Q3 2052 Results
Memo: Ongoing military events.
In late July, twenty hidden caches, spread across Siberia and southeast asia opened. Out swarmed thousands of cyborgs. Roboticized armies last seen twenty years ago in the Firestorm crisis, GDI defenders were cut apart, defeated in detail, and overrun. Multiple battalions were completely destroyed, and more were rendered combat ineffective. Damage reports are still coming in, but current indications, roughly a month out from the events of the 17-25 July battles, is that this was not an attempt to reignite the war, but gathering resources for some other goal.
Return of the Cyborgs. (SECURE THREAD: Clearance Level V+ Required)
Josie Harper (PFC)
So, a week ago things were normal. Now, we have mauranding Cyborgs, like something my dad told me about in the Second Tiberium War. I was out guarding a forward outpost in the Siberian Yellow Zone. Can't say more precisely than that. Operational Security and all that. Well, morning of the 17th, what came over the ridge but a freaking borg, out of some old horror film. Whole outpost opened up on them, and they just kept coming. The 6mm did basically nothing, the heavier rounds from our snipers did slightly more than nothing. We are damn lucky that a team of raiders came in from somewhere and wiped out the group, because we were getting slaughtered.
Does anyone know anything about what the heck is going on? Because laid up in this hospital, most of my sources are pretty distant and the news is mostly just freaking out.
Ben Lane (Department of Agriculture)
First off I hope you have a quick recovery.
I'm over here in Alaska and know even less than you. I wasn't even sure it was cyborgs until I saw this, people are panicking a lot, and the government has not got the information to the press. Or they're trying to avoid admitting that NOD has once again surprised them. Though at least this time it's a bit more understandable because why would they use those awful machines after the last time?
Agatha Falkner (Department of Industry)
Cyborgs? Huh. I'm nowhere near the combat areas, so I can't say anything from first-hand experience, but I was interested in them a while back. Mum used to tell me horror stories about them. Anyway, lemme see if I can pull up my reference list to compare against what folks are seeing now.
EDIT: Here it is <link>. Apologies for the format. This wasn't exactly collated with other people reading it in mind.
Dr. Henry Olvier (ZOCOM)
I was over on the other side of the combat area from you. Working on punching a hole through the Asiatic Red Zone. Hard work, but good. Would help link the Russian and Himalayan Blue Zones together. Then we got hit. I was back at one of the railheads getting a sonic projector battery back online. Those Infra people are great guys, but someone somehow managed to use the settings for sonic fences for a sonic projector. Missed the first day of fighting as most of the rest of my team got overrun, but got hit hard the second. Thankfully the battery was running again, and I was on one of the first convoys out. Been trying to track down the others, but right now it is not looking good.
Mikoto Arsikawa (Asst Secretary of Health & Services B-6)
I just got paged to 'scrub up' for a dissection of a body coming in from Siberia. I haven't been a coroner in 10 years, and I haven't been a medic since the last war. So the odds are this isn't a normal human, and it's my security classification they want more than my expertise in determining cause of death. I can't promise to say anything more.
VAdm. Harrison Carter [Space Command]
InOps is probably sweating right now, but let me spill what information I am allowed to. High Command is observing the situation carefully and from the information we were able to gather we can conclude that this is not another CABAL situation. The army numbers less than 200 thousand cyborgs, enough to cause serious damage in areas where our forces are stretched thin, but not enough to pose an existential threat. Please keep calm in the coming weeks, as we prepare a strategy to deal with this threat.
Ben Lane (Department of Agriculture)
Forgive me if I'm overstepping @VAdm. Harrison Carter but how can we be sure this isn't a prelude to our perpetual cold war with NOD going hot again? Or is that part of the information also classified? Because a large force of cyborg supersoldiers seems like the sort of thing that would allow them to reignite this war, especially if these guys were made after 2047.
Terrence Lagunia (West Point)
@Ben Lane These hit's are too precise to be another round going hot. They are giving us too much lead time otherwise. I've watched and battled in all three wars. This has the feel of Kane or one of his commanders doing some last minute things before they go fully quiet for the next round whenever that is. Frankly I'm surprised McNeil or Parker haven't posted yet.
Political Working Group Report
Status of the Parties
(strong support, weak support, weak opposition, strong opposition)
Free Market Party: 19 Seats (2; 2; 5; 10)
Hawks: 31 Seats (3; 7; 15: 5)
United Yellow List: 10 Seats (5; 3; 2; 0)
Independents: 7 Seats (0; 3; 3; 1)
Developmentalists: 53 Seats (30; 20; 3; 0)
Military
GDI's military has begun crisis response actions. Two Corps are on their way from B4 and B6 towards the front lines on the Asian front. Additional air force wings are being scrambled towards ongoing confrontations. Currently, the military desperately wants artillery so as to free up more men and supplies for mobile operations. While additional men are in training, officers have begun to become a problem. While GDI is currently scraping qualified candidates from its existing troops, there are not enough good candidates at this time, both in terms of education and temperament.
Welfare
GDI's welfare departments have begun expanding services back towards normal. Currently, they are running into issues providing enough doctors and nurses, alongside other specialists. Education programs are a high priority, focusing on the main line and eventual postgraduate training programs. Developmentally, GDI's ongoing work towards Tiberium Treatment is facing mixed responses. On one hand, the Welfare department definitely wants improved prognosis for Tiberium exposure, on the other, currently the programs are draining an already shallow pool of qualified candidates for other programs.
Resources: 335 + 0 in reserve (45 currently allocated to other departments)
Political Support: 60
Free Dice: 5
Tiberium Spread
14.20 Blue Zone
32.12 Yellow Zone (46 points of mitigation)
53.68 Red Zone (20 points of mitigation
Current Economic Issues:
Housing: Sufficient but low quality (=) (++++ in refugee camps)
Energy: Substantial Surpluses (++++)
Logistics: Marginal Surpluses (+)
Food: Sufficient production, inefficiencies in distribution (++)
Health: Substantially improved (+++)
Capital Goods: Massive Shortfalls (---- --- --) (collapse in 5-8 quarters)
Consumer Goods: Titanic Shortages (------)
Labor: Gargantuan Surpluses (124)
[X] Blue Zone Residential Construction (Phase 2)
With much of the infrastructure for new housing construction already in place, even more substantial housing development can be created. Much like the previous series, these are standardized apartment blocks, built to be cheap and cramped, but sustainable. While few would call them comfortable, they are far better than any existing yellow zone accommodations.
(Progress 208/200: 10 resources per die) (- Labor, ++++ Housing)
Near the end of the third quarter, a massive wave of new public housing has finally completed. At this point, much of the prime real estate from a logistical perspective has, at least for now, been eaten up by these housing units. A mix of filling out existing clusters and building a number of entirely new clusters, these units are located along transit lines not too far from the city center. Further development will increase both the logistical loading of the system, and be less convenient for day to day transit. While not a dealbreaker, it is going to be an increasing problem with developments of this density.
One aspect that has created an immediate problem was the new neighbors. The program has brought in a number of families from the yellow zones. While the majority has been at least grudgingly welcomed, there have been thousands of cases of over policing, profiling, false accusations of NOD sympathies, and other incidents. While so far these problems seem to be localized and not a widespread trend, some have taken it as a worrying sign as the Initiative's abatement efforts are reaching towards a critical point.
[X] Rail Link Reconstruction (Phase 1)
Heavy combat & reconcentration of resources and manpower away from the rail linkages that connected Blue Zones to each other saw these facilities heavily damaged through destruction or simple neglect during the Third Tiberium War. Reconnection of these facilities to each other will be a significant step in the process of reconstruction. Development Party strongly desire this. (Progress 184/300: 20 Resources per die) (+++ Logistics)
The first step before any more work could be done was restoration of lines left incomplete years ago in the immediate aftermath of the Third Tiberium War. While still technically sound, many of the elements had degraded to the point where replacement was advisable. Beyond that, much of the work has gone into internal blue zone lines, such as the eastern and western American lines, the South American line, and the northern Europe line. Better protected than most of the yellow zone lines, these are vital communications and transport corridors that move people and material across the Blue zones. However, yellow zones have not been ignored. Lines have been built out to bypass the Terminus cities, such as those in the Ohio river valley, allowing them to be connected with a short spur line, while minimising slowdowns for the expresses aimed across the Canadian yellow zones. However, these lines have not yet been connected, and so services are still limited to relatively proximate areas.
[X] Run of River Campaigns
While subject to seasonal flooding and droughts, Run of River dams and hydro plants can serve as a safe means of producing power, without the security concerns of high dams. Even though they are not as substantial a power source as additional nuclear reactors, they are a substantially easier system to create, and require far less maintenance.
(Progress 98/200: 10 resources per die) (- Labor +++ Energy)
GDI has often, if not routinely, made use of hydro power. Relatively consistent, and often substantially more efficient in several metrics than even nuclear, run of river construction is the lowest impact option. Instead of flooding areas to create high dams, a run of river dam produces relatively minimal impacts on the environment. The first problem was to identify rivers that did not currently have functioning hydropower solutions, but were also good candidates. The best are deep and fast flowing rivers, ones that can support one or more turbines running at full or partial capacity. Dam construction on these sites has gone relatively well, with dozens of installations around the world rated at over a thousand megawatts, and over a thousand with smaller installations in construction. The bottleneck so far has been turbine allocation, with the units having to be shipped in, often with great difficulty.
[X] North Boston Chip Fabrication (Phase 2)
With the ground broken and the assemblies prepared, GDI's newest chip fabricator is ready to come online. However that will require a massive investment of time, energy and resources to make happen. Even with the best hardware available, fabricating a chip with a five nanometer transistor is an incredibly fiddly job, one that needs absolute precision at every step of the way. While expensive, this will begin turning a return on investment.
(Progress 454/300: 15 resources per die) ( ++ Capital Goods - Labor)
Installing the first wave of assemblers has been a massive project. It begins by processing Tiberium crystals into extremely thin silicon wafers, some 925 micrometers thick, and 450 millimeters across, which have to be pure monocrystalline silicon. These discs are then polished, doped, and etched, all in an anoxic environment by machines, with dust particles drawn from the air constantly. The wafers are then coated in photosensitive materials and then flashed to imprint them using UV light. The layers on top of that are built up using a variety of methods, with some elements requiring as many as forty to sixty passes, each one adding only a few molecules to the unit. Every chip has to remain in an anoxic environment lest it be damaged by the air during fabrication. It cannot be exposed to the light, because UV rays damage elements on the chip. When the wafer is completed, it is sliced into individual chips, which are then packaged and shipped to consumers.
While currently, the supplies are barely more than a drop in the ocean of demand, they have begun to make a difference, primarily in local factories, as units that have had failures have begun to be replaced. While nowhere near enough to actually shift the balance more than a few notches, it has turned chips from being a nearly unobtainable resource, into something that has delays and waits, but can be gotten.
[X] Blue Zone Aquaponics Bays
With most of the lush farmlands that were once able to feed the world's population comfortably overrun by Tiberium, governments were forced to resort to as many methods of feeding its population as it could. One of the more successful ways found to work were hybrid fish and vegetable farms, that were able to provide balanced diets, even if they are not quite as calorie dense as traditional farming. It's time to restore those farms that were damaged in the fighting, and restock those that ran short.(Progress 208/200: 10 Resources per die) (-- Labor ++ Food)
The pumps and grow runs have begun producing. While meat is still a ways off, and many of the longer growing foods not much closer, things like mung bean sprouts, kale, and spinach have already begun to appear in stores and in rations. Although not always the most filling of options, the greens have improved nutrition and expanded the plates of many in the blue zones. While shipping them to the Yellow Zones has not really begun in significant quantities, some shipments have been made. At this point, the expansion of Yellow Zone habitation leaves two paths forward. Investment needs to go towards a combination of smaller runs and grow bays in the Yellow Zones, minimizing logistical investments, but also far more vulnerable. Secondly, much larger growth complexes are needed, safe and deep in the blue zones, growing a mix of constant harvests and perennial plants.
[ ] Blue Zone Perimeter Redoubts (Phase 2)
With the first wave of redoubts constructed, and Tiberium beginning to be pushed back, there are now two paths forward. First is repositioning the redoubts forwards, as the ones in the back of the formation get left behind, and second is constructing a thicker band of redoubts. While the first wave were intended to be mutually supporting, it was more technical than practical. Adding more redoubts, and creating an interlinking support network will allow far more to be done to beat back Tiberium,
(Progress 245/200: 20 resources per die) (small additional income trickle [5 Resources]) (5 points of yellow zone mitigation)
The first line of redoubts has moved forward an average of 50 kilometers since they have begun construction. While some have moved far more, others have actually been pushed back into the Blue Zones behind them. As construction has accelerated, the redoubts have finally become an interlinking network, close enough to begin mutually supporting each other with mobile assets. While no redoubt has substantial forces at its disposal, a breakthrough can at least be harried by Pittbull and Guardian teams. While the artillery that would allow the redoubts to actually support each other meaningfully has either not been developed or not yet deployed, the mounting points are already engineered into the new build. However, further construction of additional redoubts has reached the point of increasingly diminishing returns, both in Tiberium and in abatement potential.
[ ] Blue Zone Perimeter Outposts (Phase 2)
With the first wave of outposts completed, further work needs to be done. There are two key parts to this. First is moving forward, a creeping line of outposts moving deeper into yellow zones, especially aiming to link up to Harvesting operations deeper into the yellow zones. Both will require a further wave of new construction, and reinforcements, especially as many of the easily secured areas are behind the lines by this point.
(Progress 150/150: 20 resources per die) (small additional income trickle [5 Resources]) (5 points of Yellow Zone Mitigation)
At one time, the Blue Zone outposts were a
Limes, a border between the Blue Zones and civilization and yellow zone barbarians. But in the last years that has changed. GDI's terminus cities, the plans to drive deep into the yellow zones and bring with it an arsenal of social programs, has made the outposts a relic of a bygone age. While their abatement and harvesting value has certainly not decreased, GDI needs a new strategy to both support its yellow zone citizens, and continue the war on Tiberium in a new way.
Actual construction of the outposts has been slowed by repeated NOD attacks, likely distractions from events going on elsewhere. However, in the Himalayan and Russian Blue zones, attacks have come from an enemy both new and old. Nod cyborgs have returned, although they now call themselves the Marked of Kane.
[X] Red Zone Tiberium Harvesting (Phase 3)
The advent of Tiberium Glacier Mining has substantially changed the mission of the Red zone Tiberium Harvesting efforts. Rather than attempting to string long thin lines around the perimeter, Red Zone Mining has shifted focus toward more narrow and deep deployments, securing a region from NOD attack before bringing in heavy mining equipment. While the new approach brings roughly the same amount of abatement progress, it is a substantial change in doctrine. (Progress 132/150: 25 resources per die) (additional income trickle [10-20 Resources]) (1 point of Red Zone Mitigation)
The newest wave of Red Zone harvesting was an ambitious plan. Drive a narrow hole through the Asiatic Red Zone, combined with the construction of a rail line through the area. At one stroke combine the assets of two blue zones, relieve some of the distinct isolation of the Himalayan Blue Zone, and substantially increase the mining opportunities. However, it turns out that the program was too ambitious. Rather than being a plausible effect, GDI's mining and rail crews drove straight into a war zone without sufficient military support. While the ZOCOM detachments did their best, multiple railhead positions were destroyed, and outposts ravaged by marauding cyborgs.
[X] Experimental Tiberium Treatment Labs
The first stage in making use of new methods of Tiberium exposure treatment is the establishment of a series of new labs to handle the material safely. The key element is a series of negative pressure rooms, designed to contain any potential outbreak. Additionally, all staff are required to wear positive pressure suits, and all outgoing materials must be thoroughly sterilized and decontaminated before exiting. There are also a series of sonic fences between labs, another attempt to control any potential outbreak. While this may seem paranoid, Tiberium is one of the most dangerous substances known to man, and bioactivated Tiberium is the most dangerous form of that.
(Progress 42/100: 20 resources per die)
Construction of the Experimental Tiberium labs ran into two related problems. Workforce and Location. After the destruction of the Australian Tiberium Research Centre, new Tiberium labs are not popular locations. While a site has been found in the southern island of New Zealand, and the buildings constructed, the staff has been a problem. Few qualified people have been found, and fewer want to go to work at the new site. This has meant that the buildings currently stand empty, with only a bare bones janitorial staff there to keep the functions going until qualified researchers can fill the halls.
[X] Expand Orbital Communications Network (Phase 1)
The communications potential of satellites has been known for nearly a century. While GDI has often invested in such satellites, the current network has begun to show its age, between holes punched by the war, power failures, and the Kessler effect caused by NODs nuclear strike, many of GDI's orbital satellites need prompt replacement. While other fires have left this one on the backburner, it has come time to begin working to make good the damages above, as well as below. (Progress 179/150: 15 resources per die)
The first phase of reconstructing GDI's orbital communications network has completed. The deployment of new units, once the orbital tracking math was completed anyway, went relatively smoothly, with over a dozen units going up at once. The generous Delta Velocity allowance of the fusion drives has meant that even widely separated holes can be patched with a single launch. One of the results has been that improved communications has opened up a number of new seats for the next parliamentary election.
With the initial problems sorted, further development of the Orbital Communications Network will emphasize increasing both bandwidth and speed. With GDI scattered in cities both small and large around the world, connection and communication are vital necessities. Expanding access will be both politically popular, and extremely useful.
Additionally, GDI Space Command has requested that we begin an orbital clean up as soon as possible. However, this will not be practical until the development of orbital refining and manufacturing capacity.
[X] Yellow Zone Security Services
With the Yellow Zones now hosting permanent GDI administered settlements, establishing a local security service will go a long way towards developing a trusting relationship with the regions. While it will mostly be equipped with surplus GDI equipment stenciled with police markings, these security services are going to be a significant shift from the military policing and mob justice now occurring due to a lack of local organization.
(Progress 208/200: 5 resources per die) (United Yellow Zone)
This quarter, the first official civilian yellow zone security offices opened and recruitment has begun in yellow zone cities around the world, leading to some to call it "The end of generation long occupation" However, the opening of the offices was far more symbolic than real. To begin with, testing for the new postings is rigorous, including both written and oral examinations, alongside medical screening and background checks. After that winnowing, the candidates need to pass through the Joint Initiative Security Service Agent Training Program. Candidates begin with a 12 week Basic Agent Training camp, including training on how to handle evidence and testify in the courtroom. Following on, there is a 14-16 week service specific program. For example, a police officer can expect to spend fifteen weeks learning how to deescalate confrontations, handle weapons, appropriate use of force guidelines, basic medical training and the basics of crime scene investigation. Comparatively, coast guard candidates are more focused towards ship handling, lifesaving, and like their police counterparts, are also learning use of force and medical training. Finally, before graduation, there is a 8-12 week period known as task and role training, which prepares candidates for their specific area, ranging from point of contact, to investigator, to lab technician. Once training has completed, there is the probationary agent period, where the newly minted agent is under the wing of a senior special agent and their team for 18 months. Less than one in ten applicants even make it to the JISSATP, and only one in five are expected to make it through that program. This means that for the foreseeable future, the streets will still be patrolled by people from the Blue Zones, and much of the work will be done by people who the Yellow Zones still see as outsiders.
[X] Railgun Refits
The first GDI asset to use a combat specified railgun was the Mark II Mammoth assault walker. Equipped with two heavy hypervelocity railguns, it was a terrifying foe for the Brotherhood in the Second Tiberium War. By the Third Tiberium War, the walker had been retired, but descendants of its railguns had lived on, being fitted to about a quarter of GDI's mechanized forces. During the war, the railgun proved itself time and time again, having better penetration, and allowing the tank to carry more ammunition than the 152mm smoothbore that had been the original weapon. However, railguns are also substantially more expensive, and need an entire separate equipment line to manufacture.
(Progress 169/150: 15 Resources per die)
GDI's Railgun program has orders for the rest of the units. It will take nearly a year to cycle commands out of position to refit them for the new weapons. A railgun is a fundamental rework of the entire tank, requiring a substantial battery pack, reworking ammunition handling, and the turret to be effectively cut to pieces in order to install the gun and cooling coils. All of this takes a substantial amount of time, not to mention retraining the crews on the new weapons. It will take close to two years in order for the last of the remaining components for the old guns to be fully out of inventory, GDI is well on the way towards retiring the 152mm high velocity smoothbore gun from inventory entirely. While this will impact the field artillery program there is still quite a bit of time before it does, and the gun is the least valuable of the three major tube pieces in the arsenal. The 105mm gun on the Guardian turret on the other hand is going to be retired much sooner. Unlike the 152mm gun which was found on both the Mammoth and the Predator, and has been retasked towards artillery use, the 105 has very little penetration into GDI's overall force structure. While there have been proposals for some form of IFV using the gun, those are unlikely in the face of railgun distribution.
[X] 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 60 + 1 operations die) (LCI) (119)
Light and Chemical Industries are an amalgamation that emerged in the 20th century, a combination of everything that did not fall into the heavy industry category. Ranging from vaccines and medicines to toys and T-shirts, LCI as a category is quite artificial. During the Third Tiberium War, LCI served as a convenient source of resources for the other taskings. With the end of the war, it has seen some more investment, however there are still extreme shortages of many consumer goods. Investigation has proven that any NOD infiltration is extremely minor at most, with any infiltrators good at keeping their heads down.
[X] Political Working Group Recruitment
Dr. Granger is not particularly politically adept. However, that is what advisors are for. By going out and recruiting an array of lobbyists, experts, and retired politicians, the Treasury can have a substantially improved political position. (DC unknown, improved political arrangements) 198
Recruiting for the political working group has begun with a veritable whos-who of GDI's retired political and military classes. Ranging from notables like Michael McNeil, to Gabriella Boudreau and Emil Ibrahiim, the working group has already begun lobbying and engaging with the members of parliament. While the total impacts will take some time to see, both for Granger and the department as a whole, the political working group has already begun to show results in a better understanding of the ongoing overall political and social situation. It will begin producing quarterly results of which issues and which goals are most important to the other aspects of the government this quarter.
(A/N): Updates will be slow for the next few weeks. I am defending my thesis shortly, and so will be cutting back substantially on the amount of time I spend working on this.
