- Location
- Singapore
*cough* metagaming what we know about Rachnai.
-
Going forward, links to content from Twitter (now X) will no longer be embedded. Pre-existing links should not be affected.
Attempting To Fulfil Your Contract: A Noveria Planquest [Mass Effect]
- Thread starter Faith
- Start date
[x] Plan Expedite Projects
- Location
- Minnesota
[X] Plan No overkill
- Location
- Canada
[X] Plan No overkill
- Location
- USA
This is a very bad idea as this only rolls 1 dice and this is not an action we want to fail.
10ebbor10
DON'T PANIC
- Location
- Present
You're right. I forgot one of those dice was used, not rolled.
Sir LagsAlot
Yandere Dice Magnet
- Location
- In the fridge
[X] Plan No overkill
Faith
Some idea of what I'm doing.
- Location
- Land of Waves and Warmth
Computer issues have escalated from 'intermittent failure' to 'the PSU is dead'. Replacement may take a while, and so needless to say update progress will be slow. I'm going to close the vote and roll some dice now, but it may take a while for the update to come out.
Burned_Cookie
Very tired girl.
- Location
- Plato´s cave.
- Pronouns
- She/Her/It/Its
Awww. That does not look like a good turn.
Hmmm...
Spaceport Expansion Program 211/500 3 dice +22+23+26+15= 297/500
Destructive Testing Range (Peak 18) 0/150 2 dice +8+75+10= 93/150
Destructive Testing Range (Peak 41) 101/150 1 die +74+5= 180/150
Network Isolation Lab 93/150 1 dice +84+ 15= 192/150
Prototyping Workshop (Peak 28) 0/150 2 die +58+23+30= 111/150
Breaking Ground: Peak 12 69/200 2 dice +8+24+50= 129/200
Ground-Orbit Uplink Site 26/300 1 die +45+25= 96/300
Mountain Monsters 22/100 1 die +43+7= 72/100
Enhanced Border Security 122/150 1die +25+7= 154/150
Emergency Drills 0/100 2 dice +62+56+14= 132/100
Internal Sweeping (Admin) DC 40 3dice +17+35+10= 62/40
So it seems like Korten, Synthetics Insight, and the board would be happier. Mountain monsters are still not yet done but we would have another free die to work on as well as security. Advanced Industries have another die free and we need to provide Itavan something to prevent shenanigans. The other corps are still needed for some red meat on them.
Spaceport Expansion Program 211/500 3 dice +22+23+26+15= 297/500
Destructive Testing Range (Peak 18) 0/150 2 dice +8+75+10= 93/150
Destructive Testing Range (Peak 41) 101/150 1 die +74+5= 180/150
Network Isolation Lab 93/150 1 dice +84+ 15= 192/150
Prototyping Workshop (Peak 28) 0/150 2 die +58+23+30= 111/150
Breaking Ground: Peak 12 69/200 2 dice +8+24+50= 129/200
Ground-Orbit Uplink Site 26/300 1 die +45+25= 96/300
Mountain Monsters 22/100 1 die +43+7= 72/100
Enhanced Border Security 122/150 1die +25+7= 154/150
Emergency Drills 0/100 2 dice +62+56+14= 132/100
Internal Sweeping (Admin) DC 40 3dice +17+35+10= 62/40
So it seems like Korten, Synthetics Insight, and the board would be happier. Mountain monsters are still not yet done but we would have another free die to work on as well as security. Advanced Industries have another die free and we need to provide Itavan something to prevent shenanigans. The other corps are still needed for some red meat on them.
trooperist
Cinnamon Roll AI
Korten Machines: +1P, +1F (Total 4P, 1F)
Synthetic Insights: +1P, +1F (Total 3P, 3F)
-1 Power (Now +7)
Better Port security scanning
+5 ES (Now 70 ES)
Unannounced Safety Tests
Admin security sweep
This brings us up to 7 Profit. Currently slightly ahead of our contract going into Turn 6.
Last edited:
- Location
- California
I think I have an idea about what happened. We were spending some much time with administration( spying of course) that our construction crews got jealous of the excess attention.
- Location
- alphen aan den rijn
Someone was Ether slacking off or something went wrong somewhere but not extremely so
- Location
- being near locations is my passion.
WE MUST INVESTIGATE ALL OF THEM UNTIL WE GET NAT 100s FOR EACH AND THEY ALL LOVE US FOREVER!
Edit: 'Love' is a foodstuff, right?
Turn 5 - 2183-05 Results
Faith
Some idea of what I'm doing.
- Location
- Land of Waves and Warmth
"A rare piece of good news from the Traverse today, as ExoGeni announces that its pilot colonial holdings on the Prothean relic world of Feros have finally begun turning a profit. The surprising turn of events, particularly in the wake of a protracted geth siege, has been welcomed by investors, with ExoGeni stock soaring. A spokesman from the group has said that a new understanding of the prothean systems still active within the ruins has opened paths to many new discoveries."
No one could reasonably have expected there to be useful junk on Feros - centuries of raiders from the Terminus had taken everything not bolted down, and then come back with crowbars for the rest. Common wisdom suggested that if any good stuff was left, it was buried so deep beneath sealed doors and heaps of rubble that there was no way to get to it.
Of course ExoGeni would have found a way. ExoGeni ran their operations very differently to the NDC - minimal oversight, maximum overreach, spreading everywhere like a virus. For the most part, it led to them running dangerous operations, cutting every corner they could to save the budget, and barely scraping a profit from anything, relying purely on the weight of numbers to turn those small profits into something meaningful.
But every now and then, in scraping away the dirt, they struck gold - and finding a way to bypass one of the major blockers to exploration on Feros definitely counted. Especially if it meant they were able to access a whole new world of untouched prothean artefacts.
You ponder, for a moment, how different your life would have been if you'd accepted their offer when they came headhunting. Then you recall what actually ended up happening to their floating city on Despoina, where they wanted you to work, and abandon that line of thinking.
"Next article," you say to your VI, as you reach for the next stack of progress reports.
There's a beep from the corner of the room and another newscaster's voice fills the silence.
"Geth activity has been trending downwards in the Traverse since the initial surge of activity following the attack on Eden Prime. Council sources credit this to the actions of the Human Alliance navy and their own Spectre operatives. Mercenary groups from the Terminus have also chipped in, responding to bounty requests posted by both the Turian Hierarchy and the Quarian Flotilla. Geth sightings have decreased by almost forty percent across the Traverse, particularly in the southern border regions..."
Although it hasn't caused enough fuss on Noveria proper to warrant your attention, a dispute between Itavan Skyworks and Korten Machines has escalated enough that a report has found its way to your desk.
Itavan Skyworks accepted a priority contract with the Turian Hierarchy to provide a number of new cargo vessels for their logistics division, and in doing so were forced to push back orders for a number of their other clients. One of these clients was Korten Machines, who had ordered additional transports that would have allowed them to move their prototypes off Noveria and back to Tuchanka for proper field testing.
Without their new transport, Korten Machines have a garage full of vehicles they cannot ship out, which also means they cannot begin work on the next round of prototypes. This has cost their Noveria branch a potentially lucrative design contract with a vorcha warlord on Heshtok.
Itavan Skyworks acknowledges that its actions may have caused inconvenience for its other clients, but due to the terms of the contracts signed, no reparation payments are required, so Korten Machines have no choice but to accept the loss.
(Korten Machines: -1P)
[ ] Spaceport Expansion Program
Port Hanshan's Spaceport is only capable of adequately servicing a handful of freighters at a time, and the size of the facility and staff limit the throughput of cargo. Under normal circumstances, the addition of additional docking and service bays would be a simple matter, but the idiots on the board decided that they wanted their secretive research facilities to be nestled in the mountains, and the flatter lowlands are too far for convenient travel, so any expansion of the spaceport will require a significant investment of time and effort, not just in construction but in carving chunks out of the mountains to make room in the first place.
UPDATE: The Narhu Combine believe it would be a natural and mutually beneficial arrangement if they were given the responsibility of providing the refueling infrastructure for the expanding spaceport.
(Progress: 297/500 - 20 Resources per die) (+16 Cargo, -2 Housing)
(Narhu Combine: +1P, +1F)
One of Noveria's infamous blizzards starts up early in the month, significantly hampering progress on the primarily-external construction operations. Despite the poor conditions, work does continue, albeit slowly, with the metallic shell of what will soon be the cargo terminal coming together. Walls and floors are emplaced, pipes and cables run, and soon the entire building has come together, fully connecting Lower Hanshan's cargo elevator to the spaceport complex.
All that remains is the construction of the new docking cradle bays, currently little more than foundations with a ring of navigation lights around them. The docking clamps, cargo cranes, and conveyor belts are already prepared, either stored in the terminal or waiting in orbital stockpiles for deployment once the buildings are closer to completion.
[ ] Destructive Testing Range
For all the power and sophistication of computer modelling and simulations, it is difficult for them to surpass the level of realism of reality itself. But live testing, especially of vehicles and weapon systems, can often lead to significant damage. Little more than a series of hardened walls to contain blasts and stop speeding debris, dedicated destructive testing ranges give engineers a place to cut loose and put their prototypes through thorough testing without endangering their neighbours.
-[ ] Peak 18 (Progress: 93/150 - 10 Resources per die) (Nezo Aerospace: +1P, +1F)
Work begins at Peak 18 much as it did at Peak 41, with metal girders and slabs of concrete popping up along the utility link connecting Peak 18 itself with Port Hanshan. The course Nezo use for their testing is already laid out with nav-beacons and lights, and crews set about planting walls at every corner and near every cliff edge. The blizzard somewhat hampers progress, but the group continues to make good time on their work. About a third of the track is finished, and preliminary work is complete along its whole length.
[ ] Destructive Testing Range (Success Overflow)
-[ ] Peak 41 (Progress:180/150 - 10 Resources per die) (Korten Machines: +1P, +1F)
With their current stock of vehicles finalised and ready for deployment, and no capacity to build more until they can get the current ones shipped out, Clan Korten has finally stopped tearing through the testing range long enough for the construction crews to actually finish constructing it.
With the test track sheltered somewhat from the blizzards currently hampering work across the rest of Port Hanshan, your crews have a much easier time getting out to the work site, and they now have a much, much better understanding of just how durable they need to make the walls. Wreckage and debris from prior attempts are scooped up and recycled into the newest, latest wave of walls and barriers, cutting a little cost off the top as enormous edifices of concrete and metal are brought into being.
A quick test run during a lull in the snows has a Tomkah practically bounce off one of the walls on impact (an act considered a rousing success by all parties, given the Tomkah failed to crumple or even dent) and as such, work is officially considered complete.
(+5 Resources)
[ ] Network Isolation Lab (Success Overflow)
One of the biggest difficulties in safely researching dangerous digital intelligences is that they are all, to varying degrees, capable of propagation through communication networks. Any network connection is a potential threat vector and containment if a malicious intelligence reaches the extranet is nigh impossible. As per Council regulations, dedicated Network Isolation Labs must be established for such research. These labs must follow stringent data security guidelines and operate in complete isolation from the extranet to ensure security.
(Progress: 192/150 - 15 Resources per die) (-1 Power)
(Synthetic Insights: +1P, +1F)
With most of the external signal dampeners and jammers installed, work crews finally move into the network isolation lab itself, reconstructing the internal power and data conduits, installing a series of separately-networked terminals for research use, and preparing a variety of computational clusters for dedicated intelligence software.
Knowing that the geth are going to be a common topic of research, you also ensure the lab has a large number of small containment rooms - barely more than prison cells, really. These rooms should provide a safe place to lock individual geth platforms without risking their escape, and each cell wall has individual jammers which may be disabled to allow geth in adjacent cells to network. The cells are watched by automated turrets, controlled through hardline connection by a security officer at the far end of the lab.
Between the Council's exacting standards, Shalesta's experience, and your own critical eye, you're reasonably confident that the Isolation Lab is about as safe as it's going to get, short of some kind of technological revolution. You'll be keeping an eye out, just in case.
[ ] Prototyping Workshop
For all the power and sophistication of computer modelling and simulations, it is difficult for them to surpass the level of realism of reality itself. But producing prototypes only to find minor issues that require the reproduction of components or even the entire system is a source of constant frustration. Many designers prefer actual workshops, so that minor adjustments can be made swiftly and in direct response to problems that arise during the prototyping and testing phase without requiring constant digital redesigning.
-[ ] Peak 28 (Progress: 111/150 - 10 Resources per die) (Long Winter Studios: +1P, +1F)
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the demands for the construction of practical special effects are very, very different to the demands of most other kinds of prototyping done on Noveria. Expanding the Peak 28 film studio to incorporate additional workshop space was easy enough, even in spite of poor weather, but the requested technology runs the gamut from stock to strange and only some is readily available on Noveria.
The more basic components, such as precision 3D printers, autolooms, and basic chemical equipment, have already been installed, but more sophisticated kit will have to be special-ordered for installation later.
[ ] Ground-Orbit Uplink Site
The existing ground-orbit communications infrastructure is in dire need of expansion, with original usage estimates far exceeded and redundancy units pressed into general service to ensure needs were met. A new transmission tower and accompanying infrastructure would bring network capacity up to a far more acceptable level and remove reliance on the backup equipment.
UPDATE: Due to ridiculous rumours and nonsense allegations of 'mountain monsters', the workers refuse to venture up to the site without a military escort.
(Progress: 96/300 - 20 Resources per die) (+16 Network)
(Cannot be taken without Mountain Monsters)
There is much bickering, complaining, and disgruntlement amongst the workforce as they return to the uplink site to resume work after their hefty pause. The fact that you're sending them up during a blizzard probably isn't helping, but the topic of conversation remains the 'mountain monsters'.
Despite the worker's fears, no monsters materialise, and work finally gets meaningfully started. The building and base for the uplink equipment are mostly finished, but with the blizzard bearing down it's simply too dangerous to try and install and activate the uplink itself.
[ ] Breaking Ground: Peak 12
When the NDC's Executive Board balked at the cost of ongoing developments and shifted funds into more profitable endeavours, a number of proposed-but-undeveloped sites were archived for later use. Abec Territorial Ordinance have indicated that they may in future wish to move manufacturing to Noveria, and one of those archived sites could prove suitable for their purposes. Establishing a transit route and preparing infrastructure connections is the first step of turning the site into an operational facility.
(Progress: 129/200 - 20 Resources per die)
With the path to Peak 12 mostly mapped out already, finishing the last of the work before the blizzard hit was relatively easy. The storm did cut off air travel, but the temporary facilities already set up at the Peak 12 site were enough to get crews started on the basic structure.
Though there's a fair bit of work to do before there's even enough of a structure at Peak 12 to take down the prefabricated shacks, work is coming along nicely.
[ ] Mountain Monsters
Wild rumours and conspiracy theories are circulating regarding reports of mysterious mountain monsters near the Ground-Orbit Uplink Site, and the mood amongst the workforce has soured. Construction teams are unwilling to go to work on the site without armed escort, citing attacks on their mechs which you suspect to have been staged. Send some of Matsuo's men and some of the new security mechs to sit on the site and babysit the workers until the job is done.
(Progress: 72/100 - 5 Resources per die)
With the workers finally getting back to their jobs, the guards watching the site finally have something to do other than wax philosophical and consume copious amounts of coffee. They run perimeter patrols, escort shifts on their way to and from the worksite, and stand guard over the mech maintenance zone to make sure there are no repeats of last time.
The monsters once so feared once again fail to make any sort of appearance, leading to much boredom and much disappointment amongst the ERCS troops. Despite that, the fears persist, although they are not as loud or as prevalent as they were before. Hopefully, they fade completely, rather than sticking in place as some persistent urban legend, but frankly, as long as it stops affecting your work crews, you'd be happy with either outcome.
[ ] Enhanced Border Security
Despite the stringent firearms laws enforced at Port Hanshan, Matriarch Benezia and her commando bodyguards were able to smuggle in not just their own weapons, but a small force of geth troopers, using scan-shielded crates, making a mockery of the Port Hanshan establishment and of its security. The ERCS have put forward a proposal to deploy new and highly sophisticated scanning systems, to ensure similar events cannot be repeated.
(Progress: 154/150 - 10 Resources per die) (+5 ES)
The ERCS staff, after a long period of experimentation and having to acquire a few bits of more specialised hardware, have figured out how to properly protect all their various highly sensitive cameras and sensors from the temperature extremes Noveria often throws around.
Once their modifications are verified to work and the systems are properly calibrated, it takes very little time for the scanners to be set up throughout the spaceport, including in the newly build extension to the cargo terminal and along the accessways leading to what will be the docking cradles.
[ ] Emergency Drills (Success Overflow)
As more details begin to shake free regarding the unmitigated disaster that was Peak 15, it is becoming increasingly clear that the corporations have become a little too complacent in terms of safety procedures, even those that affect not just individual labs but the whole institution. Enacting random, no-warning emergency drills should ensure they shape up soon enough.
(Progress: 132/100 - 5 Resources per die)
Over the course of the month, you conspire with Matsuo to generate plausible emergency scenarios for each corporation on the planet and, on a day when the blizzard isn't quite so rough and no one has any cargo deliveries scheduled, you put your plan into action.
Across Port Hanshan and its various surrounds, emergency alarms begin to sound. The corporate network is briefly flooded by concerned and confused messages, but though the workers quickly discover that it's a drill, they nonetheless comply with their emergency plans. Whether it's because everyone else was just more vigilant than Binary Helix in general, or because the recent disaster caused them to shape up, everyone follows their emergency drill plans cleanly and everything seems to go smoothly.
There's a near-disaster when the team sent to dig out Clan Korten find out the hard way that the krogan keep shotguns in their emergency shelter at Peak 41, but the turian's barriers mostly held and the hospital staff are relieved to have a good excuse to put their new trauma surgery to the test, so you consider that a relative success.
[ ] Internal Sweeping (Rolled: 62)
The NDC may occupy a place of privilege on Noveria, but the fate of your all-too-recent predecessor is a reminder that it is not immune to corruption. With some help from the NDC's Internal Affairs division, you can sweep a department to search for embezzlement, ineptitude, nepotism, and other forms of corruption. It's unlikely that much, if any corruption remains after Anoleis was removed - and any who escaped notice the first time are likely to be keeping their heads down low for a short while anyway - but it never hurts to check.
UPDATE: With your VI monitoring the networks for any sorts of mischief, identifying and monitoring corruption is much easier and much less likely to devolve into a tangled mess.
UPDATE: Your rapport with the Infrastructure department is such that, whether out of respect or genuine satisfaction with their current status, they will refuse to engage in meaningful corruption. The Infrastructure Department is not a valid target for this action.
(Breakpoints: 40 - Requires 1 Admin dice and 1 from Target department) (Remove corruption, other consequences unclear)
Whilst your reputation amongst the administrative divisions is not as beloved as amongst the infrastructure divisions, they seem likewise generally respectful of the fact you're not slashing their budget or demanding the impossible.
Naturally, between your investigations and the Internal Affairs investigators poking around, you find a few small credit-leaks, and you make a few 'polite reminders' about the importance of professional conduct and vigilance against corruption. Most of those leaks dry up or slow to a trickle shortly, and whilst you're sure they'll return, none of them are big enough to be worth chasing down and making an example of.
Aside from the standard bureaucratic penny-pinching, neither you nor Internal Affairs identify any meaningful corruption, embezzlement, or incompetence. One staff member was hired despite being the less qualified of the three final candidates, likely due to his relation to the hiring official, but less qualified does not mean not qualified, and frankly you don't care that much about the quality of the Junior Port Logistics Data Analyst Intern in the first place. Certainly not enough to fire a guy and call back one of the other candidates over it.
No one could reasonably have expected there to be useful junk on Feros - centuries of raiders from the Terminus had taken everything not bolted down, and then come back with crowbars for the rest. Common wisdom suggested that if any good stuff was left, it was buried so deep beneath sealed doors and heaps of rubble that there was no way to get to it.
Of course ExoGeni would have found a way. ExoGeni ran their operations very differently to the NDC - minimal oversight, maximum overreach, spreading everywhere like a virus. For the most part, it led to them running dangerous operations, cutting every corner they could to save the budget, and barely scraping a profit from anything, relying purely on the weight of numbers to turn those small profits into something meaningful.
But every now and then, in scraping away the dirt, they struck gold - and finding a way to bypass one of the major blockers to exploration on Feros definitely counted. Especially if it meant they were able to access a whole new world of untouched prothean artefacts.
You ponder, for a moment, how different your life would have been if you'd accepted their offer when they came headhunting. Then you recall what actually ended up happening to their floating city on Despoina, where they wanted you to work, and abandon that line of thinking.
"Next article," you say to your VI, as you reach for the next stack of progress reports.
There's a beep from the corner of the room and another newscaster's voice fills the silence.
"Geth activity has been trending downwards in the Traverse since the initial surge of activity following the attack on Eden Prime. Council sources credit this to the actions of the Human Alliance navy and their own Spectre operatives. Mercenary groups from the Terminus have also chipped in, responding to bounty requests posted by both the Turian Hierarchy and the Quarian Flotilla. Geth sightings have decreased by almost forty percent across the Traverse, particularly in the southern border regions..."
===
Although it hasn't caused enough fuss on Noveria proper to warrant your attention, a dispute between Itavan Skyworks and Korten Machines has escalated enough that a report has found its way to your desk.
Itavan Skyworks accepted a priority contract with the Turian Hierarchy to provide a number of new cargo vessels for their logistics division, and in doing so were forced to push back orders for a number of their other clients. One of these clients was Korten Machines, who had ordered additional transports that would have allowed them to move their prototypes off Noveria and back to Tuchanka for proper field testing.
Without their new transport, Korten Machines have a garage full of vehicles they cannot ship out, which also means they cannot begin work on the next round of prototypes. This has cost their Noveria branch a potentially lucrative design contract with a vorcha warlord on Heshtok.
Itavan Skyworks acknowledges that its actions may have caused inconvenience for its other clients, but due to the terms of the contracts signed, no reparation payments are required, so Korten Machines have no choice but to accept the loss.
(Korten Machines: -1P)
===
[ ] Spaceport Expansion Program
Port Hanshan's Spaceport is only capable of adequately servicing a handful of freighters at a time, and the size of the facility and staff limit the throughput of cargo. Under normal circumstances, the addition of additional docking and service bays would be a simple matter, but the idiots on the board decided that they wanted their secretive research facilities to be nestled in the mountains, and the flatter lowlands are too far for convenient travel, so any expansion of the spaceport will require a significant investment of time and effort, not just in construction but in carving chunks out of the mountains to make room in the first place.
UPDATE: The Narhu Combine believe it would be a natural and mutually beneficial arrangement if they were given the responsibility of providing the refueling infrastructure for the expanding spaceport.
(Progress: 297/500 - 20 Resources per die) (+16 Cargo, -2 Housing)
(Narhu Combine: +1P, +1F)
One of Noveria's infamous blizzards starts up early in the month, significantly hampering progress on the primarily-external construction operations. Despite the poor conditions, work does continue, albeit slowly, with the metallic shell of what will soon be the cargo terminal coming together. Walls and floors are emplaced, pipes and cables run, and soon the entire building has come together, fully connecting Lower Hanshan's cargo elevator to the spaceport complex.
All that remains is the construction of the new docking cradle bays, currently little more than foundations with a ring of navigation lights around them. The docking clamps, cargo cranes, and conveyor belts are already prepared, either stored in the terminal or waiting in orbital stockpiles for deployment once the buildings are closer to completion.
[ ] Destructive Testing Range
For all the power and sophistication of computer modelling and simulations, it is difficult for them to surpass the level of realism of reality itself. But live testing, especially of vehicles and weapon systems, can often lead to significant damage. Little more than a series of hardened walls to contain blasts and stop speeding debris, dedicated destructive testing ranges give engineers a place to cut loose and put their prototypes through thorough testing without endangering their neighbours.
-[ ] Peak 18 (Progress: 93/150 - 10 Resources per die) (Nezo Aerospace: +1P, +1F)
Work begins at Peak 18 much as it did at Peak 41, with metal girders and slabs of concrete popping up along the utility link connecting Peak 18 itself with Port Hanshan. The course Nezo use for their testing is already laid out with nav-beacons and lights, and crews set about planting walls at every corner and near every cliff edge. The blizzard somewhat hampers progress, but the group continues to make good time on their work. About a third of the track is finished, and preliminary work is complete along its whole length.
[ ] Destructive Testing Range (Success Overflow)
-[ ] Peak 41 (Progress:180/150 - 10 Resources per die) (Korten Machines: +1P, +1F)
With their current stock of vehicles finalised and ready for deployment, and no capacity to build more until they can get the current ones shipped out, Clan Korten has finally stopped tearing through the testing range long enough for the construction crews to actually finish constructing it.
With the test track sheltered somewhat from the blizzards currently hampering work across the rest of Port Hanshan, your crews have a much easier time getting out to the work site, and they now have a much, much better understanding of just how durable they need to make the walls. Wreckage and debris from prior attempts are scooped up and recycled into the newest, latest wave of walls and barriers, cutting a little cost off the top as enormous edifices of concrete and metal are brought into being.
A quick test run during a lull in the snows has a Tomkah practically bounce off one of the walls on impact (an act considered a rousing success by all parties, given the Tomkah failed to crumple or even dent) and as such, work is officially considered complete.
(+5 Resources)
[ ] Network Isolation Lab (Success Overflow)
One of the biggest difficulties in safely researching dangerous digital intelligences is that they are all, to varying degrees, capable of propagation through communication networks. Any network connection is a potential threat vector and containment if a malicious intelligence reaches the extranet is nigh impossible. As per Council regulations, dedicated Network Isolation Labs must be established for such research. These labs must follow stringent data security guidelines and operate in complete isolation from the extranet to ensure security.
(Progress: 192/150 - 15 Resources per die) (-1 Power)
(Synthetic Insights: +1P, +1F)
With most of the external signal dampeners and jammers installed, work crews finally move into the network isolation lab itself, reconstructing the internal power and data conduits, installing a series of separately-networked terminals for research use, and preparing a variety of computational clusters for dedicated intelligence software.
Knowing that the geth are going to be a common topic of research, you also ensure the lab has a large number of small containment rooms - barely more than prison cells, really. These rooms should provide a safe place to lock individual geth platforms without risking their escape, and each cell wall has individual jammers which may be disabled to allow geth in adjacent cells to network. The cells are watched by automated turrets, controlled through hardline connection by a security officer at the far end of the lab.
Between the Council's exacting standards, Shalesta's experience, and your own critical eye, you're reasonably confident that the Isolation Lab is about as safe as it's going to get, short of some kind of technological revolution. You'll be keeping an eye out, just in case.
[ ] Prototyping Workshop
For all the power and sophistication of computer modelling and simulations, it is difficult for them to surpass the level of realism of reality itself. But producing prototypes only to find minor issues that require the reproduction of components or even the entire system is a source of constant frustration. Many designers prefer actual workshops, so that minor adjustments can be made swiftly and in direct response to problems that arise during the prototyping and testing phase without requiring constant digital redesigning.
-[ ] Peak 28 (Progress: 111/150 - 10 Resources per die) (Long Winter Studios: +1P, +1F)
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the demands for the construction of practical special effects are very, very different to the demands of most other kinds of prototyping done on Noveria. Expanding the Peak 28 film studio to incorporate additional workshop space was easy enough, even in spite of poor weather, but the requested technology runs the gamut from stock to strange and only some is readily available on Noveria.
The more basic components, such as precision 3D printers, autolooms, and basic chemical equipment, have already been installed, but more sophisticated kit will have to be special-ordered for installation later.
[ ] Ground-Orbit Uplink Site
The existing ground-orbit communications infrastructure is in dire need of expansion, with original usage estimates far exceeded and redundancy units pressed into general service to ensure needs were met. A new transmission tower and accompanying infrastructure would bring network capacity up to a far more acceptable level and remove reliance on the backup equipment.
UPDATE: Due to ridiculous rumours and nonsense allegations of 'mountain monsters', the workers refuse to venture up to the site without a military escort.
(Progress: 96/300 - 20 Resources per die) (+16 Network)
(Cannot be taken without Mountain Monsters)
There is much bickering, complaining, and disgruntlement amongst the workforce as they return to the uplink site to resume work after their hefty pause. The fact that you're sending them up during a blizzard probably isn't helping, but the topic of conversation remains the 'mountain monsters'.
Despite the worker's fears, no monsters materialise, and work finally gets meaningfully started. The building and base for the uplink equipment are mostly finished, but with the blizzard bearing down it's simply too dangerous to try and install and activate the uplink itself.
[ ] Breaking Ground: Peak 12
When the NDC's Executive Board balked at the cost of ongoing developments and shifted funds into more profitable endeavours, a number of proposed-but-undeveloped sites were archived for later use. Abec Territorial Ordinance have indicated that they may in future wish to move manufacturing to Noveria, and one of those archived sites could prove suitable for their purposes. Establishing a transit route and preparing infrastructure connections is the first step of turning the site into an operational facility.
(Progress: 129/200 - 20 Resources per die)
With the path to Peak 12 mostly mapped out already, finishing the last of the work before the blizzard hit was relatively easy. The storm did cut off air travel, but the temporary facilities already set up at the Peak 12 site were enough to get crews started on the basic structure.
Though there's a fair bit of work to do before there's even enough of a structure at Peak 12 to take down the prefabricated shacks, work is coming along nicely.
[ ] Mountain Monsters
Wild rumours and conspiracy theories are circulating regarding reports of mysterious mountain monsters near the Ground-Orbit Uplink Site, and the mood amongst the workforce has soured. Construction teams are unwilling to go to work on the site without armed escort, citing attacks on their mechs which you suspect to have been staged. Send some of Matsuo's men and some of the new security mechs to sit on the site and babysit the workers until the job is done.
(Progress: 72/100 - 5 Resources per die)
With the workers finally getting back to their jobs, the guards watching the site finally have something to do other than wax philosophical and consume copious amounts of coffee. They run perimeter patrols, escort shifts on their way to and from the worksite, and stand guard over the mech maintenance zone to make sure there are no repeats of last time.
The monsters once so feared once again fail to make any sort of appearance, leading to much boredom and much disappointment amongst the ERCS troops. Despite that, the fears persist, although they are not as loud or as prevalent as they were before. Hopefully, they fade completely, rather than sticking in place as some persistent urban legend, but frankly, as long as it stops affecting your work crews, you'd be happy with either outcome.
[ ] Enhanced Border Security
Despite the stringent firearms laws enforced at Port Hanshan, Matriarch Benezia and her commando bodyguards were able to smuggle in not just their own weapons, but a small force of geth troopers, using scan-shielded crates, making a mockery of the Port Hanshan establishment and of its security. The ERCS have put forward a proposal to deploy new and highly sophisticated scanning systems, to ensure similar events cannot be repeated.
(Progress: 154/150 - 10 Resources per die) (+5 ES)
The ERCS staff, after a long period of experimentation and having to acquire a few bits of more specialised hardware, have figured out how to properly protect all their various highly sensitive cameras and sensors from the temperature extremes Noveria often throws around.
Once their modifications are verified to work and the systems are properly calibrated, it takes very little time for the scanners to be set up throughout the spaceport, including in the newly build extension to the cargo terminal and along the accessways leading to what will be the docking cradles.
[ ] Emergency Drills (Success Overflow)
As more details begin to shake free regarding the unmitigated disaster that was Peak 15, it is becoming increasingly clear that the corporations have become a little too complacent in terms of safety procedures, even those that affect not just individual labs but the whole institution. Enacting random, no-warning emergency drills should ensure they shape up soon enough.
(Progress: 132/100 - 5 Resources per die)
Over the course of the month, you conspire with Matsuo to generate plausible emergency scenarios for each corporation on the planet and, on a day when the blizzard isn't quite so rough and no one has any cargo deliveries scheduled, you put your plan into action.
Across Port Hanshan and its various surrounds, emergency alarms begin to sound. The corporate network is briefly flooded by concerned and confused messages, but though the workers quickly discover that it's a drill, they nonetheless comply with their emergency plans. Whether it's because everyone else was just more vigilant than Binary Helix in general, or because the recent disaster caused them to shape up, everyone follows their emergency drill plans cleanly and everything seems to go smoothly.
There's a near-disaster when the team sent to dig out Clan Korten find out the hard way that the krogan keep shotguns in their emergency shelter at Peak 41, but the turian's barriers mostly held and the hospital staff are relieved to have a good excuse to put their new trauma surgery to the test, so you consider that a relative success.
[ ] Internal Sweeping (Rolled: 62)
The NDC may occupy a place of privilege on Noveria, but the fate of your all-too-recent predecessor is a reminder that it is not immune to corruption. With some help from the NDC's Internal Affairs division, you can sweep a department to search for embezzlement, ineptitude, nepotism, and other forms of corruption. It's unlikely that much, if any corruption remains after Anoleis was removed - and any who escaped notice the first time are likely to be keeping their heads down low for a short while anyway - but it never hurts to check.
UPDATE: With your VI monitoring the networks for any sorts of mischief, identifying and monitoring corruption is much easier and much less likely to devolve into a tangled mess.
UPDATE: Your rapport with the Infrastructure department is such that, whether out of respect or genuine satisfaction with their current status, they will refuse to engage in meaningful corruption. The Infrastructure Department is not a valid target for this action.
(Breakpoints: 40 - Requires 1 Admin dice and 1 from Target department) (Remove corruption, other consequences unclear)
Whilst your reputation amongst the administrative divisions is not as beloved as amongst the infrastructure divisions, they seem likewise generally respectful of the fact you're not slashing their budget or demanding the impossible.
Naturally, between your investigations and the Internal Affairs investigators poking around, you find a few small credit-leaks, and you make a few 'polite reminders' about the importance of professional conduct and vigilance against corruption. Most of those leaks dry up or slow to a trickle shortly, and whilst you're sure they'll return, none of them are big enough to be worth chasing down and making an example of.
Aside from the standard bureaucratic penny-pinching, neither you nor Internal Affairs identify any meaningful corruption, embezzlement, or incompetence. One staff member was hired despite being the less qualified of the three final candidates, likely due to his relation to the hiring official, but less qualified does not mean not qualified, and frankly you don't care that much about the quality of the Junior Port Logistics Data Analyst Intern in the first place. Certainly not enough to fire a guy and call back one of the other candidates over it.
- Location
- alphen aan den rijn
Ah see a minor crack In the defence there but not really a major issue. Nice update.
- Location
- California
The wiki says Despoina has Leviathans on it. This quarian dodged a bullet.
Is this our first shenanigan? Not the worst considering all the boosts they've received up until this point. The Krogan will be fine.
Lol, look at these nerds spending late nights scheming to spook corporate.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Gotta love our krogan madlad tenants.
- Location
- Queensland, Australia
Just to double check, but one of the results of the Thorian was to leave it alive in which case it 'helps' the colonists with reverse-engineering Prothean tech using it's memories (but is actually just disguising the fact it's puppeting them) right? In which case I think that's what this Shepard chose...
Faith
Some idea of what I'm doing.
- Location
- Land of Waves and Warmth
This is indeed the first case of Shenanigans. There shall be more.
I'm pretty sure it's not possible to end the Feros questline without killing the Thorian, and Contract!Shepard would not want to do so anyway. I'm going with the interpretation that, as Shiala has access to the prothean cipher and is now somewhat bound to the colony, she's using her new knowledge of the protheans to better assist in navigating the ruins. That, plus ExoGeni is pulling out all the stops with their PR for Feros right now - never explicitly lying, but every slight accomplishment is getting blown out of proportion to build hype.
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trooperist
Cinnamon Roll AI
I guess Clan Korten learned a valuable lesson. Always include a severe severance penalty for breaking a contract.
Unfortunately this shenanigan affects the bottom line of our contract. Though right now we're at average/ever so slightly ahead for fulfilling our contract with a total growth of 6 Profit. Next turn I guess we can start working on a prototype workshop for Kantor Robotics. Or maybe finally the Data Management Traffic Center. With it being a cheap and easy project that gives 2 Profit, I really thought we'd have built it earlier.
It's been a long long time since I played Mass Effect 1, but I remember Exogeni's management of the crisis on Feros being an absolute shit show and wanting to shoot their administrator in the face.
Unfortunately this shenanigan affects the bottom line of our contract. Though right now we're at average/ever so slightly ahead for fulfilling our contract with a total growth of 6 Profit. Next turn I guess we can start working on a prototype workshop for Kantor Robotics. Or maybe finally the Data Management Traffic Center. With it being a cheap and easy project that gives 2 Profit, I really thought we'd have built it earlier.
It's been a long long time since I played Mass Effect 1, but I remember Exogeni's management of the crisis on Feros being an absolute shit show and wanting to shoot their administrator in the face.
- Location
- alphen aan den rijn
Not sure I understand what if anythi g those rolls mean and if they are good or not?