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[X] Adjutant SA-117
[X] Victoria Archibald III
[X] Victoria Archibald III
Attempting to Subvert the Plan: Dominion Edition
- Thread starter Etranger
- Start date
- Sci-Fi
-
- Tags
- starcraft plan quest
- Location
- The Middle of the Howling Wilderness
sell guns on the downlow to Raynor's Raiders until they kill Mengsk for us.
- Location
- being near locations is my passion.
Hmmm. Apparently my joke was too subtle. Next time I'll try being funny.
- Location
- the Republic
- Pronouns
- He/They
Ah, excellent, it's working as intended.
- Location
- his hidden lair
If we think it's bad now, Post Brood War is going to be a treat. Dominion space even more fucked, the Dominion military gutted, and Mengsk's legitimacy at some of the lowest its ever been given the loss of Korhal, working with the Queen of Blades, and then a final defeat by Kerrigan before she retreats back to Char.
That's when we're going to see the real purges begin.
That's when we're going to see the real purges begin.
- Location
- Nowhere and Everywhere
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Jacob Arendt
[X] Samuel Smith
[X] Samuel Smith
ThatGuyWithIdeas
Treize died for our sins
- Location
- Romania
[X] Jacob Arendt
[X] Samuel Smith
[X] Samuel Smith
- Location
- Australia
I have to say, I'm surprised to see so much enthusiasm for Smith, who I gather is the "banality of evil" candidate. I don't mind if you guys think it'll make for a more interesting story, but from a strictly subverting-the-plan perspective, appointing him seems like an own goal.
I don't doubt for a second that his ultimate loyalty is to Mengsk, as the man at the top of the org chart and the most glorious-seeming guy around. The others have other motives that they can be bribed with, but what do we do with this Smith guy? Not only will he be happy to approve funding for the gulags, he'll complain to the security services if there aren't enough political prisoners being sent there. All told, a tremendous hassle to work around, and a big weak point in the department for the Emperor to exploit.
I don't doubt for a second that his ultimate loyalty is to Mengsk, as the man at the top of the org chart and the most glorious-seeming guy around. The others have other motives that they can be bribed with, but what do we do with this Smith guy? Not only will he be happy to approve funding for the gulags, he'll complain to the security services if there aren't enough political prisoners being sent there. All told, a tremendous hassle to work around, and a big weak point in the department for the Emperor to exploit.
Vote closed
- Location
- the Republic
- Pronouns
- He/They
- Pronouns
- They/Them
We do have confirmation that he won't get in the way mechanically if we choose to do things like the Idealistic Prisoner Release.
That said, I'm looking forward to the Enemies to Lovers Jacob Arendt/Samuel Smith route, yeah.
VoidZero
Passing Flan 布丁魔王
- Location
- Anywhere but RL
A career bureaucrat who survived overthrowing of a government and walked into the new government with solid resume is someone who knows how to keep out of limelight and be invaluable. Such a man will have no greater loyalty than survival and elect to take no sides in conflicts. This is the type of hyper competent functionary that will ensure the department policy stay within the stated mandate, advise in private, and keep himself busy when riot cops kick down your office door.
Bottom line is simple, keep the agenda agreeable on the surface for him and nobody say the quiet part out loud.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Like, yes, the -5 to Personal rolls isn't amazing. I don't think Victoria would have been a terrible mistake either. But I think those two Free Dice can be used pretty effectively, and I think that Jacob's Personal advantages are enough to make up for it sooner rather than later.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
I think the idea people are operating on is that Smith will allow us to keep the department actually functioning (so Mengsk doesn't kill us for failing to accomplish things) while Arendt lets us quietly run our own agenda on the side.
It miiiight be crazy enough to work.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Victoria Archibald III
Simply coup Mengsk ourselves so we don't have to deal with SC2 writing
Welp.
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Turn 1 (Q3 2506) Results
- Location
- the Republic
- Pronouns
- He/They
Turn 1 Results (Q3 2506)
Infrastructure
Korhal: Capital City Augustgrad (Phase 1) [MANDATORY]
The Emperor's vision for the throne world begins with its capital: Augustgrad. Named after Mengsk's illustrious grandfather, Augustgrad is intended to be a planned metropolis that will become the beating heart of the entire Terran Dominion. Projected to include an enormous Imperial Palace, vast housing and commercial districts, and multiple rings of defensive walls and emplacements, it will far exceed anything Old Tarsonis had to offer... someday.
(Progress 25/300, -10R per die, -10 Paranoia when complete) [25, 0]
"What they don't tell you about is the dust. This entire Godforsaken planet is just hard-baked exposed rock, and when the wind comes through it carries these choking clouds of radioactive dust with it. The particles, they get in your lungs, they get in your clothes... There's not enough water to rinse your mouth out, and pretty soon it starts to burn everywhere. I feel like I'm covered in ants. I feel like I'm breathing ants. I think this is what Hell is like."
- Email from National Service worker, intercepted by Internal Security; sender flagged for political re-education
Construction of the new Imperial Palace foundations is grindingly slow. The initial chosen site, located atop one of Korhal's vast desolate plateaus, turns out to be chock-full of sinkholes and other structural weaknesses. This requires hundreds of tons of building materials and construction machinery to be relocated to a secondary site, which is slowed by lack of proper protective gear amongst the conscripted workers, many of whom are unfamiliar with their power tools.
The secondary site turns out to be at the center of a vortex-like phenomenon, resulting in high winds and frequent dust storms. The remainder of the quarter is spent building tall windbreaks to divert the worst of the inclement weather, with no actual foundations being laid during that time.
Brontes: Orbital Cleanup (Phase 1) [Reconstruction]
The space above the core world of Brontes was host to no less than three pitched naval battles between various combinations of the Confederacy, the Sons of Korhal, and the Zerg. As a result, planetary orbit is thick with debris, some of which may very well still be alive. While military reclamation efforts continue on the surface, General Duke has requested that the Treasury begin sweeping Brontes space to make planetfall easier for his steady flow of incoming reinforcements. The sooner Duke is finished on Brontes, the sooner we can get down there to rebuild. And, hey, there's bound to be some valuable salvage in that orbital field.
(Progress 149/300, -20R per die, Resource gain) [60, 89]
"Yes, there are still Zerg up here! No, no, I don't care if you have it marked as 'officially cleared,' the damn bugs are floating around in Sector B-12, C-3, and C-7! C-3 has a wrecked orbital platform with a no-shit hatchery on it! No no no, do not put me on hold aaaaaaargh, dammit."
- Excerpt of a recording between a Treasury foreman and General Duke's adjutant
Much of the initial effort above Brontes is one of mapping and categorization. Exploration teams in SCVs and civilian-grade freighters trawl the crowded orbitals, tagging each chunk of debris larger than a fist. There are multiple danger areas, ranging from fields of dagger-sharp metal shards in constant motion to at least one active feral Zerg hive. These zones are marked off clearly with warning beacons and left either for later specialized project teams or intervention by the Dominion Military.
Once the mapping effort is fully concluded, with only modest casualties, towing begins on the largest chunks of non-repairable salvage. Perhaps the most notable example pulled out of the debris field is the crushed-together wreckage of five separate battlecruisers, which have merged together into a kind of giant metal ball. Workers have elected to treat it as a kind of unusual asteroid, and their salvaging operations more closely resemble mining work than anything.
Heavy Industry
Korhal: Keresh Mining Complex (Phase 1)
Keresh Province was once a lush forested wilderness, famous for its abundant game and verdant vistas. Under the protection of the ruling Mengsk family, it became a desirable tourist destination for the wealthy and powerful. Now it's a blasted wasteland, with burnt husks of dead trees and dried-up streams. While undoubtedly a tragic outcome, the nuclear destruction of Korhal also revealed several promising mineral deposits. This could prove quite useful for the reclamation efforts. (Progress 214/200, -10R per die, Resource income [+5R/turn], cost reduction to all Augustgrad phases [-100]) (14 Progress toward Phase 2) [76, 66, 72]
"We've got an old-timer in our work gang, a guy who came in just under the age cut-off. He's our only volunteer, and for a while I had absolutely no idea why anyone would sign on to work on Korhell of all places. The guy's all wiry muscle and scars, so I guess he just thinks he's the toughest worker around, maybe? Then we arrive at the Keresh site, he takes one look at the place, and he starts crying like a baby. Turns out he's a Korhal native, used to work as a game warden for one of the noble families. He saw all those burnt-out tree husks for the first time and it just... it broke him, I guess. Saddest thing I ever saw."
- Email from National Service worker, intercepted by Internal Security; sender flagged for further review
The mineral survey confirms that Keresh is rich not just in strategic minerals, but also in vital materials for aggregate and other substances that are useful for construction. Once the best sites are marked out, hundreds of bulldozers begin pulling up dead trees and moving mountains of lifeless soil. The initial mine is an old-style open pit construction, with workers wielding pickaxes and shovels in lieu of more complex equipment or proper SCVs. The pace demanded is brutal, as are the temperature and the merciless light of the sun. Heatstroke and dehydration are endemic, as are some of the more common illnesses.
Despite these issues, the outflow of useful resources is substantial, crate after crate arriving at the Augustgrad site with a noticeable surplus available for off-world export. The site foreman receives an official commendation and a week's vacation on Tyrador IX for his crew's heroic exertions.
Light and Chemical Industry
Tyrador IX: Refugee Workshops (Phase 1) [Reconstruction]
The refugees of Tyrador suffer from deprivation and inadequate shelter, but they also lack gainful employment. Dependent entirely on limited relief aid, they are unable to improve their lot or engage in meaningful work. By building small factories across the continent of Velocis, each one tailored to produce artificial fabrics, plastic goods, and home appliances, we can restore the flow of consumer goods to Dominion households and employ millions. (Progress 82/400, -10R per die, Resource income) [75, 0, 7]
"Productivity is at 32% of estimated output. Contributing factors: 47% of workers are undernourished. 68% report inadequate sleep due to housing conditions. 22% report endemic violence in their camps. 55% report inadequate defense from the elements..."
- Initial work summary from a Velocis toy factory
Strong early construction efforts on the refugee workshops program tapers off rapidly after it becomes apparent that the first-wave workers are living in squalid, dangerous conditions not conducive to a good workplace performance. Thus, while the first factories begin limited operations, efforts are redirected towards the construction of worker housing. These hab-blocks are largely made out of prefab materials and consist of little more than a single large room suitable for a small family, but they are vastly superior to the decaying plastic shacks in the refugee camps, and so are received fairly well.
Environmental
Korhal: Regreening Effort (Phase 1)
While Augustgrad was intended to be the center of a vast planet-wide city, the Emperor has been convinced that covering the entire planet in urban sprawl is perhaps not ideal. Instead, swathes of the surface have been set aside for so-called "park districts," where forests and meadows are allowed to exist. The process of regrowing an ecosystem may take decades, even after the radiation scrubbing, but there's no time like the present. (Progress 0/200, -5R per die, +5 Paranoia when complete) [0]
"Look, Chancellor, I hear what you're saying, but an imperial edict is an imperial edict. 'All available resources are to be rerouted to Augustgrad Site 2,' so says the Emperor. Maybe, uh, once they get their shi– their stuff together, we can try again?"
- Transcript of a call between Park One site foreman and Chancellor Horner
The Korhal regreening project isn't so much stalled as it is nonexistent. Owing to the various pitfalls encountered by the Augustgrad crews (some of them very literal and deadly), the Emperor orders that all its crews be relocated to the new Palace site rather than begin soil conditioning operations. Given your own numerous burdens, you are unable to intervene until it's too late, and you are forced to simply give up and wait for the next opportunity.
Tyrador IX: Establish Farmsteads (Phase 1) [Reconstruction]
The secondary continent of Velocis is flat and uninteresting, with vast expanses of deep-soil grassland, which makes it suboptimal from a tourism perspective but excellent for large-scale farming. Building farms for the refugees to work will accomplish housing, employment, and food production goals all at the same time. Who doesn't love killing three scourge with one rocket? (Progress 122/400, -10R per die) [73, 49]
"I think I found the problem, sir. The local marshal had instituted this whole protection-racket scheme involving 'relocation fees' and 'service charges' for the homesteaders, and seemed to be trying to muscle his way into the land allocation process itself. I put him under arrest and gave his star to his deputy, who seems much more obliging. What should I do with the corrupt lawman?"
- Voice memo sent to the Chancellor by Lieutenant Patricia Feldman of the Dominion Marine Corps; the only reply is a terse "SHOOT HIM".
Despite a few initial hiccups, the process of turning fertile Velocisan land into new farmsteads goes pretty much as expected. Refugees are offered the plots of land free of charge, along with prefab structures, farming tools, and seeds. The entire operation is very low-tech, and most of the refugees are former city-dwellers with no direct experience in agriculture, but they seem to be making a pretty good go of it with instructional manuals and a can-do attitude. The main problem is finding able-bodied volunteers who haven't been swept up by National Service, leaving all but a quarter of the initial allocated land untended.
Services
Obligatory National Service [Reconstruction] [MANDATORY]
The Dominion has two problems: masses of unemployed refugees and an enormous amount of work that needs to be done. The Emperor has proposed (well, commanded) that they be solved at the same time by simply requisitioning every idle hand into the service of the nation. Those able-bodied individuals who aren't shunted into the military will be mobilized into huge work gangs, doing with hand tools and determination what SCVs used to do with fusion cutters and bionic strength. Oh, and Mengsk wants you to oversee it personally. (DC 30/50/70 [88] to determine quality, Paranoia gain or loss depending on result [-5]) [71, 8, 8]
"JOIN THE LABOR CORPS. HUMANITY NEEDS YOU."
- Dominion Labor Corps recruitment poster
Most of your personal attention this quarter is directed toward Mengsk's brainchild, Obligatory National Service. While the Confederacy actually discouraged public-mindedness and citizen participation as much as possible, the Emperor is of the belief that the average imperial subject must be more than just a refugee or Zerg fodder. By mobilizing the billions of people in Terran space, not just for the military but for civil construction, they'll be kept productive and safely busy rather than plotting sedition.
The rollout is stupendous, and you're more than a little proud of yourself despite the unsettling authoritarian overtone the entire project is steeped in. Volunteers vastly outnumber recruiters, many of them disaffected and living in poverty, or displaced from their homes forever. Labor gangs stream out of refugee camps to work sites on Korhal, Brontes, and Tyrador, all charged with purpose if not endowed with relevant expertise. The Labor Corps may be a despot's vision of humanity all joined together in uplifting him personally, but the hope it offers and the works it's going to build exist entirely apart from Mengsk's self-aggrandizement.
Military
Korhal: Eastcliff Military Academy
The jagged expanse of the Korhal Badlands is unsuited for traditional development, unlike the glassine plains around the former capital city, but they do offer a unique opportunity. By blowing the top off one of the larger peaks, we can situate a brand-new military academy there to replace the one lost on Tarsonis. The rugged terrain and awesome vistas will be a source of inspiration for every cadet who passes through the place. (Progress 128/200, -10R per die, -10 Paranoia) [75, 0, 50, 0]
"By God, this is a hell of a view, a hell of a view indeed! Look at that vast expanse, that unclouded sky! You feel like you can just take a step out and touch the face of the Loaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa–"
- Last words of Private Emilio Baxter, Dominion Survey Corps
A half-dozen Plowshare-class tactical nuclear warheads are situated atop Mount Viridian, once famed for its verdant slopes, and detonated in sequence, turning the great peak into a huge flat-topped plateau. Once the fallout has dissipated, construction teams begin work on what is intended to be a sprawling campus, including a full-up physical training camp and wilderness course. The main quad goes up quickly enough, but progress is slow on the outbuildings, and several work crews are diverted to windbreak construction at Augustgrad, leaving more work to be done in the coming months.
Research
Supply Bunkers (Tech)
Across Dominion space, the Emperor's subjects suffer under two equally important conditions: a lack of vital supplies, and a fundamental insecurity. To address both problems at once, the Sub-Ministry for Development has proposed enhancing the standard supply depot's storehouses and workshops with fortified bunker construction, allowing for a structure that can both provide and defend. This will help make isolated communities more defensible and sustainable. (Progress 84/50, -10R per die, +5 Paranoia) [84] (34 Progress toward rollout)
"Holy hell! It's smaller on the outside!"
- A quality-control tester on the Supply Bunker project
Jamie Winston's personal brainchild is nothing less than a revolution in the field of preparedness. The Supply Bunker combines an above-ground fortification boasting reinforced armor and emplaced weapons with a full subterranean workshop and storage vault. Taken together, the two components of the SB, as it is called, provide an autonomous source of both defense and vital materials for any isolated base or settlement. A last-minute innovation by Winston serves to greatly simplify the burrowing mechanism used to build the underground depot, making the deployment of the Bunker faster and safer.
Integrated Protective Ensemble (Tech)
With the current shortage of SCVs (and trained operators), much of the reconstruction effort will have to be performed by unaugmented laborers. Moreover, the mass influx of new soldiers will quickly outstrip our ability to issue them with proper power armor. Given both issues, a heavy-duty outfit for both hard labor and mass combat is necessary, providing basic protection and life support in harsh conditions. (Progress 36/100, -5R per die, -5 Paranoia) [8, 28]
"Live-fire tests report 17 casualties out of 24 test subjects, 14 non-fatal, most caused by severe bruising. Kevlar-foam material insufficient to repel small-arms fire. Recommend switching to a thicker weave and incorporating a metal wire-weave layer..."
- Progress report on the Integrated Protective Ensemble human tests
How to keep a fragile human meat body alive in hostile climates is largely a solved problem among the beleaguered Terran population of the Koprulu sector. The CMC Marine powered armor can sustain its wearer for days, if not weeks, in the most grueling conditions imaginable. The actual issue, then, is not one of protection, but of scale. The IPE is expected not just to shield a wearer from harsh conditions and provide on-board augmentation and support, it is expected to shield and provide for hundreds of thousands of wearers.
As such, the initial phases of IPE development are consumed with materials, systems, removable redundancies, and existential questions about "what really is protection, anyway?" Once you've gotten the philosophers off the design team, the vision of a low-powered hazmat suit-style ensemble with numerous improvements and a general ruggedization begins to take shape.
Bureaucracy
Refill the Upper Echelons (Experts)
There's no real way to sugar-coat it: the Dominion Treasury is suffering from a crisis of leadership. More specifically, it has none, beyond your own inexpert self. Most of the deputy secretaries and undersecretaries from the Confederate Treasury Department have fled Dominion space or are sitting in jail. If you're going to turn this department into anything but a bunch of bureaucrats sitting around, you're going to need experienced, honest deputy ministers, and fast. (Increases available dice) (Progress 62/100, -5R per die, +5 Paranoia) [17, 45]
"This is an automated message from the law firm of Cruikshank and Taylor. The person you are trying to reach has been declared legally deceased. If you are attempting to claim an inheritance or dispute a provision in the will, please contact our offices at..."
- Attempt to reach former Undersecretary of Senatorial Relations Clarissa Smythe
You figured you'd get hung up on a lot when you started calling around for people who used to work top-level Treasury Department jobs. What you hadn't counted on is how many of them would turn up either dead or missing, with a plurality having gone down with the ship on Tarsonis. The rest of the missing seem to have fled Dominion space for the welcoming arms of the Protectorate or the Combine. As a result, most of the people you're looking to hire need to be pried loose from actual jobs in their fields, which expends time and effort you hadn't expected to need.
Appoint a Vice-Chancellor
This Chancellor job is no joke. People are coming to you with all kinds of technical and legal questions you are simply not prepared to answer, and yelling at them only secures a temporary retreat rather than permanent victory. You need a second-in-command, an executive officer, a vice-chancellor, if only so they can take all those awkward inquiries on your behalf. (Recruits a subordinate with bonuses) (-5R per die, DC 30/40/50 [145!] for personnel quality, subvote to pick candidate) [85, 60]
"Notwithstanding the terms laid out in Section 2, Subsection A, Paragraph 4 of the Treasury Reorganization Act (2467), we are forced to consider the statutory authority possessed by the Sub-Department – aha, excuse me, Sub-Ministry for Intergovernmental Affairs, which was delegated all powers necessary and proper for ensuring harmonious and indeed productive deliberations between the relevant bodies responsible for determining joint ministerial policy..."
- Samuel Smith, Vice-Chancellor of the Treasury, ordering lunch
Samuel Smith is perhaps the blandest, most put-together person you've ever met. You know you're repeating yourself, you know, but the man defies original description. What he does not do is sit around. While you're busy overseeing projects and yelling at people on the vidlink, he takes every tedious, mind-numbing, soul-crushing bit of minutiae off your hands with what would probably be relish if it was on a more expressive person's face. You actually had a chance to go golfing last week, and when you came back, everything was fine! No emergencies! You're starting to love this dull little goblin.
Personal
Hire an Executive Assistant
Your inbox is threatening to collapse in on itself and take your entire desk with it. The last Treasury Secretary had a legion of personal secretaries and other capable individuals to help him do as little as possible. The least you can do is hire an assistant. Quickly, before the pile grows any larger. (Increases Personal dice) (DC 20/30/40 [49] for personnel quality, subvote to pick candidate) [49]
"Look, this is how it's gonna be. If you don't get me the sandwich in the next ten minutes, I'll make sure you never work in this town again. Understand? Good, because I'm not gonna repeat myself twice. Move!"
- Jacob Arendt, Personal Secretary to the Chancellor, ordering lunch
While your new Vice-Chancellor is busy weaving an intricate web of red tape around your department, your new personal assistant is hacking through the unhelpful bits with a machete. Jacob Arendt is stylish, he's poised, and he knows exactly what you need before you even need it. By the end of his first week, your outgoing expenses had been substantially curtailed and the flow of extraneous paperwork to your desk largely diverted. Given how smoothly things have gone, you're generally inclined to overlook the gray market in office supplies he seems to be running within the department, especially since his cut is by all accounts very modest.
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- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Jesus. It's enough to make you think you need a tertiary site. Hope we can get protective gear to the workers soon.
Ah, yes, that would be more or less my worst-case scenario. Everyone who wanted to focus on Brontes was right and I was wrong. Sorry.
...How the fuck did they manage to crash five battlecruisers into each other?
Ahh, I do feel vindicated that this did something really significant and impactful. This just more than paid for itself in terms of reduced Progress costs on Augustgrad alone, which means corresponding budget savings in the long run. And the direct R investment will be recouped within six turns- a good example of the kind of project we should be spending on now, while we still have a cash reserve.
Ugh, there should at least be water. Then again, it's a desert planet now, so any water has to be shipped in. I see the problem.
Yeah, uh, we'd better get on that.
Sounds about right.
Huh. Now we find out what it does, mechanically speaking.
That's some real black comedy there.
All right, that's good. Now we see what the rollout costs are.
Ugh. Well, we're a little closer, but we'd better chuck two dice at this next turn anyway.
Snrk snrk snrk snrk...
Presumably it was the un crewed remains of the Battlecruisers crashing into each other once the battle was over.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Yeah, but they'd be wrecked husks drifting in orbits defined by whatever their velocity vector happened to be when they lost maneuvering power, plus any reaction from secondary explosions or whatnot.
Sheer coincidence makes me think that either those five battlecruisers were very close together before being taken out in the same wave of attacks, or that some kind of weapon (were the Protoss involved?) somehow pulled them all together.
- Location
- Australia
Okay, maybe this guy's alright. It's good to see that he takes the power to approve discretionary expenditures on consumable goods with the seriousness that it deserves, while nonetheless recognizing that the members of the Department - himself included - must be provided for, rather than exploited.
The sooner we get these Confederate-era laws off the books, the better. Their rotting, sclerotic edifice has no place in mankind's glorious future. This one's a perfect example: they tried to forbid their bureaucrats from doing their jobs in order to stem the leakage from corruption, but they only ended up binding the hands of those that were honest.
I mean, that's what I imagine the Treasury Reorganization Act is about. Hey, does the Dominion even have a legislature, or do all new laws just come from Mengsk's office?