GDIOnline Q1 2057
Public Relations Staff Forum
(Official) Mutation Doom Management Thread
Tyler Andrews (Tiberium) (Public Relations)
As expected, news of the ongoing mutation event has begun to spread. While not universal, we need to do some Doom management. This is what the message needs to be.
- We are still gaining ground.
- We are pushing new technological and methodological solutions to Tiberium
- Even in worst case projections we are still in a better place than we were after the Second Tiberium War.
Auke van Dijk (Public Relations)
A major project from the Tiberium office to demonstrate new technologies and their effectiveness would go a long way. We resolved the situation after the Second Tiberium War by deploying masses of sonic emitters, a then mostly unproven technology. Hearkening back to that would show the public that we are on top of the situation.
The matter around Mecca should be resolved as swiftly as possible. It's
the biggest project the public will know, if it fails, any claim of still gaining ground will sound hollow. If it succeeds, it will demonstrate on its own that GDI is ready for whatever tiberium is throwing at us.
Mia Deeps (Treasury)
Tiberium mining/harvesting is not showing a significant change in output at this time, but we are monitoring it closely. We probably need more time to be able to determine any pattern there.
Col. Sandra Telfaire (InOps)
Would somebody mind putting a muzzle on Dr. Granger? We don't need him inciting panic with ill-considered statements. The average politician pretties things up, and while some of us like his bluntness, it does not play well with the public.
Jamie Anderson (Public Relations)
Too late, he's in the civilian threads. <LINK>
We're going to need to run some damage control.
Again.
Michael McNeil General (Ret.) Director, Treasury Working Group
I'll reset the office counter
Akira Oda (Treasury)
Water under the bridge. *sigh* I know for a fact that Granger received a report on both stabilizers and inhibitors, new technologies that would help in our mutation problem. It's just that he wants the stabilizer network done before his planned retirement since he feels Mr. Seo is ready to take up the mantle of the Treasury. So anyone wants to contact Space Command on their rocket stockpiles since Tiberium and Defense Plan 2057 now requires more chemical rockets with ASAT being tentatively penned in and the Stabilizers definitely penned in. I'm sure they would like the allocation in the budget the Treasury is giving them. We're gonna need it.
Tiberium Discussion Thread MMLVII P1: Doom Intensifies
AgathaH
So, looking at the press releases and information some friends have received from contacts, it looks like Tiberium is starting to mutate in earnest. So far, response to sonics and existing measures is around 2-3% less effective. That's a preliminary number though, so give it a
large margin for error.
I'm going to go see why my robotic cat/dog/thing is singing the Doom Song…
Dr. James Granger (Treasury)
It is happening, we are not sure how much influence it will have or how long it will take. Lots of unknowns at this point.
At the same time, here at the Treasury we are doing everything in our power to ensure that we will make this one pass as well. Don't know how well it will work at this point, but if it is possible, we will do it.
FloatingWood
I… expected more of a 'we got this, don't worry' post. Seriously, if the
Treasury Secretary is going 'we have no idea how this is going to go', how bad is it going to
get?
Ormonde2020
Tiberium has already consumed over half of the planets surface, and who knows how much of its interior.
What do you think? Pay attention to what the Government is doing. More money, increased space launch, bigger military, huge abatement effort. They're buying time to evacuate. The question isn't if we're going to lose Earth, it's when, and how to stop Nod and Kane from fucking it up.
MajorMiner
At this point, we're trying to chart a graph with one data point. Going by the previous times The Green mutated, it's going to be
Interesting Times, but one good sign is that it doesn't look like harvesting, or even mining, operations are seeing much of an effect.
For guidance, see the front of your nearest Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Michael McNeil General (Ret.) Director, Treasury Working Group
...Dammit Granger.
LoneWulf10
So hey, what does this mean for the Treasury DoomCharts? If that's a question I'm allowed to ask.
TheLeveeWillHold
What no doubt the thread will be expecting: BrokenDamFlood.gif
What will happen: UnassailableDam.jpg
Dr. James Granger (Treasury)
#LoneWulf10
Hard to say. Right now they are trending down, but at the moment we only have one set of datapoints. Give us another 3-6 months to establish a trendline, and from there remember that Tiberium can be a tricky thing to study at the best of times. Hence why I stated that there were still a lot of unknowns.
FloatingWood
Trending down in what way? Trending down in Doom Quotient, or trending down in habitality?
Dr. James Granger
#FloatingWood
Both, actually. Although we don't use "Doom Quotient" as one of our metrics, current indicators suggest that the Red Zones are slowly growing, impacting overall habitability of the planet.
At the same time we are ready to implement novel technological solutions to the matter that we expect will counter the ongoing mutation of Tiberium and permit us to continue reclaiming territory from the crystal.
Further development may be needed to halt the growth of the Red Zones, but we are confident that with these new technologies it is more a matter of implementing them at the required scale.
AgathaH
You should
totally use "Doom Quotient" for one of your metrics. It's so evocative!
Akira Oda (Treasury)
#Dr. James Granger, while we know you are trying to inform the citizenry of the dangers of Tiberium and the current mutation happening throughout the world, I believe that it would be better to show off the data we have in a comprehensive format in a conference to be hosted by your deputy. It would show us the necessary steps ahead of us as well as the programs we are aligning with the special projects fund for Tiberium operations. There are also some parliamentary inquiries coming soon with the Finance and Tiberium committees waiting for your appearance as well as a meeting with the whole house. Director Granger is also calling for you and the rest of the cabinet since your secretary is unaware of your location as of this time. We hope the meeting will go well and I am already contacting the moderators to allow the EVAs to comb through this thread as we speak for certain still classified details sir.
AccomplishingProvidence
While the general implications presented by #Dr. James Granger and his compatriots here are
worrying, I for one take his mention of upcoming technological releases with great relief. It has been a consistent theme that GDI's departments are doing what they can to not simply "hold the line", but to innovate and advance. Even amidst the desperate moments brought on by war, Tiberium, and the like, they continue their work. It's genuinely inspiring
Disgruntled old hand
#Ormonde2020
On Nod yes there's a good possibility for them to try as for Kane I doubt it if only from the recollections on him and speaking with him during the first War.
(Unofficial) 2056 Campaign Retrospective
256ÜberAlles
The campaigns of 2056 were a major victory for GDI, but showed off some pretty major weaknesses. In the Armored corps, we have been yelling for better hardware for a while, and we just started getting some this year. On the other hand, feels pretty good to be going over some of the old battlefields going in the opposite direction of a decade ago. And with a tank that works better while I am at it.
Overall, we got asked to do a
lot but it seems to have been worth it. Opening this thread with a short statement, because I am not sure what is still classified at this point, and am asking higher up what I can share.
InitiativeWolf
Spent most of my time embedded in one of the new Home Guard formations stationed in a yellow zone fortress city (not saying where for maximum OpSec). I'll be honest, I wasn't quite sure of the whole idea when we started training them, but they shaped up surprisingly quickly. It helped that several of them seemed to know their way around a rifle, which cut the time needed to train them down a bit.
That actually came in handy as Nod started to intensify operations in the area. Now, unless you're stationed in somewhere like Chicago you don't really see high intensity combat around fortress towns. They are simply too tough to crack without significant effort on Nods part (and as we've seen a couple times now even when they do put the effort in they tend to fail doing significant damage). However, for those same reasons we deprioritize fortress cities quite a lot ourselves. The war was going on everywhere, and if you put in a large garrison with loads of equipment in a sector where Nod simply wasn't putting in their share of troops, why bother? The Local Nodites decided to take advantage of the situation, aggressively probing forward and setting up observation posts to hit our supply lines with mortars and artillery. Those strikes were never very long (often a mere 10-15 seconds) and often missed their targets entirely, but people started to get hurt and killed and morale started to drop.
The local commander decided that enough was enough, and the home guard which had barely finished their (rushed) training got pressed into action. Now, I could perhaps critique some of the tactics in use from time to time, but I would never say that they lacked fighting spirit. Hell, from time to time they seemed completely fearless while under fire, it wasn't hard to get them to maneuver even while under fire. On time my squad was patrolling together with a home guard squad and we got ambushed by some militants. We took two casualties (one in each squad) immediately, and everyone went to ground trying to return fire as best as possible. However, the home guard squad leader (who I am pretty sure was a former Nod militant!) quickly rallied his remaining squad, and before we could ask what he was doing he and his four non-injured troops went charging off to the side and out of sight. For a minute I almost thought they had abandoned us, but suddenly we heard a lot more gunfire in front of us accompanied by grenades popping off before everything went silent. Turns out he had led his men on a flank attack, managing to eliminate the militant squad that had us pinned. They are crazy bastards for sure.
Edit: The two casualties survived. I am not sure about the Home Guard trooper, but my squadmate is gonna make a full recovery.
OneShotOnePill
We're seeing a whole bunch of amputees. Survivability is better than ever as medicine continues to advance. However that results in a lot of veterans missing limbs, as a result of explosives, tiberium contamination from yellow zones and suit puncturings, heavy burns and the like. There's good robotics, so if the interfaces between cybernetics and biology could be made more affordable that would be nice. Not only of course for retired service members, but to keep otherwise healthy soldiers in active duty. There'd also of course be major benefits to our civilian population that live or lived in the yellow zones.
Mikoto Arsikawa
#OneShotOnePill
We are already pretty stretched in terms of qualified trauma and implantation doctors I'm afraid. Getting cybernetic limbs for our veterans would be a major shift in priorities away from keeping our hospitals away from overwork and lack of sleep, and you should probably have some inkling of how many hours doctors and nurses put into their work at the best of times. There's also the understandable anti-cybog prejudice a lot of people who remember the CABAL and more recent events might still harbor. I know you're eager to see people with robot arms and legs walking around and working, but there's always going to be some who see them as security risks or Nod infiltrators.
OneShotOnePill
#Mikoto Arsikawa
In a word? FUCK THEM! I don't care if some asshole doesn't like seeing some dude with a robot arm. A BIT more fucking important is restoring veterans functionality. I don't wanna hear people talk about overwork when they're not the ones explaining to soldiers "thanks for your service, tough shit but here's a complementary wheelchair because robot legs are scary/too expensive/ need blue zone surgeons to put in overtime.."
AccomplishingProvidence
#OneShotOnePill while I appreciate your dedication to the cause of trying to improve the quality of life of injured veterans, I think you are being unfair to #Mikoto Arsikawa on this. This isn't about doctors having to spend more than a handful of hours in the office. It's about hospital staff not being so overworked they fall asleep during life-saving operations. The blunt fact is that, right now, there's not enough doctors and nurses to go around. So priority has to go to the work that
immediately saves lives. To have the staff to perform the
incredibly complex and time-consuming surgeries to provide
integrated prosthetic replacements, we would likely have to at least double the existing pool of medical workers. Which seems to be happening, but slowly.
There are non-integrated options available, and I don't think there's a GDI veteran alive who would prefer a more integrated limb be given to them, while someone else dies of a treatable injury or illness due to not having enough surgeons to go around.
HigherThanYou
So, I gotta apologize for Nod getting into our air envelope and living, but those new Barghests have some
crazy magic going on to pull the Gs they are. Apollos can still make them regret it, if we get it right, but we need something new to keep them from eating pretty much any other airframe for brunch.
Solan
I am actually finishing up my tour in the MARVs scene and while I will be going at it again there are other engineering jobs that need done. However, I've earned this fucking leave after building out essential giant crawling tanks that suck Tiberium and fire its payload against the very puny Nod partisians for nearly FOUR years without a break. We have essentially been press ganged to service for multiple times in attacking Nod via the initial run of all MARVs even when Chicago was attacked it was unfortunate we didn't crush them easily because a lot of supplies essentially went to the front before the MARVs' weaponry could fully reinforce Chicago. Even then campaign season is over and from what many of my Tiberium engineer friends are talking about a metric ton of new faces are coming to the Blue and Green Zones so at least the evacuations are going well. Lastly, I've been hearing that construction of Mecca and Jeddah is nearly finished so we would be able to move to other abatement efforts.
Q1 2057 Results
Resources: 635 + 5 in reserve (15 allocated to the Forgotten) (35 allocated to grants)
Political Support: 60
Free Dice: 6
Fusion Dice: 9 (+1 per turn)
Tiberium Spread
16.04 Blue Zone
27.09 Yellow Zone (88 points of mitigation)
56.87 Red Zone (61 points of mitigation)
Current Economic Issues:
Housing: Significant Surplus (+12) (28 population in low quality housing) (2 points of refugees)
Energy: Major Surpluses (+11) (+2 in reserve)
Logistics: Major Surpluses (+9)
Food: Major Surpluses (+12) (+8 in reserve)
Health: Substantially improved (+5) (2 consumed by emergency refugee healthcare)
Capital Goods: Major Surplus (+5)
Consumer Goods: Meeting Demand (+3) (+5 from private industry)
Labor: Gargantuan Surpluses (+30)
Tiberium Processing Capacity (1300/1480)
Yellow Zone
Water: Notable Surpluses (+11)
Status of the Parties
(strong support, weak support, weak opposition, strong opposition)
Free Market Party: 125 seats (0; 5; 25; 95)
Market Socialist Party: 331 seats (152; 129; 35; 15)
Militarist: 237 seats (37; 160; 20; 20)
Initiative First: 178 seats (0; 0; 74; 104)
United Yellow List: 73 seats (58; 15; 0; 0)
Starbound Party: 155 seats (73; 82; 0; 0)
Socialist Party: 50 seats (30; 18; 2; 0)
Developmentalists: 640 seats (350; 200; 90; 0)
Independents 11 seats
-Biodiversity Party (2 seats: Weak Support)
-Dominion Party (1 seat: Strong Opposition)
-Reclamation Party (5 seats: Weak Support)
-Homeland Party (3 seats: Weak Support)
Military Confidence
Ground Forces : Decent
Air Force : Decent
Space Force : Decent
Steel Talons: Low
Navy: Low
ZOCOM: High
Plan Goals
Capital Goods: 5 points remaining
Food: 10 (7) points remaining
Grooming a Successor
Being assigned to support orbital operations, Seo Thoki has found a new calling. Long experienced in Tiberium operations, he has found that his head for numbers, deeply set paranoia, and planning skills, apply almost as well to orbital operations as Tiberium ones. Specifically, he has found that station planning and construction is little different (aside from the technical details) from planning and operating the stations that are one of the planned futures for the Initiative.
Mutation
Fear has rippled through the Initiative's public and parliament as news of significant drops in the effectiveness of abatement options has spread. While so far the concern is somewhat mitigated by the potential of new technologies already being developed, there is certainly a significant degree of baited breath and fear for the future.
Assassination Attempt on Director Granger
Late in the quarter, a four man team attempted to assassinate Director Granger. Wearing Initiative uniforms, and having acquired the correct passcodes and identification to access the Tidworth Camp military base where the Director has made his home. Having passed through outer security without being intercepted, they made their way to one of the observation towers around the site. There they set up a concealed sniper's nest in the roof. However, in making final preparations, a glint off of their scope was discovered by a counter sniper team on one of the other (randomly selected) observation towers. Security forces stormed the building, and the team were killed attempting to make their escape.
Discovered among their effects was a pair of tiberium core gyrojet rocket guns. Apparently, the impulse of a conventional rifle is too much for tiberium core rounds, however, miniaturizing decades old (at this point) tiberium core warheads is quite possible, as demonstrated by the group of assassins. While the drop is likely quite severe over the range, that can be useful as testing showed these weapons to impact and scatter tiberium splinters over a radius of one to two meters, creating an effective kill field around the target point.
Politically, this has not exactly helped tensions, as even though nobody has claimed responsibility, it is a notably brazen move, one seemingly calculated to attempt to put a more avid hawk in position to run for director and force an emergency rather than a carefully considered selection from the available candidates.
Lunar Mining
The Lunar Mining bill, exempting the proceeds of space development from the coming reallocation, has passed over half-hearted objections from the other departments. While not being able to increase their funding marginally is somewhat irritating, even the most hard headed department leadership can see the problems of the reallocation system when applied to mines that will not turn a profit in years.
Probes arrive on Venus
The three Hermes probes launched the previous year have arrived and taken up low orbits around the planet. While the surface scan has not yet progressed far, a major problem is already obvious. Hefty storms in the lower atmosphere make getting accurate readings for the laser altimeter and spectrometer difficult, with heightmap accuracy reduced to about one per square meter and no usable data for the spectrometer aside from atmospheric elements. Explanations for this have a wide range, from heightened atmospheric activity due to shifts in the sun's energy output, to another phase of volcanic eruptions increasing Venus greenhouse effect short term. SCED leadership however already plans around needing surface exploration of Venus to net any significant amount of new data on the planet.
Politics
Admiral Harrison Carter, formerly of the SCED and recently promoted to lead the space force in its entirety as the Chief of the General Staff, has thrown his hat into the ring. Promoting an aggressive program of space exploration and development, his position is somewhat unusual, both for how soon it was after his promotion, but also because he is a military figure running on a primarily civilian platform.
The other new candidate is Tran Công Tăng, currently Chief of Staff to the Steel Talons. Raised to power in 2053, after Kane struck the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, she is more of a scientist than a soldier, and has tended to focus the Steel Talons on producing new weapons, armor, and defense systems. While this has been frustrated by a lack of funding towards new testing platforms, she is still committed to ensuring the Initiative maintains its technological edge, and aims towards creating technological overmatches.
Otherwise, things have actually remained remarkably stable, and while there are certainly cracks around the edges, and the Developmentalists have lost a handful of members to the Socialists and Market Socialists, this has not yet changed the political calculus in any real way.
PAGE Report
Harrison Carter
Despite the surprise nomination, Carter has entered the election in an exceptionally strong stride. Though Sarang Mikoyan had retreated into her administrative works in GDSS Enterprise after being passed from the pick of Treasury Deputy, she had been coaxed out temporarily from her work to help advise Carter's campaign effort. In fact, the entirety of the civilian side of GDI Administration that had been focused in space congregated over to him. His dual nature as the leader of the Space Force also allowed him to sway opinion of the Air Force– and subsequently a minority portion of the Militarists– at least in the interest of the creating a so-called seventh-generation jet fighters capable of multiple re-entry in and out of the atmosphere to LEO. In a more mixed news, the focus on GDI's reformability and Tiberium mutation has led to passively accrued support from parts of the GDI that have considerable distaste to the Treasury such as the remnants of the FMP, who is fleeing to any safe port that would take them in.
Tran Công Tăng
As the last candidate putting her hat in the ring, it would've been expected that Tăng's chances are slimmer than the other candidates. However, the focus on cutting edge technologies, predominantly those that preserves the Initiative lives as well as social programs to help war veterans and victims with newly designed prosthetics have led to a personal support from Al-Jilani, pivoting most of the not-so-inconsiderable political machine of the Militarists behind her as well as the IF, who support her in most part due to her being 'the military candidate'. A point of concern that the PAG had been wary of, however, is how the Chief of Staff of the Steel Talons would view the Treasury in the event that she won. After careful probing, they found out that while Tăng– much like most of the Steel Talons– is annoyed at Secretary Granger, she is more than willing to bury the hatchet with Seo. Not that the demands of the hypothetical Director Tăng is likely to be too onerous in the face of Tiberium mutation.
Emilia Litvinov: To the surprise of everyone who had not known her well, Litvinov made her move in the wake of the protests, sponsoring airtime from the numerous for the most prominent of the older protestors and newly-inducted populace of the GDI in recent years to tell their stories and sear them deeper into the public consciousness. More than that, she pressed her contact to the fullest, forging and tapping connections with younger mid-ranking civil servants and educators. There are very blatant snubs, however. Litvinov and her web of connections cut off at points where they would connect with those among the GDI political scene who have benefitted in the preferential treatments that Blue Zoners– or in the old term, First World– receive to the detriment of others. While a number of them are concentrated in both the FMP and the IF, every party has their fair share. As can be inferred, Litvinov seems to have relit the torch that led to her rise into the role of the Secretary of Education in the first place as part of her Directorship mandate. And if this means a searing reform to excise the elements of the GDI politics that had led to the rise of abusive and harmful incentives to the non-native Blue Zoners, then that is what she shall enact.
Kai Jun: Following the wake of the Meccan Postulate, Kai Jun has been conspicuously silent considering the passion and zeal he retains with regards to Warlords and their failings. At first, this was taken as a sign that he is picking his battles rather than meddling as an outside-faith outsider. When scrutinized deeper however, Kai seems to have pressed on his fellow MPs who has the same opinions as him, particularly those who still held to the Islamic faith. Playing a delicate game, his allies among the Muslim MPs– a great number of them from the newly inducted Green Zone– continued his advocacy of near-zero tolerance for the non-Meccan Warlord ringleaders, even at times calling for putting to account the Caravanserai's Warlords. This, however, is paired with a loud set of demands from letting the GDI bear majority burdens of transporting the Hajj pilgrims, to incredulous points of restarting the Umrah pilgrimages in the near future. As far as can be gleaned, none of these are smokescreens for any further ploys– though he has entered talks with Litvinov for obvious reasons, Kai Jun continued to be an uncompromising politician, for better and worse.
Arthur Hackett and Julian Bennett
While these two have been the earliest contenders for the Director seat, the Meccan Debacle have put to stop their focused campaign efforts as both Secretaries contend with damage control and infighting among one another. Their allies and momentum of being the first two who threw their hat in the ring have, for now, helped them remain competitive.
Brotherhood of Nod
The average Brotherhood force has become significantly heavier, with three major developments. First, there are now derivatives of the Mantis UGV in service across the brotherhood, not only in the antiaircraft role, but also now serving as low precision rocket artillery vehicles. Second, Nod has seen a severe reduction in the number and activity of their militant squads. Rather than being the mainline force, to be unleashed in human waves against entrenched positions such as the battle of the Pentagon, the Militant has increasingly been relegated to less onerous duties. Third, various forms of biotechnical weapons have been increasingly common. Not only the Afanc type, but a number of others, primarily smaller and more lightly armed, have appeared on battlefields around the world.
In the air, this quarter has marked the first incursions into Blue Zones since the Third Tiberium War. Flights of Barghests have crossed the lines six times, first in Korea, but later in Northern Europe and South America. While they avoided engagement and did no damage, it was quickly seized upon by Nod propagandists as an example of the Brotherhood's capability.
[ ] Rail Link Reconstruction (Phase 3)
A final phase of reconstructing the rail links, double tracking much of the system, will ensure that the Initiative's rail system can sustain much larger amounts of rolling stock, and can route around damage without major delays.
(Progress 386/300: 15 Resources per die) (+++ Logistics) (high priority)
This quarter there have been two major efforts. First to reroute military demands away from the railroads, and second to drive massive rail construction efforts. In order to keep the flow of supplies moving, multiple roads have been closed off to allow for full military convoys to reach at least the Terminus cities while the rails have to be closed. While this has resulted in clusters of traffic jams and a significant number of delays across the Initiative's logistical system, those are beginning to be resolved as the rails reopen. However, it is also a problem that can be avoided. Future projects, not only an integrated cargo system, but heavy redevelopment and the laying of new rails is likely to be a near future priority, especially as the skies become increasingly unfriendly.
Laying the rails have gone relatively quickly, with high priority tracks being laid in parallel all along the line. While the full process of the refits will take years to be completely finalized, these projects will be fundamentally less disruptive than the immediate need to lay double tracks for large sections of existing track through Blue Zones around the world.
[ ] Mecca/Jeddah Planned City (Phase 3)
While the initial phase of construction has begun, and the region has at least the pretenses of military security, bringing birds from the bush into hand, and expanding reconstruction work into Mecca itself will bring both political and practical benefits.
(Can spend mixed Tiberium and Infrastructure dice, at least 1 die must be Tiberium)
(Progress 200/640: 20 resources per die) (-- Labor, - Logistics) (10 Political Support) (+2 Red Zone Abatement, +2 Yellow Zone Abatement, +5 RpT, +120 Processing Capacity) (Nat 1)
All across the world, reckoning of a sort comes. A reckoning made of sins old and forgotten– discarded as it is by a world hegemon willing to discard morality for the practicality and callousness of one who fights against the ending of worlds. Thrice. And when the leaks of the Mecca talks proliferated throughout the GDI datasphere, things come to a head. For there were those in the GDI who had seen these sins. Not the same, perhaps- but ones that add up over the course of half a century until it became overbearing. And when the politics of a world hegemon on the rise is involved with these sins, things escalate, intensify, and worsen.
---
In a room guarded with the best security details the GDI could have, two men shouted at one another. One is a man so young yet so ailed. With him, a respirator machine and an attending physician sworn to secrecy stood at the ready– if his sickness were to act up. The other is a man so old yet sprightly. A commando, who had survived the worst of what NOD had offered and gone through numerous wetworks operations with a mind as unclouded as can be. An elder, who had gone through the numerous changes in the GDI consensus to still remember the days when he stood side-by-side with those under a scorpion-tailed flag in the name of stability. They are not good friends, but they are friendly coworkers. Perhaps no longer, if the war of words continues.
"Gods be good, Hackett, I am not going to blame you for the leaks but for fuck's sake, Mecca isn't Tallinn. It's hardly Seoul either. You can't turn it into a hotspot for spies."
"On the contrary, I can. It is under my remit. Altruism and good faith are one thing– but you miss the bigger picture."
"Really?! Tell the man piecing together the canon of humanity that he can't look at the big pictures? Saint-cibolle, think before you act, dangalak."
"Siktir git– You're not the only one who can curse in multiple languages, nenorocit." He takes a deep breath. "But we're not getting anywhere by shouting. Let me rephrase. Wherever diplomats appear, there will always be spies and intrigues. It doesn't matter if it's the Al-Mukarammah. It will be a hotbed for intrigue and your overt dismissal of it is–"
"–It's not." Bennett cut off his gregarious attitude at an end due to the debacle that roiled over the GDI. "I know the inevitability, I disagree with making the first move when we're trying to not kill the golden goose. We cannot make the first move. The Initiative
cannot take it. Not here. Not for this."
"And the left hand knows not what the right is doing. Your agents' actions exacerbated it."
"You know well enough that they were out in the open. They were the people who took over when I got ill, they've worked with the Forgotten and many others... and now they've the taint of
this mess."
"So what then? You're washing your hands?"
"Hardly. I will need to go to Mecca myse-"
"No." Hackett rebuffed. "Not you."
"It will need to be me. The Forgotten wouldn't trust anyone else."
"The Caravanserai will have to trust someone else. We didn't kill the goose, we just-" He paused. "Punched it. And now it's squawking and its feathers all ruffled." He lowered his voice, calming himself down even more before making a polite smile at his fellow Secretary. "We can hold. If you say we can't make the first move, then we need to make the second move the best we can."
Bennett didn't say a word, controlling his own ragged breathing as he reached for the handheld oxygen breather. After a few lungfuls of air, he continues. "I suppose you are right. And I guess we will need to each find a way to deal with what Litvinov's pulling."
The smile froze in place. "What did she pull?"
---
In the strongholds of deepest blue, in arcologies from Lisbon to Montreal, from Santiago to Perth, InOps algorithms dinged with warnings of 'security threats' and 'possible agitator' codes. Not long after, an analyst got to the reports and put them on read for the third time of the day. They, or another like them, would put the warnings on read again when it inevitably dings for the fourth or fifteenth time.
Late in the quarter, as news of the Caravanserai's demands filtered back, Initiative cities saw protests around the world. Usually in the range of hundreds to low thousands, the demonstrations were nearly always orderly, calm affairs, falling into practiced cadence at times, often to the marching pace. While carefully observed, out of the hundreds only single digits required anything more than a symbolic police presence, and those steered far short of requiring actual riot forces to be deployed.
While some fizzled within days, many of the major cities have seen a constant protest, with presence maintained for nearly a month. They have marched in response to the Meccan Postulate, as some political commentators would call it. The leaks that transpired in Mecca had involved more than the actions of the two GDI Departments. That would've been easy. No, they involved the impassioned invectives of Warlord representatives who screamed and shouted at the injustices levied against their people- massacred by the callous maxims of just in case for decades on end. In those moments, they were not 'the other', the hated adversaries of multiple global wars. In those moments for all who watched the leaks, they are humans. In those moments, for the first or second generation immigrants from the Yellow Zones, the almost-teary shouts bring to mind their own experiences of injustices. Of their own 'just in cases', denied from rights of natural-born Blue Zoners in the name of security. And sometimes not even in the names of those ideals.
These protests have been a mixed presence. While often predominantly Yellow Zone in origin, as the weeks have worn on, they have been a cross section of Initiative society. Workmen appear in the early morning and late evening. Students on the weekends, and all the time, the few surviving elderly keep a grey vigil, signs often propped against mobility aids.
The Mecca planned city saw little progress this quarter due to diplomatic floundering. Problems have arisen on all sides.
Beginning in the Initiative, both Hackett and Bennet have been discovered attempting to bring in or subvert agents in the city. Hackett, in his role as the head of the Information department had been attempting to use the city as a contact point for his agents for months, with varying levels of success. Bennett on the other hand had been more obvious, sending in his own people to make direct contact with the Nod Warlords, and attempting to open negotiations to secure documents, and potentially other historic sites. However, a leak within InOps, seemingly from a cracked cipher, has blown Hackett's scheme wide open, and Bennett's operation has been caught in the blast radius, being seen as little more than a way for GDI agents to hand off information they gathered.
At the same time, the Caravanserai has been increasingly obstinate. Most critical is the problem of Initiative Ion Cannon strikes. Over the last fifty years, across the world, Ion Cannons have been used as a first line of defense against Nod activities. However, in doing so, especially without forward spotters on the ground, less militant organizations have been caught in the strikes, most notably a number of Hajji columns which were misidentified as Nod conducting maneuvers either against the West African or Arabian Blue Zones.
In terms of demands, the Caravanserai have three key ones. First, an end to the Ion Cannon strikes during the Hajj season. Second, significant quotas for their own people during Hajj season. Third, a recognition of the Mecca area as neutral ground, and the withdrawal of all Initiative intelligence assets from the region.
The Independents have also become increasingly nervous, afraid that they are going to be forced to openly declare for the Brotherhood or the Initiative, and the ongoing flashpoints have been a significant hurdle in that as both sides have jockeyed for position.
Late in the quarter, these tensions devolved into violence. While no weapons have been drawn, and high level talks have continued, street brawls have emerged as an escalation from bitter words. These issues are ones that can be worked out, but require good faith from all involved, something that it is hard to assume, and harder to assure. In the longer frame, there is little that the Treasury can do beyond continuing to work, although it can offer to address some of the specific concerns. While demands to stop Ion Cannon strikes are well outside of the Treasury's area of control, there are other measures that can be done.
[ ] Offer Transit Rights
While potentially politically problematic, one offer that the Treasury can make is to allow some portion of the Hajj each year to be transported on Initiative vessels. While it will put some strain on the networks, it will also provide some evidence of at least parts of the Initiative being willing to reach across the aisle. (-2 Logistics, -5 Political Support)
[ ] Protection of Medina
Rather than scaling back commitments to the region, many of the Independents, and some of the Brotherhood Warlords have come to the Initiative in confidence, requesting an expansion of the mission. Not just to protect Mecca, but to expand into Medina, some 350 kilometers north. While this will require additional resources, it will also provide benefits. (additional phase of planned city project) [(Progress 0/640: 20 resources per die) (-- Labor, - Logistics) (10 Political Support) (+2 Red Zone Abatement, +2 Yellow Zone Abatement, +5 RpT, +120 Processing Capacity)] (-5 political support)
[ ] Both
Selecting both of the above options will be a major commitment, and could possibly let other parts of the Initiative off the hook for their activities. (-2 Logistics, -10 Political Support) (additional phase of planned city project) [(Progress 0/640: 20 resources per die) (-- Labor, - Logistics) (10 Political Support) (+2 Red Zone Abatement, +2 Yellow Zone Abatement, +5 RpT, +120 Processing Capacity)]
[ ] No Commitments
At this time, the Treasury does not believe that further expansion of the project is practical, and while it does wish to continue some measures of good faith must be extended by the Independents and the Brotherhood Warlords.
[ ] 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 374/350: 20 Resources per Die) (++++ Energy) (High Priority)
After many cycles of difficulties and problems, the synchronized cycle plants are finally complete. While they have proven to be little more than a stopgap, and unfortunately seem to be a technological dead end, they were not worthless. As part of the project, scientific development has continued, and the Initiative, at long last, after nearly a century of dreams, can say that a continuous net positive fusion reactor works. Much more efficient than synchronized cycle plants, there are already proposals to retrofit the existing plants as soon as a standardized compatible continuous design is ready for action. However, these proposals are unlikely to be more than vaporware in reality.
This has led to the ribbon cuttings being something of a subdued affair. While novel power plants have sometimes been one of the marks of the Initiative's successes in the scientific fields, these are much less vaunted, with only some muted announcements going out. However, they are also doing their part to supply the grid, and will continue to do so, likely for decades to come. While they are likely to sunset out at some point, that is far into the future.
Fusion, with currently available technology, has already reached a point where single plants can output far more than any comparable fission design. However, it is equally far more expensive. Fission at its base simply requires enough material in close proximity to maintain its reaction, and simple mechanical devices can slow or nearly stop the reaction from occurring. A fusion reactor on the other hand requires careful management, with human hands doing little more than pushing the start button. This in turn requires far more material and far more precision manufacturing than even a modern fission reactor.
[ ] 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 628/1200: 15 resources per die) ( +++++ Capital Goods ++++ Consumer Goods -- Labor --- Energy)
The work this quarter has primarily focused on two areas. The crystal formation facility, and the primary lithography areas. While there are versions of both already at the complex, they are more scaled towards boutique manufacture, rather than full scale manufacturing. The trickiest part is maintaining vacuum. While before Tiberium, manufacturers used "zero dust" clean rooms, that could maintain an air with no more than ten particles, each smaller than 200 nanometers in diameter, Initiative advances in robotics and remote operations technology, has made it so that it is actually easier to create large environments with no air at all, rather than worrying about dust floating in it. These large spaces have not yet been completed however, with some handful of machines still needing installation.
When combined with the closure of multiple important rail routes however, the construction has turned much of the northern reaches of boston into a semipermanent snarl, only easing up late at night. However, in the last month this has significantly eased, as the logistical rerouting has been reversed, leaving the roads clearer for all other purposes.
While Silicon chips are currently the standard for computing, there are other possibilities. The first is optical, or crystalline computing, using a series of fiber optics and laser systems, along with isolinear crystals for storage. Second, and more likely for immediate use is carbon nanotubes. Theoretically nine times as efficient, offering three times the computing speed, at one third the energy cost, they have not yet reached a point where there is a reliable, effective means of crafting the system to a point where it can be mass produced.
[ ] 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 360/360: 20 resources per die) (++ Capital Goods, + Energy) (Reduces cost of mech projects) (High Priority)
(Progress 69/720: 20 resources per die) (+++ Capital Goods, ++ Energy) (Reduces cost of mech and zone armor projects)
The Macrospinner project has reached a critical juncture. With the last of the major ropewalks completed, they have significantly increased production and can provide enough myomer bundles that they can not only service robotic assembly systems across South Africa, but also begin providing material to the Steel Talons projects around the world. While some of the savings of setting up localized myometer production will be eaten up by transport, it is still cheaper than trying to set up a small scale version of the macrospinner on site.
After the fungal scare in the last quarter, further checks and tests have been conducted, however no further sign has been found, at least for now. While it is still a concern, there are apparently plentiful checks between the initiative's supply of myomer fungus and any outside threat.
However, mechs are not the only project that could use the material. A serious petition campaign has begun for the use of myomers in medical prosthetics, a result of some doctors leaking the potential of the project to their patients. While the prosthetics are not going to be a significant drain on the supply compared to industrial uses, it is politically and socially a useful project.
[ ] Superconductor Foundries
GDI has methods of producing standard temperature and pressure superconductors, and makes substantial use of them, for example in the Guardian APC. However, it is not typically used in infrastructure products, due to the widespread use of silver in the wiring systems and the expense of production. Building additional manufacturing capacity should allow it to be used more broadly, and increase energy efficiency in critical areas.
(Progress 284/200: 30 resources per die) (++ Capital Goods, +++ Energy) (High Priority)
Construction finalized on the superconductor foundries this quarter, and production has begun to be scaled up. While far from enough to cover more than one percent of GDI's total need for cabling in buildings, let alone the millions upon millions of kilometers of energy cable across the world, it is a significant upgrade for many of the most energy intensive buildings across the Initiative. Oftentimes collocated with major electrical plants, buildings like aluminum refineries, steel mills, and similar highly energy intensive facilities have begun seeing their existing wiring replaced with superconductors, dropping their consumption noticeably. While time and future projects will increase proliferation, currently only the few dozen kilometers in the highest load lines have been replaced.
[ ] Light Industrial Enterprise Grants
As the Initiative rebuilds from the war, one question that has increasingly been raised is one of offering new opportunities for private enterprise to begin filling some of the need for consumer goods. In the eyes of the proponents of this policy, private enterprise is better positioned to both find new products, and more efficient ways of producing existing products. While somewhat fragile in the face of the demands of total planetary warfare, there are advantages to not having a global bureaucracy to deal with. (15 resources per turn) (+ Consumer goods per turn)
The deployment of the Light Industry Enterprise Grants has three major groups looking for the political and economic backing that it will provide. First are the handful of larger retail cooperatives, looking to move into light industry and the manufacturing sector to begin producing their own specialist goods. These would be primarily small batch and small scale operations, focused on producing a wide array of goods for sale. This would likely result in significant immediate returns as the retail and services market would have some capital of their own established. Second are a number of new start ups, looking primarily towards more centralized goods production, especially small scale manufacture of spare parts, and other significant items that the Initiative has not yet built or rebuilt manufacturing capacity for. These would be most likely focused on a number of potentially useful components, and increase overall competitiveness within the market, although there is also likely to be a significant amount of churn as business plans meet the hard realities on the ground. Third and finally are a cartel of prewar entrepreneurs looking for support to reestablish their companies that were destroyed or broken up by the war. While this would be a significant olive branch to extend to the Free Market Party and the right wing of the Developmentalists, it would also be a retreat from the positions staked out by the Granger Administration. With the limited resources made available to grants, while some of all three groups will be getting some, some priority guidelines have to be made.
[ ] Focus on Existing Cooperatives
[ ] Focus on New Start Ups
[ ] Focus on Old Business Restoration
[ ] Focus on Fair Allocation
[ ] Yellow Zone Purification Facilities (Phase 1)
With Water becoming an ever more vital strategic resource, actually investing in the ability of the Yellow Zones to provide water for themselves has gone from a luxury to an imperative. Substantial pump stations near available bodies of water, combined with rainwater collection facilities, should be able to provide the amounts of water that the Yellow Zones are soon to require.
(Progress 172/160: 10 resources per die) (++++ Water, - Energy)
Nearly every major Yellow Zone city under GDI control has some access to flowing water. While this is often heavily contaminated by Tiberium, it is also a vital resource and one that cannot be effectively replaced. While in the late 20th century aquifers and wells were the standard system, most of those are either currently contaminated by Tiberium, or effort to drill down into them would inherently contaminate them in the process. This means that surface collection is the only meaningful way to provide water.
The filtering process begins at the pump station, where a series of units very similar to Initiative field purification units are used to do a first stage filtering. This primarily gets out the Tiberium, and almost everything else. While the screens have to be replaced routinely, it is a relatively low cost high efficiency option. From the pump, it flows to a water treatment facility in the city itself. There the water is further purified, either through distillation or more commonly through a series of reverse osmosis processes. This however leaves the water, if anything, too pure for non industrial applications. Following it, a series of mineral salts and other additives are introduced to the water in carefully measured amounts, most notably fluoride, but also calcium, magnesium and potassium among others. This is to both ensure good taste in the water, but also to ensure that it is not stripping the walls of the pipes.
To manage the new complexes, the operations are run by a mix of experienced Blue Zone engineers, and an almost entirely yellow zone workforce, graduates of the Initiative's university system for the most part.
While water supplies are still noticeably limited, that is almost entirely for industrial and agricultural use. Among the population, water is as unlimited as it is in the Blue Zones, and will remain so unless and until there are sufficient expansions of the economy to once more put pressure on the system.
[ ] Tiberium Stabilizer Development
Tiberium has mutated before and will more than likely mutate again. Even the alien invaders were not immune to this adaptation. However, they had a solution, a network of Tiberium Stabilizers that slowed the rate of adaptation. While Initiative versions so far are merely crude approximations, they do seem to have enough effect to begin efforts to deploy them.
(Progress 72/50: 30 resources per die) (+5 Political Support)
Much like the other alien technologies, the mechanism of the stabilizer is poorly understood at best. However, the functionality is remarkably simple. A high frequency radio, transmitting an encoded repeating pulse sequence bombards the Tiberium, preventing it from undergoing common low rate "search" mutations that have been theorised to be the mechanism that it uses to resist harvesting techniques. Although the full encoding has not yet been cracked, it is at least helping for now.
In total effect, if this system works as expected, it will be the single largest blow against Tiberium that the Initiative has ever managed, and one of the larger projects. While somewhat smaller than the final phase of a major space station, it is still a project that will require massive infusions of resources and the deployment of a major industrial effort simply to get off the ground, let alone reach full operations.
To deploy the system, especially with the limited range of Initiative transmitters, the only plausible approach is a satellite network in the low orbitals. Roughly a thousand satellites all pulsing in unison. While the routes are still somewhat congested, it is certainly clear enough that the entire constellation can be completed with minimal risk.
[ ] Yellow Zone Tiberium Harvesting (Phase 5)
With the Initiative on the attack, and beginning to push heavily into NOD territory, harvesting operations must continue. While it will become increasingly expensive, this is a small price to pay for seriously pressuring the Brotherhood.
(Progress 352/350: 20 resources per die) (small additional income trickle [5-10 Resources]) (3 points of Yellow Zone Mitigation) (High Priority)
This quarter, the military has been pulling back from exposed positions, sometimes under fire from the Brotherhood, and reconsolidating their lines based on the natural terrain. The last quarter had ended with the Initiative often strung out, with a messy front. In some areas, a salient could be as little as ten to fifteen kilometers wide, but fifty or more deep. Across the quarter, operations have been conducted to shorten those lines, either by connecting forward positions or by falling back onto more defensible ground. At the same time, long lines, sometimes hundreds or even thousands of kilometers, of trenches, scrapes, barbed wire, sandbags and aggregate have sprouted along the front. While the Brotherhood has not let up on the conflict, and in a number of cases staged breakthroughs, in every case they have been contained short of the Harvesting operations.
Those operations have pushed forward, beginning another major surge of refugees. In many cases, the convoys sent back have had two to three times the weight in refugees as they did Tiberium. With the Yellow Zones having been increasingly pressured from both sides, ever more of the population is flowing towards the Initiative's line.
[ ] Lunar Regolith Harvesting (Phase 1)
The Silicate compounds in the Moon's crust contain extractable levels of iron, titanium, and aluminum, making them incredibly useful as a source of bulk materials. While processing will require massive amounts of energy in some cases, it is also a useful beginning point for developing the solar system.
(Progress 321/350: 30 resources per die) (+15 Resources per turn) (Fusion)
The Initiative has been staging a drumbeat of Union launches towards the moon. While the Pardus class lander is workable, it is not as capable as a full Union class fusion craft. Each base is fairly simple. A landing area of unprepared ground far enough away from the site that the blast will not shred the buildings too badly, with a series of dirt faced barriers between it and the site. At the core is a habitation module, big enough for its crew and a handful of visitors. Around it are a series of harvester drone sites. Each is a tractor trailer arrangement, with a forward mover, and a rear harvester. In operation, the first step is to clear the lunar dust. This is done typically with a scraper being dragged along the surface, and feeding into a transport box. After that, the real work begins, with the regolith being cut through with a series of wheel trenchers, again feeding into the box. Once those boxes are filled however is the remaining challenge. They have to be ferried from the lunar bases to the Enterprise. This however, requires a fairly substantial fleet of fusion craft. Production and allocation of these, and the needed crew have been slow, and will require significant infusions of funding.
[ ] Mental Healthcare Training Programs
Despite trauma being a near universal constant in GDI's population, mental healthcare has often been a secondary priority in a world where tiberium, violence, disaster and disease have run rampant. However, with GDI's stabilizing situation, moving resources from these primary sectors to improving the general mental health of the population is a necessity, as caring for trauma is something that requires a skilled hand at the best of times.
(Progress 202/200: 10 resources per die)
The mental healthcare training programs are a mixed array. While some are aimed high, the vast majority are aimed low. The Initiative cannot afford at this time to produce the massive numbers of specialists that it actually needs. However, even basic training in mental trauma care is useful, and can serve as a stopgap, at least in an immediate time frame.
The higher end programs have included expansion to psychiatry and psychology programs in universities around the world, along with setting up expansions to mental health classes in the general practitioner program, and making it a mandatory part of the course load. While both of these will take time to mature, it is at least a start.
Much of the work has been carried out in close coordination with the Department of Welfare, which will be taking over the program going forward and doing ongoing administration and funding.
[ ] 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 265/210: 20 resources per die) (3 Points Red Zone Mitigation, 25 RpT)
The Chicago MARV fleet has been finalized this quarter, months after Gideon's defeat in front of the city. Ranging forth, they have found little sign of Nod activity, even far from the city. While some of it can be blamed on the continually encroaching Red Zones, it is a worrying sign that some grand redeployment of the Brotherhood of Nod in North America is undergoing a significant redeployment or reorganization, and as part of that has pulled back from the northern positions it held just weeks ago. Fortunately, part of this has seen a severe reduction in the air presence across the Great Lakes and Ohio River Valley regions.
The flow of Tiberium products across the great lakes, and into the rest of the Initiative has been shifting. With growing Initiative control over the Ohio River valley, train lines have begun connecting Chicago directly to the coastal Blue Zones. With this, while the Mississippi may not yet flow unfettered to the sea, the Initiative has made great strides in securing a significant portion of the planet that had been contested for nearly a decade.
[ ] Long Range Sensor System Deployment (Phase 1)
With the first wave of long range sensor systems prepared, it remains to refit them across the Initiative's fleet. With mobile assets receiving priority, the Initiative needs as many of these as it can get, as soon as possible.
(Progress 200/200: 25 Resources per die) (Very High Priority)
(Progress 26/300: 25 Resources per die)
The first of the fully certified and operational novel sensor modules have been delivered to Initiative warehouses this quarter. With the Initiative military looking to take a short pause to build up their resources, the current stock of sensor modules are being used first, while the new units are being held in reserve, waiting for a general offensive into Nod territory. Currently production is still slow. Even with two years of lead time, the new sensor units will still be a minority. However, with some prioritization and reallocation of resources, GDI can make extremely effective use of that equipment, preparing for future engagements by equipping only specific units in order to maximize the impact, and backfilling as time and resources allow.
At the same time, surveys have begun and in a few cases groundwork laid for a new wave of factories, purpose built for the new units and providing about a third of the capacity of existing production, bringing rates closer to what the prewar Initiative could manage.
[ ] Remote Weapons System Deployment Predator
With the new laser point defense system, GDI's ground forces are out of patience. Survivability upgrades for the Predator tank are no longer a matter of convenience, but a matter of necessity. While likely one of the last major block upgrades the Predator will see over the course of its life cycle, that does not make it particularly less vital, especially as the Predator will likely serve until at least the mid 2070s in second and third line roles.
(Progress 225/350: 10 Resources Per die) (-5 Political Support every quarter progress is not made on this project)
Work on installations of the Remote Weapons System has begun on new build Predators. While the lines are still churning out plentiful spare parts, the production of all new turrets has slowed to a standstill as the turret roof requires substantial reworks. A hole for the RWS needs to be cut, new power and data links installed, and the ring plus sealing for the turret needs to be added, along with a lip around the base to deflect incoming fire. Even after this is completed, it will be a long term project to actually replace existing predators in the field, some anti missile capability is far better than none, especially in the front line formations that tend to rotate out Predators relatively often.
[ ] Universal Rocket Launch System Deployment (Phase 1)
With the system developed, the first step is to convert existing munitions factories to the new standard. While this project can be delayed, once started it should be completed in short order to avoid difficulties in the Initiative's munitions supply. These will replace a broad swathe of existing systems, overall simplifying the ammunition situation drastically.
(Progress 235/300: 15 Resources per die) (High Priority)
Despite massive investment and surging resources, the conversion process has been slow, and more importantly significant problems have emerged in the quality control departments. While the warheads are an easy enough conversion, the modular missile bodies are far more difficult. Test rounds have demonstrated inconsistent burns, partial burns, and similar failures. When the missile does reach the target, the effects are just as destructive as ever, but at this time they are simply not getting to the target reliably. This has primarily been a mix of teething problems at the factories and training problems with field assembly of the devices. While the military works on better training the soldiers, the factories simply require more funding to work out the last few kinks in the production lines.
However, so far, this has not severely disrupted Initiative military operations. Primarily this has reduced the sortie rate and payload of the Initiative Air Force, which never had the stockpiles of the ground forces as they simply used fewer missiles. Ground Forces on the other hand have between three and nine months of operational missile reserve, depending on the tempo of offensive and defensive actions. While finishing the project sooner would be distinctly preferable, it is something where there is time to get the designs right, rather than immediately rushing them out.
[ ] 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)
- [ ] Dakar (Progress 207/185: 20 resources per die) (- Capital Goods, -- Energy, - Labor)
The Governor class program has seen two major milestones completed this quarter. The first five ships of the class, the Lisbon, London, New Moscow, Vladivostok, and New York have all completed working up, and have begun taking position as escorts. Behind them, even more hulls are nearing completion, and others have begun working up. These will be a significant surge in modern ships, and begin filling holes in the navy's order of battle that have existed since before the Third Tiberium War.
Two of the new cruisers, the Lisbon and the New Moscow, have already faced combat. Attacked by an entire wing of Vertigo bombers, the two ships emerged nearly unscathed, with a single bomb making it through the defensive fire, hitting and jamming the A turret of the Lisbon. However, in making that attack run, the entire wing was wiped out to the last aircraft, unable to disengage before the antiaircraft missiles and guns of the two ships had completed their bloody work.
Similarly, the completion of the Dakar base in West Africa has meant that two thirds of the immediately planned shipyards have begun construction of new cruisers. Much of the Dakar work has gone into further increasing the Initiative's supply of heavy missiles. With this new supply, the Initiative has begun stockpiling launch capacity in light of the significantly increased demands that the cruisers will begin putting on missile supplies. Older ships, oftentimes half blind in the coastal waters that have typified naval combat in the 21st century, could make do with sometimes as little as 20 percent of the tubes filled. Modern cruisers, even in their first patrols, have sometimes expended some 60 to 80 percent of their missiles, due to their greatly increased ability to spot targets and conduct antiaircraft operations.
[ ] Security Reviews
GDI has often faced problems with infiltration by the Brotherhood of Nod. A full security review of one department of operations can mitigate or discover infiltration, however it will take a significant amount of effort. (DC 55 + 1 operations die) (92)
The Initiative has conducted another investigation into the Bureaucracy this quarter, marking a record number of investigations in the term of a single Treasurer. While the demographics of the department have shifted, moving to the left almost universally, and becoming significantly younger, it is not particularly relevant to the questions of infiltration. There, the department is remarkably clean. While there have been some security errors and a handful of minor leaks, those are to be expected, especially given the sheer scale and scope of the department's jobs.
Collated Votes
Mecca
[ ] Offer Transit Rights
While potentially politically problematic, one offer that the Treasury can make is to allow some portion of the Hajj each year to be transported on Initiative vessels. While it will put some strain on the networks, it will also provide some evidence of at least parts of the Initiative being willing to reach across the aisle. (-2 Logistics, -5 Political Support)
[ ] Protection of Medina
Rather than scaling back commitments to the region, many of the Independents, and some of the Brotherhood Warlords have come to the Initiative in confidence, requesting an expansion of the mission. Not just to protect Mecca, but to expand into Medina, some 350 kilometers north. While this will require additional resources, it will also provide benefits. (additional phase of planned city project) [(Progress 0/640: 20 resources per die) (-- Labor, - Logistics) (10 Political Support) (+2 Red Zone Abatement, +2 Yellow Zone Abatement, +5 RpT, +120 Processing Capacity)] (-5 political support)
[ ] Both
Selecting both of the above options will be a major commitment, and could possibly let other parts of the Initiative off the hook for their activities. (-10 Political Support)
[ ] No Commitments
At this time, the Treasury does not believe that further expansion of the project is practical, and while it does wish to continue some measures of good faith must be extended by the Independents and the Brotherhood Warlords.
Grant Focus
[ ] Focus on Existing Cooperatives
[ ] Focus on New Start Ups
[ ] Focus on Old Business Restoration
[ ] Focus on Fair Allocation
** 2 Hour moratorium for discussion **
