[X] Demand Tribute. Demand that the local citizens surrender then pay tribute, loading all available shipping with high value manufactured goods before sending them up into space with sacrificial crews. (Time taken and yield variable, depending upon Diplomacy and Subterfuge rolls, in the range of 5-75 Wealth)
[X] Return Home. You have achieved your goals, return home with your prizes and/or loot.
Voting has indeed exploded, it is also pretty solidly in favour of the above.
You have the domed colonies of Linxia completely at your mercy, roughly three hundred million people, not just the mining and fuel refineries that form the core of the economy here but also entire centuries old cities that are as prosperous and wealthy as anything in the empire. Whilst you have Captain Sones and his staff works on estimations of portable wealth you also have the Endeavour pinpoint every starport and all of the civilian shipping that failed to escape during your extremely rapid destruction of the defences.
Very occasionally a remnant weapons pod fires, failing to achieve anything, you order Captain Dame Juley Mara Wisanch to jump the Peregrine out in order to retrieve the Cirrus and your prizes. Further in system, you note that the monitor has still not launched but there is furious traffic from a handful of attack skiffs jumping back and forth.
Captain Sones Subterfuge Roll
3 + 6 + 2 + Subterfuge 15 = 26
Good Success
Something that is highlighted is that one of those attack skiffs has left, their jump emergence signatures are very slightly different and where there were three leaping back and forth to watch you and the outer system, now there are only two, one has obviously departed on a courier mission.
Meanwhile, given that Sones is quite busy with his own work, you have Commander Dame Thera Phardson of the Peregrine conduct negotiations with the local civil authorities. You demand every single jump capable vessel in the gas giant's system then, following guidance compiled by Captain Sones, list the products of their zero gee factories and refineries that must be loaded into these craft.
Commander Phardson Diplomacy:
2 + 3 + 4 + 13 Diplomacy = 22
Success
Unfortunately for this being a smooth process the local population appear to be replacing their head of government every few hours, essentially every time whomever you are talking to agrees to your demands they a replaced. This wastes almost two days until you begin bombardment of the terrain outside of several of the largest dome cities, greeting a hundred million or so people to a fusion bomb detonating just far enough away not to break their environmental seals, every hour until they change their minds.
With radiation counters blaring, domes starting to leak and infrastructure rapidly degrading, people start to agree with your demands and civilian vessels begin to be launched. Marine parties investigating the first few find that over half of them have been loaded with ballast rather than the high value goods you demanded whilst several more have their hyperdrives sabotaged and will not be able to jump out.
In retribution you destroy a dome, giving the inhabitants twelve hours to evacuate then blasting it with railgun fire to leave a city of seven hundred thousand an empty husk, though the local media reports only a thousand or so dead.
By the end of a week or so you have every jump capable civilian ship under your control with perhaps seventy percent of them insufficiently sabotaged to fly and maybe half of the cargo you demanded. No reinforcements have arrived but you are receiving tens of thousands of personal threats transmitted from across the system every hour.
Captain Sones Subterfuge Roll
5 + 6 + 2 + Subterfuge 15 = 28
Good Success
Captain Sones has continued to analyse local media and communications and has come to a worrying realization. The ranting about Chuang Mu's three battleships is because, in solidarity with their NASP allies, they have had them stationed at the Rana Salient. Right now they are apparently being ordered to Imhotep in defiance of NASP fleet directives, there does seem to be a fairly large minority pushing for quitting the NASP alliance given that it left them vulnerable to this raid, but a larger minority pushing for trying to force the NASP into open war.
Regardless you cannot do anything to spare Imhotep, the battleships will be there already and you lack sufficient force to do anything about it, you plot a jump back to Illam with your prizes.
The return journey takes three weeks given that you are burdened by a hoard of merchant vessels and you emerge back into the Illam system to find it in dissarray, several of your patrol cutters are rapidly jumping around the priphery, scouting for attack, the defences are fully powered, a trio of Dragon Class heavy cruisers is in orbit over Ilam itself undergoing refit.
Your jumping in with a heavy cruiser, three light cruisers, a corvette, an attack skiff and a flock of civilian vessels, obviously causes quite the stir though you quickly enough have one of your cutters alongside and her captain, a Lieutenant Leray, on screen.
"Sir! Sector headquarters has compiled a report." The information flashes across, feeding into your implants. "As you can see, three weeks ago a trio of battleships with the support of cruisers and attack skiffs crossed from the Rana salient, they immediately landed four brigades of marines under heavy fire support and functionally annihilated the entire Imperial garrison, along with the mercenaries, within two days. They are now announcing that Imhotep is an independent world. A fast skiff from New Theia has declared that this is not official NASP policy,a rogue action, but then they would." It is fairly obvious he thinks that this must be some kind of trickery on their behalf.
You will, once things have been sold and prize courts convened, gain the following:
17 Wealth from the two cruisers
15 Wealth from the corvette and attack skiff
25 Wealth from civilian ships and loot.
+57 Total Wealth
Despite the near complete success of your raid, you are feeling rather grim as you jump your battered vessels above Ilam.
What are you going to propose to the newly arrived Viscountess and the Governor General though?
[] Raid Chuang Mu, Again. You can force these battleships off Imhotep if you threaten their home system in greater force.
[] Harass. If you combine your ships with those of the newly arrived heavy cruiser squadron then you can try to pick apart the rogue fleet over Imhotep.
[] Reinforcements. The Imperial Navy is keeping it's capital ships in reserve as a fleet in being, but there is now a squadron of NASP capital ships pushed into Imperial space. You are not equipped to fight them but your job is to serve as a trip wire not deal with an invasion. Request that Fleet Command send heavy vessels to assist.
[] Other. Write in.
Also everyone failed their rolls to skill up Diplomacy and Subterfuge. Perhaps another time! Also you now have an obscene 237 Political Capital and 151 Wealth. Note that any ships you 'buy' with these resources will arrive 'next' strategic turn (though you are most of the way through this one).
