Now I'm not really keeping up with how much excess cash we've got lying around. But couldnt IC Revy figure that bunkers, sponsored GARDIAN lasers, anything else defensive yet useful incase of pirates.. or abominations from darkspace be a good idea?
Like, with a large enough credit injection she should be able to create a metropolis. Built around not only PI factories/research but also mining, xenoarcheology, 'Blue box' servers, with her ParSec hired as law enforcements? Kind of a "Investors are too easily spooked, Im sponsoring these colonies now."
It seems just a little short, like it needs part 2.
On a side note I'm using the European style alcohol culture so Revy's been legal able to get alcohol for herself for years. Not that I think she ever has. I bet the though of Revy doing drunk science would have encouraged her parents to scare her off of the stuff.
But couldnt IC Revy figure that bunkers, sponsored GARDIAN lasers, anything else defensive yet useful incase of pirates.. or abominations from darkspace be a good idea?
Revy has been funding Landing's shields, she even gets a tax break for it. Landing being Mindoir's capital and PI's home base. Lots of place have been getting GARDIAN laser emplacements from the SA due to butterflies but not shields. Shields can get expensive and the SA wants to spend most of it's money on warships.
Hm, but barriers and armor tech can serve the same purpose and can be pre-fabbed. If we really want to start pre-fabbing bunkers, though, we need to start investing in Gaver Dor's techs; we can certainly get the cheap-o 200 point reactive barriers next turn, but the real killer app there, especially for bunkers, will be Stasis Plate.
On another note, something I noticed on a re-read:
"I suppose at this point I'd normally be trying to sell you on my latest products, but with the new arms sale legislation that's being voted on soon I'm not really sure that would even matter." You observe.
"My acquisition budget doesn't cover things like IFVs, nor am I in part of the Supplies division. That legislation also will sadly for its initial developers do far less than they hoped. That is assuming it passes. There are a few ways to get exemptions built into the law. One of which is to have a review board, mostly made up of Systems Alliance military personal, determine if an item may be sold outside of the Systems Alliance. Considering the current diplomatic strategy of the Systems Alliance, sales to any of the Council races are most likely going to be allowed with in reason. The other Citadel races might have a harder time though."
It was a Turian stating that, and I don't think he's quite well estimating the animosity that the Council is gathering to itself by not intervening against these Batarian slavers, especially since it's supposed to be their job to do so. If anything, we might have an easier time selling our advanced stuff to the Hanar, maybe the Elcor, and leaving the Turians out in the cold, especially if the Hanar go on record as singing Revy's praises while the Council still considers her a dangerous upstart.
Well, it's all academic for now, but something to keep in mind for the next few quarters.
"Dr Shepherd, your presence is requested in the biotech wing. David Cross would like to show you something" Cortana whispers in Revy's ear.
"David Cross?" Revy echoed.
"He is a junior researcher newly assigned to the biotech division. He is currently working on applied crystallography for the laser miniaturization project."
"Lasers in the biotech division? Alright, interest piqued. Save my progress here Cortana." Revy stepped away from her desk, closing the holographic display. She briefly considered putting on her legionary suit to fly to the biotech division... But that would be silly.
A few minutes later, she strides into the biotech building, thankfully Cortana had briefed her on who David was.
"Dr Shepherd! I didn't expect you so soon. I know your time is valuable, I expected this meeting to take weeks!" David exclaimed, clearly excited by both his discovery and the presence of the legend herself.
"Nonsense. I always have time for SCIENCE!" Revy replied.
"Well, I've been working on bacterially constructed crystals for our miniaturized laser projects. It was my thesis project, but sort of outdated when Paragon Industries implemented meta-materials. Anyway... The general principle is that we program the bacteria's DNA to produce a particular structure, then the bacteria multiplies and builds that structure from locally available materials."
"Like nanotechnology. And grey goo. And illegal in citadel space."
"Well... Maybe. It's pretty slow, and it can't generate complex structures, so it doesn't self replicate in the normal nanotech sense. It's more like growing a tree inside a medium.
In this case, the tree metaphor is particularly apt. To the small scale!" David rushes over to a small glass box and gesticulates excitedly.
"It looks like a barget farm, I had one when I was little. It's empty. Are you saying your bacteria... grew this tunnel system?" Revy asked, incredulous.
"Exactly! The bacteria can be programmed to grow in a particular configuration, simulating rooms, hallways, shafts... If you look here, this structure is designed around a double shaft system, perfect for elevators. These are the living quarters here..."
"Okay, fine. But that seems like an awfully complex solution to a simple problem."
"Maybe. But it's a prefabricated solution that can be implemented before a colony arrives, allowing shelter to be constructed in inhospitable environs without requiring human interaction. Plus, it builds the structure with materials on site. In this case, mostly iron and carbon. But in theory, this could also revolutionize mining, if we could figure out how to make the bacteria anaerobic, we could even use it in places humans can't easily mine."
"I'll take it under advisement, but for now I want you to shelve this project until I can talk to the legal team."
I have to ask, has there been a lot of discussion on potentially using arcologies? We probably have the matsci for it, we can shield the hell out of them, we can make viable anti-orbital emplacements around them, and our modular construction methods mean we could expand on it over time. We'd probably want to use them on the alliance's coreworlds, and it would be one hell of an urban renewal project. But this is Revy we're talking about, she could make it happen.
I have to ask, has there been a lot of discussion on potentially using arcologies? We probably have the matsci for it, we can shield the hell out of them, we can make viable anti-orbital emplacements around them, and our modular construction methods mean we could expand on it over time. We'd probably want to use them on the alliance's coreworlds, and it would be one hell of an urban renewal project. But this is Revy we're talking about, she could make it happen.
I have to ask, has there been a lot of discussion on potentially using arcologies? We probably have the matsci for it, we can shield the hell out of them, we can make viable anti-orbital emplacements around them, and our modular construction methods mean we could expand on it over time. We'd probably want to use them on the alliance's coreworlds, and it would be one hell of an urban renewal project. But this is Revy we're talking about, she could make it happen.
This is sort of what Appia and Virgo, and then Project Via, and the hyper-modular building movement in general are for. Rather than building large, monolithic self-contained structures, though, what we're going for is modular, highly-mobile hot-swappable buildings that can even be shipped off-planet with relative ease, letting people self-organize into their own arcologies as desired. Importantly for our purposes, those modular buildings that we're selling are even vacuum-rated, so you can even assemble your arcology off-planet, say around an asteroid to create an instant mining camp.
It was a Turian stating that, and I don't think he's quite well estimating the animosity that the Council is gathering to itself by not intervening against these Batarian slavers, especially since it's supposed to be their job to do so.
Anyway in regards to your statement, it really isn't their job. Would the Turians love to patrol the shit out of SA space and shoot all the law breaking assholes? Yes yes they would Turians are kinda like that. Would the SA let them? Or any other race? No not at all. It's hilariously politically unsound.
In addition, there's a pretty basic rule of thumb in the Citadel it you can take care of your own shit then you should become a protectorate. Securing your boarders from pirates and slavers are pretty much "your shit", why else have a navy? Note the the Baterians the main group that used to hold that space left the Citadel in 2171.
In addition Citadel stuff does not get deployed into Terminus Space (barring existentialist threats). Even the Geth showing up and fucking around was not enough to get fleets deployed. Hell even deploying in the parts of the Traverse close to the Terminus is something to be avoided.
The SA choosing, and yes it's very much a choice, to get involved in the near Terminus Traverse and Terminus is it's own choice and the Citadel will not back actions relating to or falling out from that. Mind all credit to the SA if it get resolved okay, but if it doesn't the Citadel is going to go I told you so and humanity is going to get a patronizing speech about not doing dumb things.
Now if the SA gets attacked by the Rachni, Krogan, the Geth actually taking things seriously, or something similar that might be a different story.
"Having evolved on an arid planet, drell face serious illness on the hanar homeworld, especially Kepral's Syndrome, a fatal bacterial lung disease."
"Due to this huge disparity in the two species' homeworld environments the leading cause of death among drell on Kahje is a bacterial lung disease called Kepral's Syndrome. "
Kepral's Syndrom = bacterial lung disease. Which goes on to infect the rest of the body and kill you.
Lots of text about what I understand as Citadel policy:
Okay first as usual I fell I must clear up some galactic geography (Simple map). The Terminus is a section of the galaxy to the galactic north which covers most of that area. It's a space filled with non-Citadel members, warlords, pirates and the like which as a general rule of thumb don't like the Citadel. They have enough power that the Citadel is scared of fighting them. The Traverse is the section of the galaxy next clockwise from the north. It's pretty large and under developed thanks to tension between the Citadel and the Terminus powers. The Batarians were the primary race developing that region, until humanity showed up, now it's humans doing a lot of the colonizing there. After that you reach human/Baterian space (ts basically the same region). Inner Counsel Space is next then Outer Counsel Space. Then a small sliver more of the Traverse and back to the Terminus.
The Citadel is using humanity to clean up the Traverse not the Terminus. The Citadel really does want humanity to stay out of the Terminus militarily. Causing a galactic war is badstupid a good way to go extinct now, okay guys? People die, lots of people die, planet are rendered lifeless and bad thingsTM happen. The Citadel as a whole is war scarred and terrified of another major war. Twice they've faced annihilation and victory came at a high price and in the end not via normal force of arms (bio weapons both times if your willing to count Kogan as bioweapons, which they kinda are). The other guys? They're extinct or soon will be. Littered around the galaxy are the graves of civilizations that died by their own hands or others. The Citadel considers any major war an existential threat to be avoid if at all possible. It scares the literal and metaphorical shit out of them. It similar but not the same mind set as Europe had post WWI. Combined with post WWII MAD fears.
They want humanity stabilizing the Traverse and acting as a buffer state against Terminus issues. This would be achieved by having a strong military presence in the Traverse, but not to close to the Terminus/Traverse boarder that it cause issues. As well as maybe some diplomacy and stuff. Pirates/slavers should crash on the bastions of your defenses and be repelled till they get the message. If humanity could slowly and safely stabilize the Terminus great, any other way risks, far to heavily, war and thus extinction/bad stuffTM.
If I could sum up Citadel policy it would be, "Be strong enough that no one wants to fuck with you. However, to fix things that aren't actively existential threats take it slow and steady. Rapid/heavy handed fixes risk exploding into existential treats/wars."
The Batarian are their own mess politically. On one hand the war thing still applies at the same time they kinda are assholes and SA and Baterian space overlap pretty directly. The argument that from the SA's perspective the Batarians had effectively declared war on the SA long ago holds a great deal of ground here, though it does make humans seem like they are in naive to the horrors of galactic war. Which they are. The revealing attitude in this game is currently, "Fine you to can have your war, but don't let it go to far out of control. We'll be cheering for the humans, because the Batarians are assholes."
TL;DR: Citadel wants no wars and the Traverse stabilized. The Terminus can go on being it's fucked up self.
In other news the update is done ish... just need to do some minor editing and stuff. Should be posted in <30 min.
Thunder (Research Results and Personal Actions and Events) 2174-Q2
Research: [X] Flawless Blackboxing: 1270.25 1,929.75 + 1270.25 = 3200/3200 – Finished
"Wait so if that does this... and if that... no..." you pause looking at the device in front of you, "Okay I built this. It's a clock, it even acts like a clock. Buuuut.... it still takes me four hours to figure out that the internals aren't a thermometer."
"Good enough, should keep everyone guessing."
[X] Colonization/Bioforming Genetics Package 70+330 0 + 400 = 400/400 – Finished
"Must be careful with rapid growth modifications. Pargia, classic case of over use."
"Super fauna as form of biosphere alteration, unusual."
"Multi-cellular organisms require complex biosphere systems. Development of complementary single-cellular organisms very important."
"Exotic conditions complicate things. Must consider energy sources, hazardous environmental factors, chemical resources..."
"Hmm... death world, not intended result. Avoid combination."
Can alter biospheres. Magnitude of change will affect cost and time.
[X] The invisible man 300 100 + 300 = 400/400 – Finished
"Good news, bad news time folks. Good news, the stealth suit works. Bad news, Kasumi borrowed it and we now have a 14-year-old girl with sound dampening, EM cloaking, and optical camo running around. You may all begin panicking."
Can produce stealth/cloaking equipment for Infantry and Powered Armor
The Invisible Tank [200] unlocked for research
The Invisible Fighter [400] unlocked for research
[X] Generation II Arc-Reactor 400 0+400=400/400 – Finished
The Arc-reactor is the foundation of PI's success. So it's high time you revisit the device with the new resources you've obtained.
And there's not much for you to do. The Arc-Reactor was amazing to begin with. Using better materials you can get four times the power for a mere 20% increase to cost and no change to production. You have added in a burst mode for ten times that at the cost of destroying the palladium core, but it's a bonus at best.
The biggest benefit is being able to make the arc-reactors smaller. Both Gen I and Gen II designs can be scaled down to about a centimeter across and generate 5 megawatts of power.
Can produce Generation II Arc-Reactors and smaller arc-reactors.
Thermal Compensator [1600] unlocked for research
Generation III Arc-Reactor [1600] unlocked for research
[X] Prothean Data 50 0 + 50 = 50/50 – One Data Set
Well it's pretty clear why the Mars archive is such a mess. Most of the data pulled out is one or more flavors of jibberish. The most solid thing you got was a pair of super simple formulas that maybe had something to do with economics... maybe.
Prothean Translator +5 = 5/???
[X] Light Cruisers (<500m) 10 0 + 10 = 10/600 – Work in Progress
Jeff has sent us some of his notes on starship designs he has tested virtually, looking them over there are some idea that should help with further developing our starship technology.
[X] Quantum Entanglement Communications 22.5 + 98.25 0 + 120.75 = 120.75/1600 – Work in Progress
Quantum Entanglement Communicators have been the holy grail of comm tech for a while. People have been beating their head against a wall trying to figure this out for decades... if not centuries. With our massive base of research we should be able to figure this out in a year tops.
[X] Omni-tool Upgrades 37 0+37 = 37/200 – Work in Progress
Hwan has had some of his scientists look into this idea. As an engineer he finds the idea appealing. Preliminary work has shown positive results.
Personal Actions:
It was you Birthday again this quarter. Last time you had a cake shaped like a fighter. This time it was a frigate. There is a small part of you that wants to keep up this trend, though it'll only last for six more birthdays even if you stretch it.
Physically you're still being ripped apart, altered and upgraded with nanobots. This is a good thing, but only because you designed them and know what they're doing.
Mentally you're pretty sure your sane. A little megalomania is normal for someone with you abilities isn't it?
You've been spending time meeting new people and hanging out, at least digitally. So that's good.
You're pretty busy all the time running a company and inventing new things but you do have some time for yourself: Spare Time (pick two):
[ ] Train/Study
-[ ] Attribute/Skill
-[ ] Biotic Techniques (Requires/Depends on Instructor. See listing, may pick two)
-[ ] Instructor?
[ ] Spend Time With [Person(s)]
-[ ] Doing what? (Leaving it up to them is also an option)
[ ] Meet New People
-[ ] Around Landing
-[ ] Employees
-[ ] Write-In
[ ] Explore/Visit
-[ ] Mindoir
--[ ]Landing
--[ ] Another Site
-[ ] Elysium
--[ ] Capital
--[ ]Elsewhere
-[ ] Earth (Where?)
-[ ] Citadel
-[ ] Elsewhere
[ ] Headhunt a research hero (this will not necessarily come into fruition immediately).
-[ ] Specify area of expertise.
[ ] Install Cybernetics
-[ ] What?
[ ] Continue Peak Human Treatment (Full Captain America Upgrade, Part 2/5 Done), maybe chosen twice
-[ ] Mental only activity
[ ] Rapid Peak human treatment (Requires both spare time slots and removes research dice for a quarter, full upgrade done in a quarter)
-[ ] Mental only activity
[ ] Trade a research die for another Personal Action (Debited to next quarter)
-[ ]What?
[ ] Write-in
Lift: A useful technique that can be used to levitate targets. Well know or it combat use where the biotic leaves the target hanging "helplessly" in the air.
Yank: Often described as the opposite of throw this technique violently pulls a target to the user.
Construct: A technique for producing simple objects out of biotic force fields. This level only produces weak objects of extremely simple geometries. (Cubes, Pyramids, Spheres) Many biotics develop their own personal advanced constructs or controllable ones based off of this technique. For example Gaver Dor's Biotic Hand technique.
Develop Biotic Technique: Invent your own technique or try to learn a technique you don't have a teacher for. Success depends on you mastery of biotics and the difficulty of the technique. [Hard, counts as two choices].
Events: Cross-cultural Norms
Liara and you sit in your "Office". Not the actual fancy room that exist mostly to look fancy, but the one where you can work and talk to people while fiddling with gadgets.
"What we've found is profound in a way. Yes there is a message to the future. But that's not what the box was for at all as far as I can tell. It's weather proof to a massive degree and it's endurance speaks a great deal to Prothean engineering. However, I don't think lasting as long as it did was a conscious design goal. Lasting that long was a side effect of producing a weather proof box." Liara is in full animated talking about nerdy archaeology stuff mode. It's entertaining to watch.
"Other then the memory tablet everything in the box is a trinket. The bottles contain hydrocarbons, electrolytes and water. The plastic cards are still a mystery, though each holds the same formatting, a title, a list of short text segments and then a list of longer text segments." she pause thinking, "The box contained a simple modeling kit for a building. Then there's the doll."
"Not really a time capsule for who ever comes next is it?" you ask encouraging her to continue.
"No it isn't. I'd venture that it's a game of sorts. Find the treasure box, leave something, take something. I suppose to people outside the field it sounds almost mundane, but it isn't. We don't get to see bits of Protheans living normally. Culture, identity, philosophy all gone... actively erased." Liara's mood turns sad at that.
"Hey we found something right? There's probably lots of lost hidden bits, just have to keep looking." you say aiming to cheer Liara up.
"Yes complete obliteration of all those 'hidden bits' would have been hard." Liara says perking up a bit.
You both pause considering the new state of Prothean archaeology for a few moments before Liara interrupts, "There is something unrelated that I would like to ask about." Liara says switching rapidly into 'awkward mode' her body and arms having trouble being still.
"Yes...?"
"Well in Asari culture a more, um, financially well off person supporting the endeavors of another less well off person in the same age range," Liara begins slowly, "in the form of grants, gifts, and such like," she continues dancing around the point, "can be... considered-a-form-of-courting."
"In a sort of I'm rich and successful and I like you and what you're doing so here's money way." she quickly and awkwardly elaborates, "Which sort of looks like our history? Once you adjust for species we are pretty close in age. I'm not sure how that works for humans. So...?"
Oh... well... that is a valid point. You don't need your CASIE to see that Liara has wandered into territory she'd not familiar with.
Time to by yourself a few moments to think, "Well, humans kind of do something similar, but usually with material gifts, not financial support for enterprises..." You and your CASIE aren't even sure what Liara wants the answer to be. You know she likes you as a friend and has fun talking to you about Prothean stuff, and she does have a good background in higher tech and can keep up with your own interests to a degree.
What will your response be?
[ ] "...but yeah that's sort of what I intended after a while."
[ ] "...'Courting' wasn't the idea there, but I would like to try to a relationship."
[ ] "...but that's not how I was thinking of things. You're a friend. That I do business of a sort with sometimes."
[ ] Write-in
Post Scarcity Society Convention
You have an invitation to the Post Scarcity Society's Convention. There'll be people showing off the things them have developed, discussion boards, and all the other usually convention things. A lot less marketing of things than tend to happen at conventions normally though.
Will you go?
[ ] Sure
[ ] Nope
Comm Network Interruption
"Citizens of Mindoir, I am Commodore Robert of the 4th Fleet's 26th Cruiser Flotilla. I'm in charge of the local SA force if you weren't aware. As you have no doubt noticed were have lost our extranet connection. While this can happen due to natural events, it can also be a sign of enemy activity. Thus it behooves us to act with caution, but not panic. The frigates Verdun and Somme have gone to check in with the Alliance and check the buoys. The cruiser Lagos was was escorting a convoy and will also be helping to protect the colony until such time as we re-establish contact with the rest of the galaxy.
"I will be coordinating with the Governor to prepare for a worst case scenario..."
You of course knew about this before the broadcast and have been working with Commodore Robert regarding your forces and his coordinating in case of an attack.
Well that's a not good sign, if an enemy is coming you don't have long. What sort of preparations will you make?
[ ] You could probably get those 5 GW test lasers working as ground batteries. (-300 million credits)
[ ] Some of the city shielding working would be better than none. (-200 million credits)
[ ] The Lagos' fighters haven't been upgraded yet, you could help install those kits.
[ ] Bah, it's fine. No reason to be paranoid, it's just space weather or something.
[ ] Something Else? (Note this is a small project for Revy and maybe a small team)
ParSec (Landing):
125 Troops in Legionary Powered Armor
12 Tiger IFVs
1,290 Accipiter "Atmospheric Edition" Drones
15 Gladius (Type C) Fighters and pilots and crew to match
36 Small Anti-ship Missiles
3 Standard Anti-ship Missiles
2 Large Anti-ship Missiles
135 Hydra Cluster Missiles
2 Lite Laser Pynda Frigates
2, 000 Tribulus Drones
Security (Landing):
100 Personnel in Legionary Powered Armor
40 Personnel in Hardsuits
2 Tiger IFVs
1 Set of Recon Drones
1007 Accipiter "Atmospheric Edition" Drones
Security (South Carthage)
54 Personnel in Legionary Powered Armor
1 Set of Recon Drones
1004 Accipiter "Atmospheric Edition" Drones
Security (La Morte)
54 Personnel in Legionary Powered Armor
1 Set of Recon Drones
1004 Accipiter "Atmospheric Edition" Drones
SA Units
2 Tokyo class Heavy Cruisers
12 Gladius D
12 Gladius A
Assorted Land Forces
6 Waterloo class Frigates
Assorted Land Forces
2 Huai-Hai class Frigates
Assorted Land Forces
-----
GM's note: Yay! Done. None of the events interfere with each other. Update graphics for the tech tree delayed until I can get the programs to play nice. You don't need to give me a wall of text for the last event, unless you want to in which case you could I guess.
Spare Time (pick two):
[ ] Train/Study
-[ ] Attribute/Skill
-[ ] Biotic Techniques (Requires/Depends on Instructor. See listing, may pick two)
-[ ] Instructor?
[ ] Spend Time With [Person(s)]
-[ ] Doing what? (Leaving it up to them is also an option)
[ ] Meet New People
-[ ] Around Landing
-[ ] Employees
-[ ] Write-In
[ ] Explore/Visit
-[ ] Mindoir
--[ ]Landing
--[ ] Another Site
-[ ] Elysium
--[ ] Capital
--[ ]Elsewhere
-[ ] Earth (Where?)
-[ ] Citadel
-[ ] Elsewhere
[ ] Headhunt a research hero (this will not necessarily come into fruition immediately).
-[ ] Specify area of expertise.
[ ] Install Cybernetics
-[ ] What?
[ ] Continue Peak Human Treatment (Full Captain America Upgrade, Part 2/5 Done), maybe chosen twice
-[ ] Mental only activity
[ ] Rapid Peak human treatment (Requires both spare time slots and removes research dice for a quarter, full upgrade done in a quarter)
-[ ] Mental only activity
[ ] Trade a research die for another Personal Action (Debited to next quarter)
-[ ]What?
[ ] Write-in
What will your response be?
[ ] "...but yeah that's sort of what I intended after a while."
[ ] "...'Courting' wasn't the idea there, but I would like to try to a relationship."
[ ] "...but that's not how I was thinking of things. You're a friend. That I do business of a sort with sometimes."
[ ] Write-in
Will you go?
[ ] Sure
[ ] Nope
Well that's a not good sign, if an enemy is coming you don't have long. What sort of preparations will you make?
[ ] You could probably get those 5 GW test lasers working as ground batteries. (-300 million credits)
[ ] Some of the city shielding working would be better than none. (-200 million credits)
[ ] The Lagos' fighters haven't been upgraded yet, you could help install those kits.
[ ] Bah, it's fine. No reason to be paranoid, it's just space weather or something.
[ ] Something Else? (Note this is a small project for Revy and maybe a small team)
That Flawless Blackboxing completion is sweet. I wonder how the galaxy will take it? Not that the salarians will mind either way, considering Mordin is sending them all the intel, but still.
I'm actually not sure what to pick on the Liara front. Normally I ship everyone and everything but it just doesn't seem to fit with the theme of this quest.
Going to do a minor, but important, re-write here.
[x] "...'Courting' wasn't the idea there. I'm not really the type for such things anyways. If you want to catch a movie, or whatever people like us would do, that might be fun though.
There's a difference between doing some dating and seeing how it goes vs. "let's jump into a relationship."
So I'm voting less for "Let's try to be a thing!" and more "*Shrugs* Sure, let's grab a coffee and hang out some."
