Semper Ad Meliora (Code Geass/Britannian Royalty Quest)
- Thread starter Slayer Anderson
- Start date
- Sci-Fi
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- Reader
Again, EU will not help the connected to them, technically something of a buffer, Rus empire in it's battle against the euro britannia. Why would they be any more motivated to ship troops past two brittanian areas, a weeks or months long trip, to fight the chinese federation for it. It's too logistically expensive to support a war that far from any of their territories, and everyone knows it. Brittania has two area's nearby, one of them an 8th the distance away, and they can't quite afford it right now. It's either an independence that won't last the way things are shaping up, or biding there time.
I do not remember anything approaching confirmation as to whom, if anyone, encouraged New Heaven to attack the Indonesian Conference, merely that we realized the likely result would be our entire region descending into a war that would likely spill out to global levels. Was this answered in one of the QM questions where people ask for OOC knowledge?
If we want to be realistic, it's probably going to be a dice roll or multiple and this very event should teach us that we shouldn't underestimate stuff around the one percent chance of happening actually happening.
The Children of Ching Shih were the ones who gave/sold New Heaven the Gun-rus KMF, and at the end of the Interlude "Cast in the name of God" Sayoko suggested that the Children of Ching Shih were using the New Heaven to destabilize the chinese federation
Yeah, but an extremist pirate group that is more or less suspected as trying to encourage India to rise up in glorious revolution against their overlords is not the same as India itself. Nor do we understand their reasoning and goals, though we can take wild guesses if we want.
We don't know why New Heaven decided to try and conquer Indonesia.
What we do know is that the Children knew about it and planned to use the chaos to start an uprising in India. They also supplied Chinese KMF (that had an abysmal showing worthy of memes) to help New Heaven in the attack. That aid might even have been one of the reasons why New Heaven decided to attack as they believed they had enough resources to conquer Indonesia.
We just don't know how much the aid given by the Children weighed on New Heaven decision.
I think the only OOC knowledge about New Heaven is their secret victory condition and that someone is pushing them to deal with Lelouch. Our money is on the anti psionic conspiracy. They might have even pushed for the attack to show how dangerous the psionic monsters really are.
- Pronouns
- Reader
In canon and the quest map india is broken up into militarized zones because there is sufficient unrest to require a constant state military law. They planned for the possibility of an uprising last year in the aftermath of the conference. It isn't sensible to do that unless your sure revolution is somewhat popular with your populace, and to little time has passed for whatever support they've built in anticipation of last years revolt to just evaporate in the absense of the intended oppertunity. The situation is not nearly as unclear as your portraying it as if you pay attention to the information made available through the narrative and information posts.
- Location
- South of North
India's been broken up into zones for a number of reasons, most of which are administrative.
The big reason, that no one really talks about, is because India has the kind of population that could tilt representation within the Federation away from the ethnically Chinese member states.
The Eunuchs function as a kind of high-level bureaucracy for the Federation, consolidating the desires of the various states into actionable plans and keeping their mess of an economic system functioning. However, due to the way the population of the Federation at large is used to determine representation, China always has more political power in the relationship. The big reason India's under military control isn't really a constant fear of rebellion (though rebellions/riots do happen occasionally), it's because if China gave India a civilian government, it would be de facto allowing them to join the Federation as full member state(s) which would require political representation.
The HIGH Eunuchs specifically do not want this to happen because it would shatter the political status quo and India is more difficult to influence politically because they have their own class of native-born Eunuchs (which is a broader category than just 'eunuchs,' but I use that word for sake of simplicity) who don't align with Han and Manchu-descended Eunuch interests. As an aside, because of the sale of India after Napoleon, a lot of the British-sponsored persecution of the Hijra never happened and, with the Federation promoting their own social order, Eunuchs in the region are far more politically powerful.
All of this means that the ruling administration in India is in a... rather peculiar place. The Hijra/Eunuchs aren't actually loyal to China or the Federation so much as the Federation's power structure and armed forces stationed there that obey their orders. They could potentially side with... well, anyone if a group convinced them they were a viable alternative to Chinese authority and they'd get to retain their power with such a transition.
As such, the best approximation of general behavior for most of the CF member states is, "Let's all sit quietly and see what happens with the mess in China because we really don't want the civil war to spread here. Eunuchs keep your heads down and the government will quash press coverage as much as they can."
Well, except for Korea, but more on that later.
It was never explicitly stated, but there were strong implications that New Heaven attacked for goals of religious and social conquest. IE: their kind of social order is the correct one and needs to be brought to other people who are living in sin and will burn for eternity because of it and, if we need to kill a bunch of people to do it, so be it. They were going to die anyway.
It was a crusade, in other words.
Update is on Patreon, I'm adding some fixes people have suggested, and it should be released either late tonight or early tomorrow.
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- Pronouns
- Reader
@Slayer Anderson sounds like an opportunity to send Euphemia to negotiate there support for Lihua in return for member state status.
...okay?
But I was discussing theoretical third party backers behind New Haven's attack in the sense of the degree of their involvement and goals, not what New Heaven itself was doing so this isn't that relevant?
It's rather clear that they're something of a cult and most of their actions can be chalked up to religious fanaticism. I'd subscribe it's importance really only relevant in how to reform the... citizens, I guess, of the pirate nation. The discussion was about theoretical backers and shadow conspirators or even movements in general that might cause India to revolt as a result of this civil war and trying to assess the possibilities of how and why it could arise.
It was expanded upon in a later post that New Heaven was indeed provided with knightmare frames by the Children of Chin Shih in what seems like an attempt to escalate the conflict to kick off their civil war, implying a possible actor that we can further evaluate their position, readiness, and knowledge of the situation for starting such a revolt.
I am inclined to believe they are ready and able, but may not have time to succeed or even properly react for this if it is over fast enough.
- Location
- barking
well they don't seem to have high level positions of power but do wonder if the children would bother trying this early in their plan granted this was like a year ago in quest but cant imagine them getting a massive increase in support
- Pronouns
- Reader
The point of the children backing new heaven plan was to occupy enough of mainland china and the other major powers attention that india could break away during the protracted war against new heaven that would follow. This only works if they were already prepared to break away last year, and if that is the case, Lihua has kicked off the Civil war close enough that support and preparations should have not significantly broken down as to prevent them from starting it this year. We'll have to wait and see, but good money is they either try for independence, or attempt to leverage there support for member state status.
- Location
- South of North
Ah, my apologies then. I meant to convey that they don't really need conspirators or supporters to do what they did, but it's entirely valid that the Children were using them as a cat's paw effectively.
Turn 10 (Phase III)
- Location
- South of North
Turn 10 (Phase III)
"Any further information on our uninvited guests?" You ask as you look over reports and requisition forms.
Sayoko, ever so slightly pregnant, shakes her head. "No, unfortunately. All we've done is confirmed that there was no actual intrusion on the island itself. At least, to the greatest extent we can be certain. Our current theory is that someone sent the first group in as a way to probe our response and gather data for a more focused and targeted attempt at a later date."
You hum thoughtfully and drum your fingers. "Do we have any idea who in particular?"
"We can rule out a few suspects, in particular the Children of Ching Shih and the Black Cats," Sayoko stated bluntly. "This type of use of deniable asset doesn't fit with Britannian Intelligence's MO from what we know of it, New Heaven wouldn't have access to the kinds of polymers the observation raft was made out of, and Your Highness is too important to jeopardize a relationship with for both Indonesia and the local Area governors." She pauses for a moment. "The Federation is, of course, likely too occupied to pursue this kind of stunt."
You lean back, nodding slowly. Sayoko's summary was a broad over-simplification, of course, but it fit with what you knew of things as they stood. "Since you bring it up, what do our men in the Black Cats and the Children report is happening?"
Sayoko flipped a few pages back in her sheaf of papers. "The Children are still focusing on rebuilding their networks of operatives. Even given the Indonesian Confederation did not suffer a collapse from New Heaven last year, several of their cells in India attempted a revolt anyway and were promptly crushed when a massed uprising and naval support failed to materialize."
You nod, having little sympathy for individuals who attempt populist uprisings without at least a fig leaf of legitimacy. "And the Cats?"
"Running business as usual for the most part." Sayoko replies. "There is some gossip regarding our repulsion of the New Heaven attack, though apparently our source reports division on how to respond. The leading positions right now are attempting to seize and hold you hostage, pay off one of the other groups to attack and kill you, and sue for peace."
You blink, sitting up a bit straighter. "They do understand that would effectively mean placing themselves under my authority permanently, correct?"
Sayoko shrugged minutely. "They are primarily an economic and politically-motivated faction, sire. Should we become threatening enough, they may simply roll over and 'play dead,' so to speak, in favor of simply offering us a cut of their profits and leaving them to do business as usual."
You rub tiredly at your eyes. That was a problem for tomorrow to handle. "It's equally-likely that we'll have to actually conquer at least one group before that becomes relevant, though it is good to keep in mind. Perhaps we should return to the original topic of discussion."
Sayoko nods. "Very well, sire. In summation, I think the most likely culprits to be either the Europeans directly or using the SIC as proxies, though I cannot rule out the possibility of an unknown party moving in the shadows or our intelligence on one of the groups we've discussed being somehow flawed or incomplete."
"It will have to do for now," you sigh, closing the reports. "As with the previous attempts, it's difficult to react to a group which has so thoroughly disguised their identity. Hopefully once we've ferreted out who these people are, if they're even a singular group and not multiple, we can begin to act against them."
Sayoko nods. "In other regards, Millicent Ashford has sent out feelers to a select few military and civilian aviation companies within the Homeland and the Areas. Some of those have expressed interest in Madison Hashima's Ramjet design given that it outperforms modern jet fighters, in theory and on the testbed, at least. Apparently the bids are only as low as they are because of the fact it has been untested in actual flight or properly mounted on an aircraft. Madison has written up a proposal to change that, but it is..."
You glance at the proposal in question and wince at the price tag. You could mobilize a fleet for that amount! Taking a deep breath, though, you acknowledge that building a next-generation prototyping bay for fighter craft from scratch likely isn't cheap. You wonder if you should indulge the expense now, or put it off until later...
"I see Kenshin's put together an expedition plan," you note with interest, very much wishing you could accompany them on such a trip, but... not this year. Perhaps next year, if you're able to come to some kind of settlement in China, but even that's unlikely. You'll have to decide if you trust Thunstone, Crowley, or Jaeger more for Expedition lead. As well as how many of them actually get to go whenever you give the green light.
"I've put together a proposal on that note as well," Sayoko states, handing over a clipboard with a short list of inventory items and personnel. "It's simply an idea to keep any investment in such a site safe by disguising it as some form of more commercial enterprise, such as mineral sampling."
You nod. "Though we're a bit tight on active teams at the moment. It will either be this or sending the teams to India." A dangerous and fairly insane plan, honestly. If you weren't already drawing up ideas for actions on China, you'd have dismissed the idea out of hand. Still... it's theoretically possible to decapitate the Eunuch's government in India. Very difficult, but possible. If you deploy virtually all your assets and get extremely lucky seizing the hundred-some-odd key officials of the Chinese Raj.
Of course, you'd also have to hope that you got away with holding a sub-continent's government hostage at gunpoint.
Decisions, decisions...
Current Banked Income: 20,860 BRN
Current Annual Income: 7850 Britannian Royal Notes
Current Annual Upkeep: 4800 BRN
Intrigue: CHOOSE TWO
[ ] Bodyguard Plus: It has occurred to you, more than once in the past years, that you have a great number of VIPs which you must organize security around. This is not necessarily a strain on your resources, nor is it to be expected to become one for some years given the security of your island base, but you do need to be mindful for the future. Cost: 300; Upkeep: 150; DC: 40; Rewards: More thorough coverage of Hero Units when off-base.
[ ] Side Quest: With agents spread out across south-east Asia, Australia, and Indonesia, you have an immense head-start at building a new secret service to rival the OSI itself. Still, there are things going on in the world which require your attention now, not later. You'll just have to pick a suitable target. Cost: 300; Upkeep: 0; DC: Varies; Rewards: Select an espionage target to gain information and open further options, DC varies by target.
[ ] Shadow Administration: Now that you're hiring a bunch of people to camouflage the fact that you're hiring a bunch of ninja-spies, you should actually get around to hiring those ninja-spies. Or, at least, officially hiring the ones who are going to be telling the unofficial ones what to do and process their reports. Cost: 400; Upkeep: 200; DC: 40; Rewards: 'Staff' hired to manage covert affairs.
[ ] Living in the Shadows: (CANNOT BE TAKEN WITH EXPEDITION ESCORTS) Technically speaking, it's frowned upon by most nations to deploy assassination teams to hold regional leaders of foreign countries hostage at gunpoint. The trick to doing it is not getting caught, or so you've been led to believe. Now all you have to do is properly capitalize on the Chinese Federation's internal crisis. Cost: 1000; Upkeep: 300 (For Duration of Operation); DC: 75/100; Rewards: Extremely Variable.
[ ] Teaching the Trade: Now that you've gotten your organization nearly in order, you need to be able to replenish operatives who become inactive, for whatever reason that might be. To do so, you'll be constructing an academy of sorts to induct and train individuals who show promise from your general forces to the ways of covert operations. Cost: 700; Upkeep: 400; Time: 3 Years; DC: 50/75/100; Rewards: Auto-Complete Recruitment Actions to Replenish Spy Corps, Choices to Refine Organization of Special Operations Branch.
[ ] Expedition Escorts: (CANNOT BE TAKING WITH LIVING IN THE SHADOWS) With your military otherwise occupied and the expedition as a whole something of a secret anyway, it would be better to simply send a covert force with your expedition team in order to keep their objectives and discoveries a secret. Cost: 500; Upkeep: 250 (For Duration of Operation); DC: 40/80; Rewards: Lower Expedition DC, Increase Expedition Options.
Learning: CHOOSE ONE
[ ] Animal Testing: A purely psionic man-machine interface is an impressive and potentially ground-breaking technological advance. It's also dangerous. You've decided to move forward with animal testing to ensure nothing goes horribly wrong. Cost: 200; Upkeep: 100; DC: 60; Rewards: Ensure psionic computation prototypes won't automatically kill whoever you attach them to, human testing becomes easier.
[ ] Human Testing: Alternatively, you have faith in Jaeger's work and he proved himself to have at least reasonably sound judgment last year. You'll give the okay to move forward with human testing, you only hope this isn't a tragic mistake. Cost: 500; Upkeep: 200; DC: 90; Rewards: Psionic computation prototypes move to production stage, actions become available to incorporate them into other technologies.
[ ] The Green Knight: You've recently come into possession of a sixth-generation KMF. The fifth generation, the Gloucester, was decidedly unimpressive. The Gawain, though, promises to be a different beast entirely. Letting Jaeger analyze it will likely yield interesting results. Cost: 500; Upkeep: 0; Time: 2 Years; DC: 50/70/90; Rewards: Unlock advanced technologies and the ability to design a unique KMF.
[X] Ramjet Theory: Quite honestly, you can't use this technology. However, you can sell it if you develop it properly. It might even net you a significant sum depending on the buyer. Hashima is certain of her ability to produce results, at least, and it's significantly less strange than some of Jaegar's technology. Cost: 800; Upkeep: 200; DC: 60; Time: 2 Years; Rewards: Development of a potentially valuable technology.
[ ] Build a Better Fighter: You'll be stepping directly on Steiner Konzern's toes here, but you have enough clout that they won't be able to easily get revenge beyond petty bureaucratic tricks. If you do succeed, though, you could even sell the completed design to them for far more money than they were willing to pay for your new engine alone. Cost: 1200; Upkeep: 500; DC 80; Time: 2 Years; Rewards: Prototyping Construction Bay for Aircraft, Large Income Gains for Selling Designs.
[ ] The Expedition: You've pinpointed the general location to search for what is likely the orb's original place of creation. The region is nominally under Britannian control, however it rests on the border of an active war zone with what is left of the Middle Eastern Federation. It's a risky affair, but as long as you keep things quiet, you should be able to get in and set up an excavation without too much fuss. The problem is that Jaeger wants to go. Cost: 1000; Upkeep: 500 (Until Option Completes); DC: 75; Rewards: Relic Site, Learning & Piety Options Increase, ???
Piety: CHOOSE TWO
[ ] Enhanced Recruitment: All told, you have fewer than fifty people studying the 'magic of the mind.' In large part, this is because of your own wealth of expertise and inherited knowledge. However, if you ever want to actually put much of this theory into practice, you'll need to enlarge your operations substantially. Luckily, you've finished the basic training curricula. Cost: 800; Upkeep: 300; Time: 2 Years; DC: 50/70; Rewards: Build a pool of potentially powerful psionics and healers to be used in other operations, Piety options increase.
[ ] Psionic Engineering: The simple fact is that a great many of the conveniences of the ancient society you remember have been outmoded by modern industrialization and digital devices which can be more easily mass produced. That doesn't mean the lessons of the past can't offer you anything, though. Cost: 200; Upkeep: 50; DC: 70; Rewards: Hybrid Psionic-Industrial/Digital Tech Tree, ???
[ ] Alchemical Practitioners: Even as your training of the first modern generation of alchemists reaches fruition, you can set them to practicing their new trade. While, in theory, they should be aiming to produce Sakuradite, that's the 'gold standard' of ancient psionic technology, so to speak. There are other, less difficult materials they could be crafting. Cost: 300; Upkeep: 100; DC: 60/80/100 Rewards: Potential for producing a variety of alchemical materials.
[ ] Lessons of Faith: Interrogation is such an ugly word, but very often a necessary one. Thankfully, the days of torture and brutality are long gone. Instead, you have far more sinister means at your disposal. Alcohol, for instance. Processed sugar and delicacies these men have never tasted. Even women if you can source a few whores from nearby ports and they give you actionable intelligence. Cost: 200; Upkeep: 100; Time: 2 Years; DC: 75; Rewards: Decrypt New Heaven Psionic Abilities, Gain New Curriculum.
[ ] Weapons of Faith: Alternative to the prisoners you have taken, you instead have a large cache of weapons and armor which you can examine to determine the techniques used to create and operate them. This will be a much simpler affair than interrogating prisoners, even if not necessarily a shorter one. If you have the time and personnel, you might even be able to look at Thunstone's weapon and the blades on loan from the OSI, even if you're supposed to be returning them this year. Cost: 300; Upkeep: 50; Time: 2 Years; DC: 50/75/100; Rewards: Decrypt New Heaven Psionic Arms & Armor, Gain Producible Equipment/Modifiers.
ONE HOUR MORATORIUM! DO NOT VOTE FOR ONE HOUR!
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- Location
- barking
okay so the children after the new heaven attack had several cells try to break free asap and now the leadership must bw cursing them since if they waited they would of had a much better shot at it
Seems the Children won't be able to take advantage of the civil war. Good, good.
Trying to kidnap Lelouch would be interesting with his training. I also wonder what the sue for peace group will think of our stunt in China.
[X] Plan Matters of Faith and holding India hostage
-[X] Shadow Administration: Now that you're hiring a bunch of people to camouflage the fact that you're hiring a bunch of ninja-spies, you should actually get around to hiring those ninja-spies. Or, at least, officially hiring the ones who are going to be telling the unofficial ones what to do and process their reports. Cost: 400; Upkeep: 200; DC: 40; Rewards: 'Staff' hired to manage covert affairs.
-[X] Living in the Shadows: (CANNOT BE TAKEN WITH EXPEDITION ESCORTS) Technically speaking, it's frowned upon by most nations to deploy assassination teams to hold regional leaders of foreign countries hostage at gunpoint. The trick to doing it is not getting caught, or so you've been led to believe. Now all you have to do is properly capitalize on the Chinese Federation's internal crisis. Cost: 1000; Upkeep: 300 (For Duration of Operation); DC: 75/100; Rewards: Extremely Variable.
-[X] Animal Testing: A purely psionic man-machine interface is an impressive and potentially ground-breaking technological advance. It's also dangerous. You've decided to move forward with animal testing to ensure nothing goes horribly wrong. Cost: 200; Upkeep: 100; DC: 60; Rewards: Ensure psionic computation prototypes won't automatically kill whoever you attach them to, human testing becomes easier.
-[X] Ramjet Theory: Quite honestly, you can't use this technology. However, you can sell it if you develop it properly. It might even net you a significant sum depending on the buyer. Hashima is certain of her ability to produce results, at least, and it's significantly less strange than some of Jaegar's technology. Cost: 800; Upkeep: 200; DC: 60; Time: 2 Years; Rewards: Development of a potentially valuable technology.
-[X] Lessons of Faith: Interrogation is such an ugly word, but very often a necessary one. Thankfully, the days of torture and brutality are long gone. Instead, you have far more sinister means at your disposal. Alcohol, for instance. Processed sugar and delicacies these men have never tasted. Even women if you can source a few whores from nearby ports and they give you actionable intelligence. Cost: 200; Upkeep: 100; Time: 2 Years; DC: 75; Rewards: Decrypt New Heaven Psionic Abilities, Gain New Curriculum.
-[X] Weapons of Faith: Alternative to the prisoners you have taken, you instead have a large cache of weapons and armor which you can examine to determine the techniques used to create and operate them. This will be a much simpler affair than interrogating prisoners, even if not necessarily a shorter one. If you have the time and personnel, you might even be able to look at Thunstone's weapon and the blades on loan from the OSI, even if you're supposed to be returning them this year. Cost: 300; Upkeep: 50; Time: 2 Years; DC: 50/75/100; Rewards: Decrypt New Heaven Psionic Arms & Armor, Gain Producible Equipment/Modifiers.
Cost: 400+1000+200+200+300=2100
Increased Upkeep: 200+300+100+100+50=950 (300 temporary until operation is finished)
Banked Income after: 20860-2100=18760
Annual Income: 7850
Annual Upkeep: 5500+950=6450 (with 1000 being short term until China operations are done)
For the Intrigue actions I have chosen to aid the Chinese operation with a little Lulu "go big or go home" plan. If the Sayoko rerolls apply to it (and according to the answer on patreon they do) we have a good chance of pulling this of. With the OOC leaks about how the situation is going in China, taking away the support of the Eunuchs in India might just be what pushes the Eunuch forces towards defeat (having the local leaders declaring for Lihua would be major coup). And giving Lihua a mostly pacified India (any leaders that won't accept the new order can be easily eliminated) should help with our contributions. In case we fail in China and succeed in India then we might have the fallback option of handing over India to the Empire to mitigate our punishment. Or even help the Children to stage a revolution and join them in our exile.
Also for any potential bad blood. Euphy is really good at deescalation. She should be able to spin it in post civil war negotiations to get India on board.
This action might also be just about securing the officials responsible for the military forces so if any movement orders come from China they can be stopped cold with a little pressure. For example calling the Indian navy forces to dislodge any forces that might take over the south east China region.
And this is mostly security. If they don't side with the eunuch side of the civil war then the Indian faction won't even know our assassins are there. And if some other group starts interfering we will have assassins on overwatch to eliminate the problem.
The second action is of course on Shadow Administration to take advantage of Milly hiring spree and the influx of refuges to hide their activation. It will also open a third Intrigue action which will help us a lot.
I'm not taking the expedition action this turn due to focusing heavily on on China. There is also the fact that I want to take the two actions to help digest our Indonesia gains. Weapons of Faith is limite4d to this turn for best results as we need to return the OSI weapons. Lessons of Faith is limited by narration. Keeping the prisoners over a longer time will be hard. Also it will make harder to flip them. And flipping them might open a path to the secret victory condition if one of them mentions a possibility of a psionic duel for the crown (or whatever they use for the ruler symbol) of New Heaven. I really want to start on Recruitment (for the medics as some have wanted and getting more psionic operatives in general) and the Alchemical Practitioners for the materials but both actions in my plan seem to be time sensitive for a chance at the best results.
As to why I want to squeeze all the intelligence we can out of our prisoners? Both actions might synergize with themselves for one. And secondly even if we have a Chinese fleet behind us New Heaven might just decide to go down fighting. And we want them for their psionic expertise which "fight to the last man" defense would deplete heavily.
And that brings me to Learning. While we are busy with China I don't think we can afford to go on an expedition due to security concerns. There is also the matter of the MEF most likely loosing in the coming years which will make the region safer for us to operate in. We helped Ethiopia with their refuge crisis so they can focus on the southern MEF and Cornellia is on a roll. Especially after we helped her a little with Armenia. So waiting a year or two might help us. And it will free up the Piety options to analyze any finds. With that said I also want to wait on getting Milly help on the Gawain which will require either a Diplomacy or Stewardship action in the future.
So with Ramjet Theory finishing this turn that leaves the other action. I decided to go for Animal Testing. While we could go for Building a Better Fighter to try and squeeze out more income out of the first design I think the 40% chance of failure combined with the cost of the action and the fact we want to save our KoH reroll if possible (I would rather use it in Piety on the flipping the prisoners if we must) means selling the ramjet engine design will be a better choice. I will want a aircraft design bay but I think we should wait until we can start on a scramjet/plasmajet design. And have some more unique technologies and psionic materials to put into the airframe.
That it won't put us at odds with Gino's family is an advantage. We might need some Personal/Diplomacy actions to get them closer with us as their expertise in aircraft design would be useful. And selling them an engine design that actually works should improve their attitude. Because while they might not be able to do much officially to hurt us we might need some personal actions to keep our airforce commander.
And an alternative plan if we don't decide on the Indian gambit. I would go for starting the academy as it is a very long project. And unless we fail we will have 3 actions to play with next turn (with one taken by the academy).
[X] Plan Matters of Faith and Spy Academy
-[X] Shadow Administration: Now that you're hiring a bunch of people to camouflage the fact that you're hiring a bunch of ninja-spies, you should actually get around to hiring those ninja-spies. Or, at least, officially hiring the ones who are going to be telling the unofficial ones what to do and process their reports. Cost: 400; Upkeep: 200; DC: 40; Rewards: 'Staff' hired to manage covert affairs.
-[X] Teaching the Trade: Now that you've gotten your organization nearly in order, you need to be able to replenish operatives who become inactive, for whatever reason that might be. To do so, you'll be constructing an academy of sorts to induct and train individuals who show promise from your general forces to the ways of covert operations. Cost: 700; Upkeep: 400; Time: 3 Years; DC: 50/75/100; Rewards: Auto-Complete Recruitment Actions to Replenish Spy Corps, Choices to Refine Organization of Special Operations Branch.
-[X] Animal Testing: A purely psionic man-machine interface is an impressive and potentially ground-breaking technological advance. It's also dangerous. You've decided to move forward with animal testing to ensure nothing goes horribly wrong. Cost: 200; Upkeep: 100; DC: 60; Rewards: Ensure psionic computation prototypes won't automatically kill whoever you attach them to, human testing becomes easier.
-[X] Ramjet Theory: Quite honestly, you can't use this technology. However, you can sell it if you develop it properly. It might even net you a significant sum depending on the buyer. Hashima is certain of her ability to produce results, at least, and it's significantly less strange than some of Jaegar's technology. Cost: 800; Upkeep: 200; DC: 60; Time: 2 Years; Rewards: Development of a potentially valuable technology.
-[X] Lessons of Faith: Interrogation is such an ugly word, but very often a necessary one. Thankfully, the days of torture and brutality are long gone. Instead, you have far more sinister means at your disposal. Alcohol, for instance. Processed sugar and delicacies these men have never tasted. Even women if you can source a few whores from nearby ports and they give you actionable intelligence. Cost: 200; Upkeep: 100; Time: 2 Years; DC: 75; Rewards: Decrypt New Heaven Psionic Abilities, Gain New Curriculum.
-[X] Weapons of Faith: Alternative to the prisoners you have taken, you instead have a large cache of weapons and armor which you can examine to determine the techniques used to create and operate them. This will be a much simpler affair than interrogating prisoners, even if not necessarily a shorter one. If you have the time and personnel, you might even be able to look at Thunstone's weapon and the blades on loan from the OSI, even if you're supposed to be returning them this year. Cost: 300; Upkeep: 50; Time: 2 Years; DC: 50/75/100; Rewards: Decrypt New Heaven Psionic Arms & Armor, Gain Producible Equipment/Modifiers.
Cost: 400+700+200+200+300=1800
Increased Upkeep: 200+400+100+100+50=1050
Banked Income after: 20860-1800=19060
Annual Income: 7850
Annual Upkeep: 5500+1050=6550 (with 700 being short term until China operations are done)
EDIT: since the 1h moratorium is over I edited my plans to add the X marks. I prefer the Matters of Faith and holding India hostage plan myself but I'm leaving both if voters prefer not to send out our spies.
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- Location
- South of North
You may choose to send them to either China or India. If you choose China you'll only be able to pick one city/province. India will feature wider options because of the smaller administrative class and distance from the central authority.
Will confirm, Sayoko's rerolls apply.
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meianmaru
The Devourer of Fiction
Considering what Slayer just said after your post:
I would tentatively like it more if we focused on China itself with our operatives, so that we ensure our chances of at least winning there.
Resonant
Procrastinator Supreme
Just scoping out the options as I haven't fully caught up on the quest:
Intrigue:
- I think Shadow Administration has high priority so we can finally unlock our 3rd intrigue action. We neglected it on Turn 9 because we only had 1 action available and it was needed for New Heaven espionage, but there's not many competing action for the 2nd action this year.
- 2nd Action will probably be "Living in the Shadows" to boost our Chinese operation.
@Slayer Anderson How does the Chinese intrigue op interact with Lulu's military intervention, I assume it'll boost the results or unlock opportunities but failure means we lose the element of surprise?
Learning:
- The Gawain action can wait until next turn because there's a Stewardship action available to study it in conjunction with Millicent which lowers the DC and unlocks further details so I'd rather not start digging without her.
- Testing the Fighter jet engine is not something I'd waste our time on, Lulu is already rolling in money and will bet set for life if we succeed in China. It's much more lucrative to continue going down the Psionic research actions as that's our primary niche.
- Starting Animal Testing for the Psionic interface sounds like a good idea so that it's ready for Human testing in conjunction with studying the Gawain. We know the Gawain's Druid system has psionic components, so a direct man-to-machine interface would have huge potential.
Piety:
- Weapons of Faith should have a high priority as it's our only chance to study the anti-psionic blades borrowed from the OSI, as we're returning them this year.
- 2nd Action is probably either Recruiting Psionic Doctors or Interrogating new Heaven captives. The former would help mitigate any casualties from our Chinese operation, but ignoring the New Heaven captives for 2 years sounds inadvisable.
EDIT:
Ninja'd by Hawkmoon, his plan covers all the main points already lol.
Intrigue:
- I think Shadow Administration has high priority so we can finally unlock our 3rd intrigue action. We neglected it on Turn 9 because we only had 1 action available and it was needed for New Heaven espionage, but there's not many competing action for the 2nd action this year.
- 2nd Action will probably be "Living in the Shadows" to boost our Chinese operation.
@Slayer Anderson How does the Chinese intrigue op interact with Lulu's military intervention, I assume it'll boost the results or unlock opportunities but failure means we lose the element of surprise?
Learning:
- The Gawain action can wait until next turn because there's a Stewardship action available to study it in conjunction with Millicent which lowers the DC and unlocks further details so I'd rather not start digging without her.
- Testing the Fighter jet engine is not something I'd waste our time on, Lulu is already rolling in money and will bet set for life if we succeed in China. It's much more lucrative to continue going down the Psionic research actions as that's our primary niche.
- Starting Animal Testing for the Psionic interface sounds like a good idea so that it's ready for Human testing in conjunction with studying the Gawain. We know the Gawain's Druid system has psionic components, so a direct man-to-machine interface would have huge potential.
Piety:
- Weapons of Faith should have a high priority as it's our only chance to study the anti-psionic blades borrowed from the OSI, as we're returning them this year.
- 2nd Action is probably either Recruiting Psionic Doctors or Interrogating new Heaven captives. The former would help mitigate any casualties from our Chinese operation, but ignoring the New Heaven captives for 2 years sounds inadvisable.
EDIT:
Ninja'd by Hawkmoon, his plan covers all the main points already lol.
Last edited:
I'm not sure if we really should send assassins to india, it was said that the eunuchs in india aren't really loyal to the chinese eunuchs and would take the side that lets them stay in power. Going with this, sending assassins after them might convince them to fully support the chinese eunuchs if someone connects us with the assassinations.
But on the other side, would it be possible to somehow frame the chinese eunuchs for the one or other assassination?
Slayer, will Living in the Shadows only be about assassinations or is it generally send most of our shinobi to India or China and then decide what they should do?
But on the other side, would it be possible to somehow frame the chinese eunuchs for the one or other assassination?
Slayer, will Living in the Shadows only be about assassinations or is it generally send most of our shinobi to India or China and then decide what they should do?
- Pronouns
- Reader
Feels like a gamble, particularly since I'd rather save our reroll for my proposed bait attempt. I'd rather focus on sending spy's into the main camp of the Eunoch forces.
More in favor of Enhanced Recruitment. Extra action plus psionic healers put it as the more appealing option IMO.
- Location
- South of North
A huge amount of how these options get implemented depend on voting actions that happen after they're initially selected.
You can choose to send special operations teams to China OR India and your actual military to China OR India. Which means you can put both on one job or each on different. You can use the spec ops to create distractions to facilitate your military actions or you can use military actions to distract from sneaky shit the spec ops are doing. And more besides.
I will say that Living in the Shadows isn't actually about assassinating anyone, or at least not planning on it. Ideally you want to get agents in place to coerce government officials, not kill them off. Murdering lots of politically powerful people tends to cause chaos.
Resonant
Procrastinator Supreme
I would personally prefer going for India as that has a higher potential pay-off by gaining leverage over the entire region, while also providing a backup option if we somehow fail in China. The opportunity cost of sending them to China doesn't seem worth it as the Eunuchs are all heavily protected and their military forces are focused on Tianzi, so there isn't much intrigue can do to shift things there, whereas India is ripe for our agents to manipulate.
Both of the New Heaven piety options are time sensitive though, and Enhanced Recruitment doesn't provide an extra action slot unless I'm misreading? It just unlocks extra options, as in new actions become unlocked for choosing.
Also, Enhanced Recruiting is best put off until after we've squeezed out New Heaven's psionic abilities, as it provides "New Curriculum" for our recruitment process.
The anti psionic swords will need to be returned after this turn (or more like in the middle of this turn). We might be able to figure them out if we roll well enough and we don't want to miss that opportunity.
From what I understand the tiers would be:
Tier 1: New Heaven equipment
Tier 2: Thunstone's super sword (and maybe Sayoko's family blade)
Tier 3: Borrowed OSI weapons
Tier 2 and 3 might be swapped. It depends. Someone might show up early to take the OSI weapons. We also shouldn't be doing destructive analysis on the OSI weapons but we could get away with destroying/damaging one or two items and writing it off as combat damage. On the other hand we can't afford to be careless with unique artifacts like Thunstone's or Sayoko's swords.
And as I mentioned before flipping the prisoners will only get harder as we keep them imprisoned since they are used to austere living conditions.
@Slayer Anderson My read on a 3rd Piety action is that we need to find a good enough Piety advisor (since Crowley isn't good enough after we got the Orb upgrade) and increase our cult/psionic research group to at least a size similar to the shinobi clans. Am I correct that enhanced recruitment won't give us a 3rd action?