growth laboratories and the other complexes have been undertaken this quarter. However, the key final step has not been finished. With myomers coming in functional bundles, the system requires a ropewalk as a means of weaving the bundles together while not putting too much strain on them. Much like how previous eras made rope from natural fibers, the bundles themselves share essential ropelike qualities. At one end, a set of spindles of individual strands of filled myomers are placed on a mobile rack. On the other, a tensioner. And in the middle are a "donkey" and a runner. The Donkey is a set of feeds that ensure that the strands are properly positioned for twisting, while the runner passes back and forth between the tensioner and the set of spindles to ensure that the twist is even and secure.
One key difference between the modern ropewalk and the ones of yore is that the modern ropewalks are much shorter. Unlike rope, which is intended to be cut and spliced into usable sections by the end user, myomer bundles are constructed with a purpose in mind. This means that both ends of any given strand come pre-finished, only needing to be hooked into the machine for it to function properly. This has meant, rather than the often 200 to 300 meter ropewalks of early modern Europe, most of the walks are under ten meters long, with only a handful being in the twenty to thirty meter range. These are primarily meant for the very heaviest of myomer bundles, as each additional layer requires significantly more myomer than the last.
[ ] Entari Deployment
With Entari ready to deploy, an investment into expanding seed crop production, and a beginning of rollouts across GDI's agricultural system. While this will require some modification to the bays, and some improvements in the water systems, it will also increase the efficiency of the food system as a whole.
(progress 173/200: 20 resources per die) (++++ Food, Increases efficiency of agriculture systems)
Entari vines have started large-scale proliferation in the Initiative's aquaculture farms. As the first fully engineered plant grown for food production, it was expected to be an unusual and challenging crop to cultivate. It has proven decidedly more so than expected. Although fast growing, early to bloom and quick to produce fruit, it was designed for optimal growth in very specific circumstances, and more than one growth bay failed entirely and rotted away after workers used to far more resilient produce did not correct for changes in temperature, humidity, nutrient balance or in one case, minor algae growth in the tanks. Many curses and aspersions aimed at the genetic engineers who designed and cultivated the plants during initial development and testing have been shared in the break rooms, and manuals and guides to growing entari have been rewritten to clarify just how critical it is to maintain the proper growing conditions. The Department of Agriculture is expecting that a minor infusion of further resources and some more time to grow will be all that is necessary to ensure the fruit will be available to all citizens.
[ ] Yellow Zone Tiberium Harvesting (Phase 4)
While existing harvesting operations are at their limit, a new wave of harvesting bases, deep in the yellow zones, can continue expanding our influx of Tiberium. While these will require a substantial security detachment to maintain, and the establishment of a number of new convoy routes, the military has come around on these projects recently as they can serve as base camps for continued operations against the Brotherhood of NOD.
(Progress 360/300: 20 resources per die) (small additional income trickle [5-10 Resources]) (4 points of Yellow Zone Mitigation) (High Priority)
Behind Initiative offensives around the world, the hold portion of the take and hold operations have continued. With the continuing advancement of Initiative technology and the disunited state of NOD's warlords, the operations have so far been only minorly contested. While this quarter has seen no new deployments, rumor has done its work. Word of new weapons and defenses has energized the Initiative's ground forces, driving them forward, despite losses.
Behind them has been a more measured pace, a series of take and hold operations. These have discovered and rediscovered hundreds of NOD operational bases, the jumping off sites of the Third Tiberium War. While all have been long abandoned, stripped of useful materials, and in many cases poisoned by the waste products of brotherhood occupation, they mark a turning point. GDI is finally beginning to not only retake old territories lost to encroaching yellow zones, but has begun pushing significantly into lands held by the Brotherhood.
With this has also come a new wave of refugees. Columns of resupply trucks have begun threading back towards blue zones bearing loads of refugees, for now mostly young women, children, and cripples, but increasingly also a small trickle of young men. Some of the last group bear the scars of battle, and a few have hastily removed or damaged scorpion insignia on their skin.
The actual Tiberium harvest is somewhat more prosaic. Take an area. Establish standardized harvesting operations, begin laying sonic fences to begin holding back Tiberium fields that are not yet being picked clean by harvesters. In some cases, establish control over Tiberium spikes left standing by the Brotherhood. And this has, for the most part, gone off with few hitches. However, the Brotherhood has begun a series of scorched earth campaigns in some parts of the world, most notably under Stahl and Gideon, where Tiberium spikes have been systematically destroyed behind retreating Brotherhood forces, in an attempt to slow the spread of GDI influence and create burn zones between them and the Initiative.
[ ] Gravitic Drive Development
The Scrin gravitic drives have proven to be particularly interesting. Rather than being reaction drives, keyed off of mass, they seem to be volumetric and geometric, with the positions of drive nodes being the critical factor. However, they have reached a point where a development push is required to bring them to being something of science fact, rather than science fiction.
(Progress 40/60: 30 resources per die)
Work has continued on the gravitic drive system. This time, a second testbed drone has been constructed and test fired. While the drive system worked, the first time, it managed about 10 seconds of acceleration, reaching velocities of fifty meters per second, before something went wrong and the drive system cut out and could not be restarted. While the scientists and engineers are still crunching the numbers to determine what, precisely, went wrong, the current working theory is that a power surge fried some critical component of the control system as the drive unit itself can still be activated using external power.
While only a proof of concept so far, the result is that many of the Initiative's physicists have been working late nights and consuming all of the caffeine that has been allocated to them, attempting to adjust their models and theories to include the drive system that has been demonstrated to work despite their models showing otherwise.
[ ] GDSS Enterprise (Phase 3)
Expanding the Enterprise into a proper all in one industrial center, a further series of modules and extensions will create a number of new industrial areas. However, before the refineries and the like can be brought fully online, they will need to be fed with material.
(Progress 385/385: 30 resources per die) (+ Capital Goods, + Consumer Goods) (Fusion) (High Priority)
Over the last quarter, a flower of steel has budded from the station's top decks. A titanic refinery system has taken shape, ready to be fed by an all consuming gaping maw close to its base waiting for the first shipments of extraterrestrial minerals. At its core lie three of the largest fission reactors ever put into space, for now resting in cold slumber for the day the refinery is turned on and their vast bounty of energy is turned to grinding, smelting, purifying and pouring the many tons of raw material GDI will eventually need for its space side industries. Above the calyx of the refinery system itself rests a tremendous spread of radiators in a petal-like formation to shed into the void the waste heat of the forges below and prevent them from cooking the station when running. Once lunar or asteroid mines have begun operations, however, Enterprise will become the core assembly point for the entire Initiative orbital system.
Beyond the refinery module, some of the first actual industries have been set up in orbit. Right now, they are minuscule, but one of the notable success stories has been in chip manufacture. With the problems of keeping oxygen out of the system being effectively a nonissue, a small trickle of chips has begun production. While not really enough to make a dent in the overall needs of the Initiative, it is enough to begin supplying GDSS Philadelphia with some. This has begun to reduce the number of upkeep launches required, although not by a particularly noticeable amount. Beyond the chips, most of the production has been fairly low sophistication– Wiring, piping, and panelling for the most part. Roughly an eighth of the radiator flower, mostly on the outer edges, was produced on the Enterprise, rather than being shipped from Earth. Similarly, once Enterprise has begun refining operations, it is expected to halve incoming resupply shipments if not more, as only the rarest of materials will be in short supply.
[ ] Fashion development houses
With standardized clothing now available, the next priority is often looking good. Existing clothing suppliers can provide for the bulk of GDI's needs, however there are many options for providing not only comfortable clothes, but ones that are good looking and attractive. While this has usually been a matter for the private markets, GDI can provide a range of fashion styles in its own right, bringing the whole range into reach of even the unemployed.
(Progress 242/225: 10 resources per die) (+++ Consumer Goods)
Work on the development of new fashions has been slow. This has been a combination of the demands of the Initiative and the demands of the population. On one side, the Initiative wants things that are a distinct departure from previous styles. While the past had seen an emphasis on cheaply made, often uncomfortable styles, meant for exposure and a rapid change in styles over the course of months or years, the Initiative has tended to aim more towards slower change and longer lasting clothing. On the other side, there are the demands of the population. Since the program began, there have been three rounds of test deliveries, and in each of them, only a few items have been authorized for full production. Now, with a further infusion of funding, the actual production orders have been placed, and a new wave of fashionable clothing has begun appearing on the shelves.
In terms of style, Yellow Zone Chic has been surprisingly popular, leading to designer environmental masks, high quality suits, and decorative additions being some of the items that the Initiative has significantly struggled to keep ahead of demand.
[ ] Stealth Disruptor System Development
While not precisely a general area stealth field disruptor, what has come out is a dedicated multispectral sensor system, capable of effectively breaking through NOD stealth systems out to significant ranges. While it needs a final infusion of funding to bring it to full capability, it should blunt one of NOD's major advantages in the wars to come.
(Progress 115/40: 25 Resources per die) (Nat 100)
Stealth technology emerged in an experimental form as "Ezekiel's Wheel", an ultralight first generation stealth tank. However, it was only fully cloaked while stationary and not firing. Before the second, however, the Brotherhood of NOD developed a mobile tactical stealth system, one that could be used for more than lying in ambush. These two developments began a constant back and forth between Brotherhood attempts to make ever quieter and ever broader spectrum stealth fields, while GDI has built ever more capable sensor systems designed to pick a stealthed unit out of the background noise. Between the Second and Third Tiberium Wars, Brotherhood Stealth and EWAR measures had consistently outpaced Initiative efforts to counter them, reducing effective combat ranges of detection systems down below a kilometer in most cases.
This work would not have been really possible without two factors. First and most expected are the Qatari defectors and their in-depth knowledge of the inner workings of both modern and premodern stealth systems. While the systems themselves are black-boxed to the point where even the Qatari are not really capable of reproducing them, they do know many of the weaknesses. Second and most game changing is the fact that all Brotherhood stealth systems, from the very first models used the same working principles, with the following generations 'merely' iterating and refining and deriving from the past generations and parallel developments. To the growing realization and some horror of the Qatarite defectors, jailbreaking one black box system means you can jailbreak all of them.
From here, the development system as a whole took two different angles. First was to attempt to produce an actual stealth disruptor. Stealth fields are projections of energy, and by precisely emitting the right frequency, it should be possible to disrupt and defeat the energy fields, either permanently or within the right range. The second was a more refined solution. Instead of attempting to fully defeat the field, the Qataris knew exactly where to point GDI's sensor technicians seeking the weakest points on the EM spectrum. Not just finding a section that the field did not yet cover, but actually within the covered spectrum. This is what has panned out fully. Rather than nullifying the field outright — not yet achievable, but theoretically doable — ) the engineers believe that they have a system that can effectively penetrate current generation Brotherhood stealth systems out to between 10-12 kilometers that they can mount on many of the forces already allocating tonnage to sensor systems.
[ ] High Efficiency Heat System Development
Derived from NOD's cyborg systems, this combination of heat sink, active cooling system and exchanger should significantly increase the efficiency of not only GDI's laser systems, but also of many other components. While significantly more expensive to produce than a conventional system, it is also substantially smaller, meaning that it can effectively be mounted on tanks, aircraft, and other mobile vehicles to increase their effective rate of fire.
(Progress 108/40: 15 resources per die)
The Brotherhood has never seemed to have to deal with heat as much as GDI. From the Obelisks of Light in the First Tiberium War, to the Spitfire lasers and laser pistols of The Third to the particle beams of the Marked of Kane, NOD weapons have seemed to operate without having to worry about the levels of waste heat that conventional physics models available to the GDI insist should be the case, a source of unceasing frustration to GDI researchers. Nod DEW excitation chambers have been known to achieve unparalleled levels of efficiency, but even that has never quite explained it. Part of the secret has finally been cracked. The system seems to rely on the implementation of a box-shaped graphene nanolattice which acts as a highly conductive heatsink at the point of contact, conducting heat away from sensitive sites and into whatever coolant or metal heatsink that particular implementation favors, from glycol to gold. Beyond that, a series of hybrid graphite/polymer radiators allow for relatively small and cool means to dispose of the heat. On most NOD implementations, they are tucked away in some area that does not require much in the way of human interactions, either far forward on a rifle, or besides the engine block. This breakthrough has greatly simplified GDI cooling designs. Industrial engineers have begun to get their hands on some samples, but until production ramps up, the first tranches are dedicated to military applications with a need for compactness, with a particular focus on the new laser weapons
[ ] Reclamator Fleet RZ-7 North
Wth the hub completed, there are two good options for the fleet.
-[ ] Super MARVs
An improved model, conceptualized after examining the destruction of MARVS before and during the Third Tiberium War, the Super MARV is substantially more expensive, but offers equally improved rewards
(progress 141/210: 20 resources per die) (3 Points Red Zone Mitigation, 25 RpT)
The MARV fleet for Chicago has begun to take form. Building from the keel up, the only remaining major set of components to be installed are the weapons systems. While intended to mount two damage control modules, and four anti-aircraft missile systems, they have not yet been delivered from the Blue Zone factories. Otherwise, however, they are ready for operations.
Although they were not ready for Seo Thoki's visit, he did make time for a smaller meet and greet during the whirlwind tour of the location. While there, he made an impression, although not an entirely popular one. In public eyes, he has started to be a somewhat polarizing figure. People who support him tend to see him as a visionary, and one who offers the secrets of the future. On the other hand, opponents see him as a risk taker who will lead the Initiative into oblivion, and as abandoning what the Initiative was formed to do.
[ ] Orca Refit Package Development
The Orca, in its many forms, has been a symbol of GDI technical capabilities for nearly half a century. From its origins in the First Tiberium War, to the multiplication of forms in the second, to the simplified model of the third, Orcas have found themselves in nearly every battle the Initiative has fought. However, in the Third Tiberium War, many of the tradeoffs made themselves more of a problem than they originally were expected to be. Ranging from a lack of air to air capabilities, to their relatively short legs and limited ammunition supplies, many Orca strikes were not a sufficient match to the job they had found themselves performing. There are many proposals on how to fix these problems, but testing is required for a standard package to be developed
(Progress 52/40: 15 resources per die) (High Priority)
The Orca of the Third Tiberium war was originally designed to carry 12 AGM-240 Sidearm missiles or an array of other modular weapons systems, ranging from Sidewinders or autocannon to hundreds of unguided rockets. However, during the war itself, by far the most common configuration was six Sidearm missiles. This was a result of three interlocking reasons. First, before the war, Sidearms were considered to be a relatively safe weapon. High precision fires that did not require long loiter times or repeated passes to empty the magazines. This had meant that they were, by far, the most available weapon in GDI's arsenal during the war itself. Second, NOD commanders on the ground tended to prioritize attacking and destroying factories producing for the Orca platform, sometimes at the expense of broader strategic goals. Third, the Venom increasingly made unsupported attack flights, especially ones requiring longer loiter times far too dangerous. While the Orca still carried out tens of thousands of critical missions and provided air support for Initiative forces everywhere from the Arctic Circle to the tip of South America, it did so in a noticeably crippled manner. While some commanders were, by luck, influence, or priority, able to authorize heavier missile loads, full packs were an extreme rarity during the war years. Even after the war, full prewar combat loads have remained a rarity.
The refit project as originally envisioned was a relatively simple upgrade package, increasing ammunition load, adding conformal drop tanks, and improving the sensor suite, alongside adding air to air missiles. The resulting design, however, aside from technically sharing a name, has seen nearly every component receiving either sweeping changes or being completely replaced. The new Orca, designated A-16, is a radically more capable platform than its predecessor. With the new fuel tanks, it can maintain half again as much combat range when fully loaded, while the new modular missile pods are actually even more convertible than the old A-15 models.
Beginning at the nose, a remodeled sensor pod integrates the new, more effective, sensor system. Beneath that, a rapid fire railgun on a single axis turret provides capability for strafing runs, and more importantly a means of defense against the near omnipresent threat of Venoms. Wrapped around the cockpit are a number of panels of lightweight carbon fiber and boron carbide. These, along with lightening cuts and the integration of long chain carbon nanotubes have helped keep the weight down, despite all of the additions being made. Along the cheeks, a pair of modular weapons pods have been installed. While not particularly better than the previous model, these are compatible with the new universal rocket systems. Above them, tucked inside the engines, a pair of conformal tanks have been added. Behind that, a third drop tank is located under the tail, for even more range. While the third tank does make it far more difficult to fly, it also significantly increases total range.
[ ] Universal Rocket Launch System Development
GDI's ground forces require a wide array of different rockets and missiles, ranging from simple and cheap tactical launch systems such as those mounted on the Mammoth and Pitbull, to heavy anti-tank missiles, and increasingly the large heavy strike length bombardment missiles. However, this has proven to be an increasing strain on the overall logistical system.
(Progress 63/40: 15 Resources per die) (High Priority)
During the lead up to the Third Tiberium War, GDI was producing over fifty different rocket systems, ranging from 58.4mm in diameter rockets for the Mammoth tanks to Sidewinders, Rattlesnakes, and various multirole missile platforms such as those found on the Pitbull and Missile teams. Some guided, some unguided, and none produced in enough numbers that GDI could ensure a steady and uninterrupted supply by the late years of the war.
The solution that Ground Forces came up with was a modular missile system. A series of sizes and components that could be fit together to fill nearly any role. Codenamed Thunderbolt, the missiles come in four sizes. T5, at 50mm in diameter, T10, T15, and T20 at 200mm in diameter. The other key feature is variable length, from a 50cm baseline, up to 3.5 metres with modular solid fuel sections. Each can mount standardized seeker heads, payloads, fuel and exhaust assemblies to produce a staggering array of potential rocket systems.
For example, as a signal rocket, a short T5 can be equipped with a flare, firework, or even an antenna system with wire, and fired up into the air without all that much difficulty. However, the same basic platform and launcher can be reconfigured to destroy light vehicles or deliver long range fragmentation charges into concentrations of NOD infantry. Or it can be loaded as a submunition round for the T20, with ten of them capable of being loaded into the rocket. Things become more interesting at the larger sizes. The T15 and T20 are planned to become the baseline of lightweight, high mobility rocket artillery systems, using a mix of guided or unguided weapons. A return of the MLRS of the first two Tiberium Wars has already been planned, relying heavily on the longest and heaviest of the weapons available.
The only holdout so far has been the Navy, which has cited its need for longer range and heavier missiles as a problem. And even so, the Navy has seen fit to propose Thunderbolt + as a future project, building in the capacity for larger systems. Fundamentally, by ensuring cross-compatibility, it will make it so that GDI should never have to worry about running entirely out of ammunition. In terms of deployment, GDI will begin by converting a long list of surviving munitions factories over to the new standard. However, with demand expected to spike in the coming years, a series of new factories have already been planned.
[ ] Quick Maneuver Air to Air Missile Development
The arrival of supermaneuverable NOD aircraft has prompted a new look at air to air missile development. While venerable derivatives of the AIM-9 and AIM-120 have served for decades, neither is perfectly suited to the realities of modern air to air combat. A novel system, built for extreme maneuverability, even at significant costs in range, has been put forward as a proposal for development.
(Progress 52/40: 15 resources per die) (High Priority)
The QAAM in testing is fundamentally a fairly simple set of modifications to a standard Rattlesnake air to air missile. There are three real primary differences. First is that the seeker head has a roughly doubled scan speed and half again as much angle of sweep. Combined, these make it a significantly more dangerous missile alone because it is more difficult to break locks with rapid maneuvers the way that the Barghest has shown significant ability to do. The second is the control surfaces. The total area of the control surfaces has increased by a third, using a compressed carriage or folding fin design. While not noticeably larger than standard missiles, with the fins folded closed, they are released with launch, and air resistance snaps them back to the maneuvering positions. Third and finally, a wide-angle two-axis vectored thrust system increases maneuverability even more, although it has required an additional kicker motor to retain the range of the Rattlesnake. When combined, the QAAM proved to be a significantly more dangerous missile, but one that could burn off its energy quite quickly. A specialist addition rather than a replacement to the existing design. It is also a much more expensive and complicated system, one justified by the maneuverability of NOD's increasingly common high end air superiority craft.
Late in the quarter however, it became folded into the Universal Rocket Launch System program as it neared completion. This required significant detail level reworks of many of the assets, as it fell in between the sizes of the Thunderbolts 10 and 15. However, the fundamentals remain the same, and while it is not quite ready to be fielded, it will provide a baseline for not just air to air missiles, or with heat seeking missiles, but rather all high maneuverability missiles in the Initiative arsenal once completely rolled out.
[ ] Laser Point Defense Systems Development
GDI's rapid fire laser system was something of a disappointment. However, even on an improvised chassis it served distinctly well as a point defense laser. By developing dedicated and automated systems, it should render NOD missile attack on the tactical level a much more minor problem.
(Progress 88/40: 15 Resources per die) (Very High Priority)
Active protection systems are not a new idea. First developed in the Soviet Union, the Drozd, and later Arena, systems used top attack counter missiles to defeat incoming munitions. When the Initiative was first formed, they looked towards adopting APS properly. However, the advent of the First Tiberium War and the subsequent chain of near-extinction events forced them to abandon this blue-skies research avenue.. Only recently has it begun looking once more in that direction, where a friendly government and militarily oriented leadership, plus technological breakthroughs, has made a system that is actually viable. Stripping down the multi-barreled design to a twin barrelled system, and then adding enhanced cooling and prototype Remote Weapon System, the result is something that works, to the dismay of the assigned designers. The prototype APS, codenamed "Wali", is an ungainly mess. It has a second stacked turret, with laser emitters positioned above the RWS gun. Partially, this is due to requiring additional heat sinks and vents in order to prevent the system from overheating, and partially it is due to both systems requiring a very wide field of fire. Though the designers continued to lament the ergonomics, there's not much that can be done to soothe their woes.
In terms of function, it is quite capable of dealing with one missile at a time, even in relatively rapid succession, although even with the improved cooling system, the reduction to a pair of barrels for space reasons has meant that it can only shoot down about seven missiles in a fifteen second period. While not quite able to render the attack of a Stealth Tank meaningless, it is capable of severely depleting it. As for attacks from multiple angles, it is still unfortunately limited. So long as the missiles are launched from at least 120 degrees apart, as few as two missiles can be required to slip one through. However, the vast majority of missile attacks are far from that, and the system can treat salvoes of missiles across a roughly sixty degree arc with similar efficiency to single source missile attacks.
[ ] Governor Class Cruiser Shipyards
Rebuilding some of GDI's battleship docks into half sized cruiser sections will save on resources, however they will require major investments in capital goods. These yards will take some significant time to begin major developments however, with a cruiser taking months to construct, and longer to fit out for service. (Very High Priority)
- [ ] Durban (Progress 167/200: 20 resources per die) (- Capital Goods, -- Energy, - Labor)
The Durban shipyard has encountered severe NOD opposition this quarter. While the shipyard itself has remained sacrosanct, the nearby missile production facilities, primarily the one producing the cruise missiles, has been severely damaged by NOD attacks. Much like last quarter's attack on Johannesburg, this one was led by Shadow teams. However, in this case, they managed to get away cleanly, although damage was distinctly limited. Primarily, two of the containment tanks for motor precursors were breached, destroying them and damaging the surroundings. However, that has not slowed the overall program significantly, as the critical shipyards themselves have continued to be developed, including revising the fittings of the nuclear reactors. While the ships are expected to begin cutting steel early next quarter, they will be without sufficient components and supplies to complete without major infusions of funding.
- [ ] Vladivostok (Progress 66/200: 20 resources per die) (- Capital Goods, -- Energy, - Labor)
The Vladivostok navy yards have seen ground broken once more. Historically, the base of the Russian and later Soviet navies, it is the oldest surviving city of the Russian Blue Zone. First settled in the 1860s, it is nearing its bicentennial. Under Initiative rule, it has grown to be the largest of the Russian cities. However, aside from its battleship yards, it has a minimal shipbuilding tradition. Even under the Soviet Union, nearly all of the ships that were based out of the city were built in Leningrad or one of the other major western yards and shipped around the world, rather than being built on site. However, this has not stopped them from being one of the first homes of GDI's battleship fleet.
While the funding has been distinctly limited, construction so far has been primarily oriented towards the various support components. While steel and composites are relatively cheap, the radar, computer systems and similar are distinctly not, and have significant lead times. While it would be plausible to import them from Japan given the two site's proximity, it is a meaningful source of wartime redundancy in case of another Tiberium War.
[ ] Cooperative Focus
Cooperatives have historically proven to be both more resilient in the face of economic shock, and tend to have less inequality than other companies. By reorienting the grant programs to favor cooperatives over other company structures, the Treasury can fully break from the programs of the past.
(DC 80/100/120) (-10 Political Support) (215)
Cooperatives are an old concept and one that has often been pointed to as a solution to the ills of capitalism. From Fourier and Mills, to more radical thinkers, cooperative structures were suggested as a means of ending the exploitation of the capitalist system endemic to Europe at the time.
In the United States, the oldest cooperative before the Tiberium Wars was a mutual fire insurance company founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1752. However, the vast majority of cooperatives have usually been in two sectors. First were agricultural cartels, collectivizing the product of regional farms. Originally these were dairies and creameries, but in all cases, they were fundamentally local organizations. The other side was actually consumer organizations placing bulk orders and then distributing purchases to people at cost in order to save them money. Most notable of the early cooperative and cooperative movements was the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry, also known as the Grange, an organization of farmers that attempted to cut out middlemen and improve the lot of farmers in the harsh conditions of the late 19th century.
Many of these were organized along the Rochdale Principles, first articulated in 1844, and revised since then. Based on open membership, democratic member control, autonomous structure, educating the public, and work not just for profit, but for the greater good of the community, these principles fall well in line with GDI's overall aims. However, unlike previous attempts to regulate market systems, where radical action was defeated and limited by a combination of the right wing of the Developmentalists and the Free Market Party, four years on, Market Socialists and outright Socialists have leapt upon and pushed forward an even more radical set of positions. While the Treasury's proposals were relatively limited, aimed at offering priority to cooperatives and instituting a series of small scale workplace democracy mandates, the bill that passed parliament was a much more aggressive social engineering project. While not banned or otherwise unsupported, fully private holdings are size limited, with no more than four hundred and fifty full time employee equivalents, or a maximum of eighteen thousand hours worked a week. To grow to be more than that, they must be reorganized into a collectively held cooperative,or be able to survive without some of the best of Initiative corporate welfare measures. This, in real terms actually has very little effect, as few companies without a cooperative structure exist with more than 300 full time employee equivalents, and none have yet reached the full limitation.
