Traveller, The Rise of Empire: A Naval Design, Procurement and Command Quest

What would the Navy like out of ongoing negotiations?
- The return of prisoners of war, remains recovered from the Heimdall and wreckage.
- Fuelling and Resupply rights in S'Taxu for vessels flagged as members of the HSWB.
- Access to S'Taxu civilian construction yards for Home business interests.
- The option to offer recruitment to S'Taxu's population to staff an Interstellar Navy.

---

Peace Negotiations
The vast majority of participants in the negotiations are perfectly willing to spend time discussing the nature of things with the representatives of the Daughters, indeed the democratic factions do just that. It takes several hours to convince the delegation from the citizens council to return to the table, lured back in with promises that they are still the kingmakers in the ongoing diplomatic talks. When they finally do, it is with assurances from the Daughters that they are not present to delegitimise Home, the Citizens Council or the work of the Navy; instead, they are here to find a way in which they can offer aid to the peoples of S'Taxu.

The negotiations from thereon in are terrifyingly complex. Legal language, translated twice, only becomes more complex and the work is left to specialists. Some points of note are as follows:
- The Peoples Military Council will, of course, return the remaining survivors of the Heimdall and personal effects recovered from the wreckage. Unfortunately the wreckage proper cannot be returned as it was totally disassembled by their investigators and scientists in an attempt to reverse engineer the systems aboard. They do have the ships builders plaque preserved and would like to return it in a ceremony commemorating the lives lost.

- The Daughters of the People have access to at least one cargo freighter and will gladly coordinate and lead out-system efforts to deliver aid to S'Taxu, the PMC and the people of Xyphon. They will not take responsibility for the efforts, but will act as a neutral observer and distributor to meet needs. Cassalon will be their local point of contact for coordinating these efforts.

- Fuelling and Resupply for the HSWB will be available from both PMC and Dynast facilities, in both the inner and outer system. Home will maintain the stationing of two cruisers in the system until such a time as further developments require that to change. No group is particularly happy with the ongoing presence of out-system warships in S'Taxu, but they are also extremely distrustful of each other.

- The Xyphon Freedom League make it clear that they consider anyone aiding the Chambrestrong Dynasty in maintaining order after the war crimes they have committed are an enemy of the people and will be resisted by all measures. It is unclear what the other Xyphon remnant groups think of this, but they are certainly unwilling to disown the Freedom League.

- Both the Peoples Military Council and the Chambrestrong Dynasty seek assistance in building merchant jump-ships, cargo freighters to expand the flow of trade and pass some of it into the hands of the people being delivered aid. Will this open the way for Home corporations to expand into S'Taxu? Perhaps.

- The Dynasts are unwilling to approve of recruitment amongst the Junta as that would only lead to Junta personnel eventually crewing the nuclear weapon satellites. The PMC is unwilling to approve the reverse, as the Home Space Warfare Branch has already shown willingness to conduct orbital bombardment of a planetary surface and they do not thing the Dynasts should have additional support in that matter. The people of occupied Xyphon are too busy with their own issues. The Democratic Republic of Cassalon is willing to allow the HSWB to recruit from amongst its population, given the Dynasts are not.

With that done these negotiations are no longer the domain of the HSWB.

---

The Waiting Game
With six months until the completion of the Deep Space Surveyors, and the local cluster reduced to 'tense' rather than 'actively shooting', the Home Space Warfare Branch is able to focus on other, more important things; what exactly they are.

It is clear that the Home Space Warfare Branch has outgrown its youth as a simple branch of the citizens militia. It now operates ten interstellar vessels, three stations and two interplanetary ships, and plans to add four more ships and an out-system station in the coming years. The HSWB is now the peacekeeper and kingmaker for at least one inhabited system, and the direct point of contact for another. It is quickly expanding into something new, and it deserves recognition of that.

Should the HSWB's name change?
[ ] No, HSWB is a perfectly fine name.
[ ] It should be renamed the Home Interstellar Navy (HIN)
[ ] It should be named the Home Exploration and Warfare Corps (HEWC)
[ ] It should be named the Home Orbital Superiority Armada (HOSA)
[ ] Other - write-in
In addition, please use the next 24 hours (ish) to submit potential naval ensigns and naval emblems/coats of arms that can be used in various art. These will be selected from in tomorrows update based on submissions. Thank you.