For The Tyrants Fear Your Might (A quest of interstellar rebellion)

[AKuz]

THE ALL-RADIANT CONGRESS

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Setting Information

The Solarian Compact:

Spoiler: The History of the Solarian Compact

Initially formed as the Solarian Treaty Organization from the ashes of the old United Nations Security Council, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, and the Global Climate Relief Organization in the worst decade of Earth's environmental collapse. The STO was originally a body tasked with overseeing the granting of offworld mining permits and the purchase and distribution of the resources to countries struggling from climate change.


The advent of the Korolev-Chandrashker gates and the construction of the first one under STO oversight in 2063 led to the beginning of the transformation of that body into the de facto single governing body of the Human species.


Reorganized into the 'Solarian Compact', the first Charters were granted to massive corporate conglomerates to explore and exploit the cosmos for Humanity with little to no regulation or restriction.


In the early decades, the Solarian Compact oversaw the construction of KC gates in the systems closest to Sol and began the process of granting colonization rights to the most habitable worlds within that region with colonization rights granted to a number of national and international blocks.


With the growth of the Solarian Compact's power came calls for the body to become more representative and democratic, and in 2099, the Solarian Compact held its first elections and constitutional convention, inviting representatives from the Sol system and the five systems that held permanent Human settlement.


Over the course of the 22nd and 23rd centuries the Solarian Compact has held fast to what it sees as its duty to act as the mediator and financier of the Charters, the unifying agent of the disparate first Human colonies, and the guarantor of interstellar peace for Humanity.


As of 2252, the three most important bodies within the Solarian Compact are the Solarian Parliament -Located on Earth, the Solarian Compact Navy -based in the Korolev-Chandrashker system, and the Solarian Central Bank, -based out of the Columbia System.

Spoiler: The Composition of the Solarian Compact

Organized as a liberal democracy, with universal suffrage, the Solarian Compact is theoretically overseen by three equal institutions: the Solarian Parliament, the office of the Solarian Secretary General, and the Solarian High Court.


Though the Solarian Compact prides itself on being a Constitutional government, the actual original document merely outlines the terms of admitting new MPs and High Court Judges, and the electoral procedures of the Compact Parliament, with subsequent Parliaments meeting to add items like the Declaration of Property Rights, the founding of the Central Bank, the creation of the Solarian Navy, and the Laws on Freedom of Navigation and Travel being added later.


The Solarian Parliament is made up of two thousand six hundred and twenty seats representing ridings on Earth, Columbia, Atlantis, Penglai, Olduvai, and Epsilon which are elected every three years to a Parliament that meets in the New York prefecture of Earth.


Though the many frontier colonies do not have direct representation in the Parliament due to being owned and operated by private entities, their inhabitants are considered 'Absent for Employment' and may register with a home riding and submit a physical ballot (for security reasons) by courier from when polls open until they close. Though this process was suitable for the closely settled regions of space at the time of the ratification of the Compact Constitution in 2100, the rapid growth of Human settled space in the century and a half since has seen the de facto voter suppression of over 90% of Human settled space.


At the first sitting of each new Compact Parliament, the assembled members will elect a Secretary General and a slate of Ministry officials on a majority basis, and those individuals will oversee the executive branch of government and day to day operations. Though the average Compact Parliament contains between seven to nine parties in each Parliamentary sitting, the vast majority of seats belong to one of either the Party for Human Rights and Liberties or the Justice and Development Alliance and have since the very early 2100s. The governments formed this way can be brought down by losing the confidence of the Parliament for example, by failing to pass a budget, the process of finding a majority government will repeat again.


Though a democratic body that has maintained stability for over a century and a half, the Solarian Compact Parliament has been dogged by accusations of dynastic politics, Charter influence, voter suppression, regulatory capture, inability to reign in the Banks and MIlitary, and corruption at all levels.


Separate from the Parliament is the Solarian High Court that consists of eleven judges that serve terms of up to thirty-three years, with each new sitting of the Compact Parliament selecting one judge from a list provided by the governments of the six main worlds of the Solarian Compact. The High Court rules on matters of adherence of laws to the Solarian Constitution, and have been accused of serving as an arm of the Charters, though this has been strenuously contested by the Solarian legal profession as a whole.


By law the Solarian Compact also oversees a number of other important institutions including the Earth Reconstruction Commission (In a permanent public-private partnership with the Earth Reconstruction Association), the Solarian Central Bank, and the Solarian Compact Navy, though these important institutions often exhibit an alarming degree of autonomy from Parliamentary control.

The Charters:

Spoiler: Ares Conflict Solutions

The result of a cleverly conceived merger between specialty transport vessel manufacturer Titan Staryards and Private Military contractor Martian Military Solutions, Ares cut its teeth not just supplying material to the skirmishes between Mississippi Shipping and United Starhaul, but in supplying military contractors to both sides.


The professionalism of Ares mercenaries and quality of Ares gear led to the rapid expansion of business opportunities for the company and investment skyrocketed even after the Mississippi-Starhaul war ended in a hostile takeover of Starhaul by Mississippi.


Thanks in part to Mississippi debts held by Ares, when the RT-2102 Gate was opened up for settlement strategic maneuvering saw the Compact grant Ares mining and settlement rights to the newly opened system.


The rest, as they say, is history. Leveraging the immense resources of the Alexander system with their existing military expertise, Ares expanded nearly exponentially over the following century. While they maintain a dominating edge in the military field, they now integrated companies in fields from agronomy to personal fitness centers to xenobiology.


Internally Ares very self consciously styles itself as a hierarchical military organization complete with a semi-formal rank structure and an ethos of respect for the chain of command, professional courtesy, and treating your subordinates with respect. In practice Ares is hidebound, authoritarian, filled with passive aggressive sniping and rampant empire building.


While Ares remains headquartered on Mars, they have holdings in several systems and own the distant system of Alexander outright.

Spoiler: Rhodes Mining

Rhodes Mining


One of the three original Charters that the Compact granted, Rhodes considers itself the singular reason that Humanity survived ecological collapse and spread past Sol. Immensely wealthy, over 52% of all material mined and processed by the entire Human race has passed through Rhodes hands at one point or another.


While founded merely to provide Earth the vital materials that it needed to rebuild itself after the lost decades of ecological collapse, Rhodes quickly expanded into all areas of the economy to support their mining, refining, and processing operations.


Dedicated to their vision of logistical chain efficiencies they've developed an entire chain of star systems into an efficient production center based around the resource rich system of Foundry, and the nearby feeder systems of Ecrams, Qem, and Crucible.


Rhodes considers itself home to a version of meritocracy built on hard work, education, and good old fashioned personal drive. This has developed over time into a stratified internal divide between the rank and file workers, the lower level management, and the highly lauded senior management. Each class lives in entirely separate worlds, attending separate schools, consuming different products, and leading very different lives in what many observers have labelled a de facto caste system.

Spoiler: Cernunnos Botanicals

they make food and medicine, the 120 year old CEO is kinda creepy tho?

Spoiler: Omoikane Innovations Group

Techbros, some of them science, some of them explore

Spoiler: Hermes-Ishtar Corporation

Born from the union of Hermes Interstellar Services and The Ishtar Group, the Hermes-Ishtar Corporation owns and operates not only the communications backbone of Compact space, but much of the content that crosses over it.


The results of increasing consolidation of pre-spaceflight communications infrastructure and content creation and management firms, Hermes Communications and Ishtar Entertainment Group were both part of the second round of Charters established after the advent of the KC gates.


While Hermes quickly established operations throughout Compact space, their waystations, couriers, and communications repeaters a common sight in every corner of Human occupied space; Ishtar Group mainly limited their own operations to Sol and the Radiant system, where Ishtar owned and operated the world of Elysium to support their many projects.


Following a wave of Compact space wide reorganizations following the Mississippi-Starhaul conflicts of the 2130s, a desire for complete vertical integration on Ishtar's part led to a mostly amicable union with Hermes in 2139.


Since then Hermes-Ishtar have dominated all communications across Human space with only the privileged internal high-level communications of the other Charters managing to avoid consolidation under Hermes-Ishtar.


While Hermes-Ishtar make a great show of respecting individual creativity, initiative, and drive from their employees; in practice this amounts to rampant internal fighting involving the parasocial personality cults of different "genius" inventors, artists, and executive that rise and fall inside of Hermes-Ishtar at a dizzying rate.

Spoiler: Mississippi Shipping Interstellar

Sketchy buggers, they can get you anything tho

Historical Topics:

Spoiler: The Democratic Federation

Between 2036 and 2071 the Democratic Federation was the governing body of much of Earth's Western Hemisphere.


Initially comprised of a Federation of Socialist, Anarchist, Communist, and other far left social movements, militias, and political factions controlling regions of Earth's North American continent during and after the decline and collapse of the United States of America (1776-2034) due to the effects of unaddressed climate change amplifying existing political and economic crisis.


Eventually solidifying into the governing body of the former United States of America, United States of Mexico and the Dominion of Canada, the Democratic Federation embarked on an ambitious program of cultural revolution and economic reform designed to mitigate and reverse the effects of the climate change crisis.


As the patron of much of the central and southern western hemisphere, the Democratic Federation attempted to chart a course of environmental restoration separate from that of the Solarian Treaty Organization (In 2063 reorganized into the Solarian Charter), choosing not to contest Eurasian and African domination of outer space.


Having never existed out of crisis conditions, a combination of pre-existing economic damage, sabotage, and instability drove the Democratic Federation into decline in the Grey Decade of 2062 to 2070 and eventually forced the Democratic Federation to ratify a series of treaties giving the Charters economic access to Federation member states in order to conduct vital reconstruction work.


A last ditch uprising by radical elements in 2072 to eject the Charters from the Democratic Federation failed when Solarian Compact peacekeepers were called in and in seven months of street fighting pacified most of North America's key urban centers via strategic use of orbital weapons on the areas of greatest urban resistance.


Though guerilla warfare would continue in the Western Hemisphere for another three decades, the Democratic Federation was officially defunct by December 2072 and parcelled out into a number of Charter owned reconstruction areas under Compact authority.


Today radicals still pine for the four decades that the Democratic Federation attempted to build an alternative to the emerging Charters, and the polity's distinctive black, red, and green flag is brought out for each and every Great Black Summer. Well into the twenty second century, riots were often accompanied by demands to 'Avenge the Martyrs of 72!'.


Despite this underground extremist nostalgia, Charter and Compact schools teach that the Democratic Federation was a collectivist state whose iconoclastic behavior saw the destruction of famous landmarks like Mount Rushmore, Stone Mountain, and other monuments to Liberal Democracy and the Free Market in a mad attempt to remake the human race, but whose doctrinaire adoption of command economics saw them unable to deal with the ever-changing complexities of climate change.

Misc Details:

Spoiler: The Sister/Daughter Worlds

The first five systems to hold permanent Human colonies are known as either "The First Sisters" or "Earth's Daughters", depending on who you are asking and their political persuasion. From oldest to youngest, these worlds are:


Columbia: settled by billionaire American expats and tens of millions of refugees who had fled the unfolding revolutionary violence of the North American continent several years beforehand. Columbia was founded under a vision of fidelity to the American dream and to prove the indomitability of the soul of the United States of America and liberalism in the face of the red flags of the (North American) Democratic Federation. Fiercely loyal to the Compact and the dream of Charter prosperity, and home of the Solarian Central Bank, Columbia is often known as the "Gilded World" in reference to what many see as a return to American Gilded Age wealth and social inequality. Ares Conflict Solutions' central command is located here.


Atlantis: With colonization rights to this majority oceanic planet initially granted to the waning power of the European Union, the nations of the EU opened up colonization opportunities to other allied powers, especially Russia and Egypt. Atlantis was often seen by the EU as a place to dump unwanted refugees from outside of Europe's borders, and Russia and Egypt's tendency to see the world as a genuine project led to the usurpation of colonization rights away from Europe in the mid 2080s. Known today as the most restive of the first wave of colonies, Atlantis is the most skeptical of Charter power and plays a delicate game of wealth redistribution to underwrite the greatest social security net in Human Space. Cernunnos is de jure headquartered here.


Penglai: Originally the world in the most need of terraforming of the original colonies, Colonization rights were granted to the People's Republic of China and their allies after a lackluster bidding campaign. As China's focus was mainly on attempting to stem the damage of climate change on Earth herself, colonization of Penglai initially lagged until the Chinese Politburo struck upon the strategy of subcontracting colonization rights to Pacific adjacent nations suffering from the rise of that ocean. As colonization unfolded in the early 22nd century Penglai became known as a multicultural mosaic as hundreds of millions from across the Pacific settled and intermingled on the wine darkened shores of that world. Known today for its vibrant cultural milieu, violent clashes between labour unions, and private police, Penglai hosts the headquarters of the Hermes-Ishtar, Omoikane and Rhodes corporations.


Olduvai: With Colonization rights granted to a coalition of African nations at the height of the 'African Century', the African Colonization Organization did not see their colony as a refugee destination, dumping ground, or resource colony like their fellows. Instead the ACO saw the colonization scheme as an opportunity to preserve and export the rich traditions and cultures of Africa on their own terms, fully intending to set up healthy and self-sufficient colonies. To the current day, Olduvai has the closest relations with the home nations and is the heartland of Daughter sentiment and a bedrock for the Party for Human Rights and Liberties.


Epsilon System: While not technically a single world, the cluster of heavily inhabited space colonies in the Epsilon system are always considered the 'Fifth Sister' or 'Fifth Daughter'. As the most mineral rich system of the original colonies, Epsilon was the source of many of the materials that helped pull Earth through her darkest hour, and the system was recognized for their efforts by being invited to send delegates to the 2099 Solarian Compact Constitutional Convention. Epsilon is famous for its people's long roots in spacing and for being the headquarters of Mississippi Shipping Interstellar and thus the most heavily trafficked system in history.

Technologies

Spoiler: Nanomanufacturing, A Brief Summary

Nanomanufacturing, summary:

The contemporary gold standard for manufacturing. These devices use mechanosynthesis, a process that guides chemical reactions by placing reactive molecules with atomic precision. Ribosomes in the body's cells use a form of this method.


While the largest units can create objects up to 2m x 2m x 2m, smaller units (halving the units each time) are viable on basically any human scale. Projects larger than this size (such as ships or buildings, need to be either grown layer-by-layer via nanofabricators attached to robotic arms, or assembled from smaller parts through traditional assembly line, dry dock, or construction processes.


In principle basically anything can be made with these devices, and some materials can only be manufactured via these methods in microgravity. All manufacturing patterns in Compact Space feature Charter DRM using embedded explosive molecules like octaazacubane or cubic gauche nitrogen that will damage a disassembler or x-ray machine making reverse engineering of their products difficult.

Spoiler: Virtual Intelligence, Summary

A common part of 23rd century life is the near ubiquity of Artificial Intelligences in daily life, from consumer grade VIs through specialist TLIs, controversial AGIs, finally the perpetually 10 years away Artificial Super Intelligences.


The common consumer will daily run into what are properly known as Narrow AIs, and generally labelled as VI -Virtual Intelligences- by people outside the field. This category covers a broad swathe of techniques, from search and pathfinding to expert systems to genetic fuzzy trees to deep neural networks, which are mixed and matched with each other to optimize for the designed task. VIs are ubiquitous, exceeding human peak skill in their areas of specialization (though real world applications often don't do all that much better than trained humans), and have spent the past two centuries getting augmented with more and more clever algorithmic tricks for improving VIs. In order to do this, the Charters employ large teams of analysts and software engineers to develop clever algorithmic tricks that supplement or outright supplant neural networks, exploiting machine precision where stochastic methods are inadequate.


The use of VIs in everyday life is well accepted by the vast majority of the population, with professionals mixing and matching various consumer VIs to analyse data or assist them with creative or scientific works. Some VI lines are well loved by both the populace and the Charters themselves, with Charter programmers often deliberately leaving VIs with behavioral quirks and unpredictable glitches that not only save money on quality assurance, but are considered endearing traits that lead to anthropomorphization by the consumer market

Spoiler: Artificial General Intelligence, Summary

Despite the mass comfortability and profitability of VIs of all kinds, the introduction of AGIs has been, to put it delicately, controversial. Though computer science has advanced to the point of producing programs that can not only pass the Turing test, but demonstrate sapience and match 23rd century human intelligence, flexibility, and creativity, the public reaction to the introduction of AGI saw the companies of the time rapidly pull them from the market, and even say the Compact itself move to heavily regulate the AI sector.


First introduced in the 2060s, the great tech firms began replacing their work staff with AGIs who did not require food, rest, housing, or pay. This shift led to an alliance between white collar workers fearing that automation would put them out of work and radicals who opposed what they insisted was AGI Slavery, a growing movement that would climax in the First Great Black Summer of 2084. When the ashes of the First Black Summer settled, the Compact's Parliament moved to grant rights to AGIs, and the resulting economic damage saw dozens of formerly great names in computing consolidate under the aegis of several of the first Charters who flaunted their extra-Solarian wealth by buying up prestigious brand names and research divisions on the cheap.


Since the 2080s, while the regulation surrounding AGI production and use have been severely weakened none of the Charters have sought to reintroduce them into the market, perhaps fearing another backlash like the First Black Summer and the few hundred thousand surviving AGIs that were granted Solarian Citizenship rights have found spread throughout the Compact and Charter Space where they usually work at the same white collar jobs whose workers they were designed to replace.

Spoiler: Temporary Limited Intelligences

Perhaps due to the risks of attempting to reintroduce AGIs to the market, Omoikane has instead introduced their flagship product the "TLI" or Temporary Limited Intelligence. Approximately as effective as an AGI, a TLI is billed as a more moral replacement for AGI that uses a suite of high end VIs and a proprietary batch of creativity algorithms in order to complete complex tasks.


TLIs are used as a fire and forget program designed to be licensed to solve a single issue, no matter how complicated and then delete itself. Though the TLIs are a black box product, scientists from the other Charters believe that the central creativity algorithm in the TLI is inherently unstable and rapidly degrades in ability with time, making the TLI an instance of Omoikane attempting to market a critical technical flaw as a selling point that is accepted due to the ubiquitous market practice of planned obsolescence and artificial scarcity.


Though expensive, most businesses and successful professionals will keep a few licensed Omoikane TLIs on hand to throw at difficult problems or to supplement manpower in crunch situations.

Spoiler: Seed AI, Summary

While AGIs have been possible for nearly two centuries, the promise of a Seed AI, a recursively self-improving general superintelligence, is perpetually 'a decade away from the market', and no successful ASI ever been demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Charters or the Compact.


This is not to say that the Gödel machine architecture or the AIXI model has somehow been forgotten in the past 230 years, but that the Friendly AI problem has yet to be cracked. Every demonstration has either stalled out or gone immediately rampant, attempting to overthrow Charter Space before being stopped by the safety net of Narrow AIs. The small trickle of roughly human intelligence level AGIs that are created every decade typically come from these projects.


Urban legends persist that a few Seed AIs managed to escape and hide out beyond known space, plotting to return and crush humanity, or that they control all of society in secret, puppeting the Compact and Charters from their very foundation and occasionally engineering publicly failed ASI attempts to allay suspicion. These rumours are, of course, patently false, and simply the fevered imagination of crackpots at work, no doubt inspired by entertainment made by Hermes-Ishtar that feature AI supervillainy.

Systems

Map made by @Redshirt Army


The Spinward Frontier:



The Middle Spinward Frontier

The Core Region:

UNDER RADIANT CONTROL OR ALLIED:

Spoiler: Radiant System

The Radiant system is host to a G-class star, only slightly smaller than Sol. The system itself is rather small and resource-poor; experts believe that one or more Jovian planets ejected much of the system's bodies and then followed themselves. This is evidenced by the system's asteroid belt degrading over time, with high levels of eccentric orbits and impacts on planetary surface.


Radiant 1: A rather unremarkable airless iron planet, gravity 0.4 Earth Standard.


Radiant 2: A slightly larger unremarkable airless iron-silicate planet, gravity 0.6 Earth Standard.


Radiant 3: A binary planetary system and the outermost of the Radiant systems' planets.


Asphodel (Radiant 3a): The larger of the Elysium 3 pair, Asphodel might have once hosted life of its own. That life has been snuffed out for hundreds of millions of years, though, as the planet's significant atmosphere began the runaway cycle of your usual hothouse planet. Hermes-Ishtar maintained a significant aerostat and automated surface miner operation for in-house manufacturing, given that the frequent asteroid impacts from the asteroid belt keep digging up chunks of the upper crust and having low-melting-point metals rain out of the sky and solidify, unoxidized, on the surface for collection. Gravity 1.4 Earth Standard.


Elysium (Radiant 3b): Elysium was settled in the late 2190's, being a relatively simple affair. Simple life had already begun to evolve under its oceans, but continued orbital bombardment far past the lengths of things like Earth's Late Heavy Period had kept it there. It was a simple matter of forming up a small anti-asteroid task force armed with tugs and mining lasers to artificially end the pummeling, and the surface proved amenable to Terran life transplants. The colony is energy-self-sufficient, using a variety of solar, tidal, and nuclear power. Gravity 0.9 Earth Standard.


Radiant I: The outermost significant feature of Radiant, this asteroid belt is more a loose mixture of a primordial asteroid belt much like Sol's with a Kuiper belt. The shepherding gas giants which once nudged all these rocks into their orbits are gone, and with it the entire outer system is a maelstrom of chaotic orbits as the belts lose their coherence. This requires constant vigilance from Elysium's anti-asteroid team, but the high eccentricity of many asteroids also makes it cheap and easy to mine the ones that might come Elysium's way, which provides a trickle of basic resources for upkeep and personal goods. All large-scale building and infrastructure projects have been supplied from out-system, however.

Spoiler: Gaid (Radiant controlled)

A G-K far binary system, Gaid is simply a transit point to Radiant. Gaid's own gate maintenance techs and SAR rotated in and out through Radiant itself. There is no infrastructure other than a set of buoy lines for communications in Gaid A, and nothing in Gaid B.

Gaid A1: An airless world. Quality 10.

Gaid A2: A planet much like mars with a vestigial CO2 atmosphere. Quality 7.

Gaid A3: This planet boasts a methane hydrosphere. Quality 4.

Gaid AI: An asteroid belt.

Gaid A4: A turbulent Jovian planet, its storms would make resource extraction difficult. Quality 5.

Gaid A4a: An icy moon, with tidal heating creating a large ocean under a thin icy shell. Quality 9.

Gaid B1: A molten Cthonian world hosting a simply ludicrous amount of iron. Quality 15.

Gaid B2: An airless world. Quality 10.

Gaid B3: An airless binary system with two near-identically sized planets. Quality 7 and 8.

Gaid B4: This airless planet boasts a large and beautiful ring system, famous as a screen background option across human space. Every few years, a cruise or scientific expedition will stop by for more images.

Gaid B5: A small icy planet. Quality 3.

Gaid B6: A frozen world. Quality 7.

Gaid B7: An interesting gas dwarf sometimes referred to as an 'ice dwarf.' Quality 14.

Spoiler: Shei

A close K-M binary, Shei is home to an old Ares penal colony.

Shei 1: A Cthonian world. Quality 15.

Shei 2: An airless world. Quality 12.

Sheol (Shei 3): A boreal world, with a large, decaying ring, the planet features two large continents. The population of the consists of a large prisoner population on the larger of the two continents and a small Ares training base on the smaller. Records show that the prison consists of several million persons convicted to "high risk labour" and dropped on the continent with automatic resupply via Ares contractors and watched from orbit by weapons satellites. Most of the planet's land area is covered in a native tree analogue with a strange multi-stranded trunk.


Sheol is actually home to a population of over 100 million made up of prisoners and their descendants taht Ares was usuing as a live fire training course. Cooperation between Radiant agents, Ares mutineers, and the Sheolites themselves have seen the planet freed.


Gravity .95 Earth Standard. Quality 12.

Watchman (Shei 3a): Once the outer of two moons, this body now boasts Ares' local light shipyards and system command center. Quality 13.

Shei 4: Spiraling in from the outer system, this planet will eventually evaporate near-entirely as it closes towards the dual suns of Shei. Quality 3.

Shei 5: Martian planet with an active methane cycle. Quality 5.

Shei I: Asteroid belt.

Shei 6: Jovian planet with high rotation rate. Slightly squashed as a result. Quality 8.

Shei 6a: An icy capture, this moon will be torn into a ring sometime in the next hundred thousand years. Quality 2.

Shei 6b: Cold Martian planet, covered in a thin layer of water and carbon dioxide ices. Active methane cycle. Quality 8.

Shei II: Asteroid belt.

Shei 7: Jovian planet. Quality 13.

Shei 7a: An icy moon with significant cryovolcanism. Quality 6.

Shei 7b: A tiny icy moon, this is on the edge of hydrostatic equilibrium. Quality 2.

Shei 8: Ice giant. Quality 6.

Shei 8a: An icy moon. Quality 9.

Shei 8b: An icy moon, orbiting in an unusual polar orbit. Quality 9.

Population: 103,000,000

Spoiler: Five Lions

While lacking any currently-habitable planets, Five Lions' large size and potential have made it a significant point of Rhodes' recent extraction efforts. Ambitious terraforming efforts have recently begun.


Carajas (Five Lions 1): A Cthonian ball of iron, it's actively mined by robotic Rhodes-built landers. Gravity 2.3 Earth Standard. Quality 12.


Five Lions 2: A small rocky ball. Quality 3.


Five Lions 3: A rocky ball. Quality 7.


Grasberg (Five Lions 4): A large rocky world, glaciation has rendered it uninhabitable for now, but terraforming efforts have begun to artificially ramp up the greenhouse effect and restore liquid water to the surface, along with mining its ice. Gravity 1.11 Earth Standard. Quality 14.


Five Lions 5: This planet's atmosphere is so significant it verges on a gas dwarf. While a solid surface covered in a thin layer of ice is at the bottom, no reasonable colonization is possible. Quality 7.


Five Lions I: This asteroid belt, along with all the others, is being mined heavily.


Five Lions 6: This Jovian planet forms the center of current Rhodes extraction efforts. Quality 4.


Five Lions 6a: This Martian planet boasts significant ice caps and active plate tectonics, though only a vestigial atmosphere. Debate on whether to put resources into terraforming it are ongoing. Gravity .81 Earth Standard. Quality 17.


Oyu Tolgoi (Five Lions 6b): Home to the local population in covered shelters, this Martian planet, while nearly completely lacking water or plate tectonics, has its own atmosphere. Comet bombardment away from populated areas is ongoing and is already beginning to show results. Gravity .79 Earth Standard. Quality 11.


Five Lions II: An asteroid belt.


Five Lions 7: An unremarkable Jovian. Quality 2.


Five Lions III: An asteroid belt.


Five Lions 8: Jovian planet, its rotation speed has resulted in an unusually calm upper atmosphere. Quality 15.


Five Lions IV: An asteroid belt.


Five Lions 9: Jovian planet. Quality 9.


Five Lions V: An asteroid belt.


Five Lions 10: Neptunian ice giant. Quality 8.


Five Lions 10a: A small icy moon. Quality 5.


Five Lions 10b: A large icy body, this was probably its own planetoid at some point before being captured due to the complex interplays of no less than 5 gas giants.


Population: 15,000,000

Spoiler: Osliam (Recently Liberated)

A rare system with a brown dwarf orbiting a G-type star (just barely in the limits of what's considered a single system rather than a binary), and with a Jovian planet orbiting that, and on top of that treasure trove a dual ice giant binary, Osliam presents a golden research opportunity, and was bid on by Omoikane despite its otherwise sparce resources and poor habitable prospects.


Osliam 1: A rare hot ice giant, this planet is actively shrinking on a measurable time scale. It must have migrated in as a much larger planet recently.


Osliam 1a: This once-rock-ice moon is now a tiny molten ellipse barely holding together.


Osliam 1b: This somewhat larger moon changes color unusually with its day, as the shade of its parent cools lava to a dull red before emerging back into the light heats the lava back to a healthy orange glow.


Osliam 1c: This entire moon glows dull red in its day, just barely solid, and cools to an unusually smooth moon in its night.


Osliam I: This asteroid belt was probably a planet before Osliam 1's passing tore it to shreds.


Osliam 3: A hothouse planet with a relatively thin atmosphere, it retains temperatures and pressures that are survivable with heavy-duty equipment on the surface—when it's not raining sulfuric acid, that is.


Osliam 4: This small Martian planet seems to have collected some of Osliam 1's offgassing in its move inwards, and has a renewed temporary atmosphere.


Osliam 5a: This planet seems to have survived at the edge of the frost line by siphoning gas off its smaller twin.


Osliam 5b: Barely a gas giant, this planet was probably only slightly smaller than Osliam 5a in the distant past.


Osliam 6: The focus of Omoikane colonization in-system, Osliam 6 retains plate tectonics from the nearby brown dwarf but no atmosphere, an odd combination.


Osliam 7: A brown dwarf, this substellar object long ago burnt its deuterium and now lies slowly cooling, glowing dimly red. It is, however, still giving off a prodigious amount of low IR radiation.


Osliam 7a: Once its own planet, Osliam 7a was captured at some point by Osliam 7, perhaps in the same interaction that threw Osliam 1 to its suicidal innermost orbit.


Osliam 7a1: This icy moon is simultaneously shrinking and becoming more habitable—while its outer layers of ice are sublimating, the fierce tides of its complex interplay with Osliam 7 and 7a are heating the inner ocean to temperatures comparable to terrestrial water sources. Some scientists even suggest a pocket of water vapor is forming under the ice, and may form an internal "sky" for as much as a hundred million years before the outer shell sublimates entirely.


Osliam 7a2: This moon is less lucky; its tides are so strong that they seem to slowly be ripping the moon apart. It won't have the honor of becoming more than an ephemeral ring; the same complex tides tearing at it will rapidly disperse its debris field. While it lasts, though, it's easy water harvesting.


Population: 650,000

UNDER CHARTER CONTROL:

Spoiler: Xotreh (Omoikane controlled)

A distant double G binary, Xotreh hosts a small habitable moon around Xotreh B, the smaller of the two stars. As such, development has focused on the second star, despite the fact that the jump points center closer to Xotreh A.


Xotreh A1: This world boasts an active liquid silicate cycle on its surface, with oceans of basalt and continents of granite. Gravity 0.38 Earth Standard. Quality 8.


Xotreh A2: A rather large airless world, its original atmosphere was likely blown off by a massive impact. Gravity 1.2 Earth Standard. Quality 9.


Xotreh A3: A binary planetary pair of airless worlds about the size of Mars. Quality 6 and 8.


Xotreh A4: A hothouse planet with a planet-wide sulfuric acid storm due to its rapid rotation. Gravity .71 Earth Standard. Quality 8.


Xotreh A5 "Cueball": This planet is remarkably similar to Earth—if earth was buried under a kilometers-thick ice sheet across 90% of the surface. One day, as Xotreh A expands and dies, this world will become an ocean planet, but for now it's a cold desert. Gravity .87 Earth Standard. Quality 5.


Xotreh A6: An unremarkable icy ball. Quality 4.


Xotreh AI: An asteroid belt.


Xotreh A7: A Jovian planet, Xotreh 7 corrals the entire inner system in line. Quality 10.


Xotreh B1: This planet must have once been a gas giant at least the size of Uranus before it was sent inwards. Now all that remains is a dense core with a molten surface. Gravity 1.51 Earth Standard. Quality 13.


Xotreh B2: A binary pair of earth-sized airless worlds. Quality 6 and 7.


Xotreh B3: Another once-gas giant, this planet remains far out enough to boast a wholly-solid surface of iron. Gravity 1.64 Earth Standard. Quality 14.


Xotreh B4: A Jovian right on the frost line, its tidal heating keeps its moons on the edge of habitability. Quality 3.


Xotreh B4a "Sushi": An ocean world with massive polar ice caps, Omoikane has constructed a series of seasteads on the equatorial high ocean plateaus where it was feasible to drive foundations into the sea floor a few hundred meters below the surface. These small facilities serve as housing, data storage, and production centers for the research teams studying the dual Cthonian planets of Xotreh B. Gravity .67 Earth Standard. Quality 2.


Xotreh B4b: The lesser tidal heating here worsened the glaciation, and the planet lies under a planet-wide crust of ice. Gravity 1.13 Earth Standard. Quality 10.


Xotreh BI: The close proximity of this asteroid belt makes it an ideal location for resource extraction.


Xotreh 5: This Jovian is definitively beyond the habitable zone. Quality 6.


Xotreh 6: A dense ice giant. Quality 4.


Xotreh 7: Jovian planet. Quality 6.


Xotreh 8: An exceptionally cold Jovian. Quality 9.


Xotreh 8a: An unremarkable icy sphere. Quality 8.


Xotreh 9: This planet would have a massive atmosphere, if it wasn't so cold it all froze and fell to the surface. Only a few degrees above the space surrounding it. Gravity 1.3 Earth Standard. Quality 9.


Population: 54,000

Spoiler: Bestreer (Cernnunos controlled)

Besides an interesting Jovian-gas dwarf planetary system, Bestreer holds little of interest other than its connections to other places.


Bestreer 1: An airless world. Quality 2.


Bestreer 2: An airless world. Quality 6.


Bestreer 3: This airless world once had a captured moon, torn apart at the Roche limit and forming a ring. A small gate maintenance and SAR team bases here, siphoning fuel and water from Bestreer 5 and mining into the surface for both resources and safe spaces for housing. Quality 10.


Bestreer 4: A rock-ice world. Quality 5.


Bestreer 5: Another rock-ice world made up more of ice than rock. Quality 5.


Bestreer I: An icy asteroid belt.


Bestreer 6: A large Jovian planet, on the edge of becoming a brown dwarf. Quality 15.


Bestreer 6a: This gas dwarf might have become a gas giant in its own right without its massive sibling. Quality 5.


Bestreer 7: Another Jovian. Quality 14.


Bestreer 7a: An icy moon, with an internal ocean buried under kilometers of ice. Quality 12.


Bestreer 8: An icy ball. Quality 10.


Population: 450

Spoiler: Akleod (Mississippi Controlled)

G-class star. A transshipping point to Radiant and environs, Mississippi keeps a substantial support crew on hand for possible cargo ship breakdowns or emergencies in-system, due to the slightly increased risk of issues from the absolute shambles of Akleod's inner system. A minor executive has also put together a cheap refueling and battery exchange station.


Akleod 1: Even actively evaporating and leaving behind a trail in orbit of dissipating volatiles, this body is large enough to have usurped Akleod 1a's orbit temporarily until it disappears away or the chaotic orbit of the two throws one into the star or out of the system. Quality 2.


Akleod 1a: The original Akleod 1, its orbit has been badly disrupted by the current, migrating Akleod 1. Which of the two gets ejected is still uncertain despite a decent amount of computational simulation; odds put it at 48-52% relatively. Quality 6.


Gnat's Ass (Akleod 2): A small, loosely-held-together icy body, perhaps what used to be an asteroid belt before Akleod 1's suicidal inner-system dive. It's not yet had time to fully reach hydrostatic equilibrium. Quality 3.


Akleod 3: An icy planet similar to Akleod 1, perhaps an old sibling. Quality 13.


Akleod I: An asteroid belt.


Akleod 4: A Jovian with an unusually elliptical orbit, it's regarded as the culprit for the chaos of Akleod's inner system. Quality 11.


Population: 5,000

Spoiler: Thoa (Charter Occupied)

As it turns out, transponder codes from regular priority messages through Gaid (now that we can see them, having backdoored the gate control) bear tags from a system, Thoa, along with navigational chart updates for any ships that happen to stop by. Thoa and Gaid both seem to have been nothing more than transit points to the far-more-valuable Radiant for Hermes-Ishtar, but Thoa holds a small anti-pirate base guarding against raiders from Signia. Hermes-Ishtar was apparently serious enough about it to have a converted corvette on station.

All told, the Thoa system holds gates to 2 systems besides Gaid's. There's also an unimproved jump point simply labelled as "dangerous." that leads to Signia

Thoa System Stats:

Thoa 1: A molten mess of a planet, it's hot enough that a residual atmosphere of vaporized low-melting-point metallics exists.

Thoa 2: An unremarkable airless metal ball.

Thoa 3: A super-earth hothouse, this planet would have been uninhabitable due to its gravity even before turning scorchingly hot.

Thoa 3a: A captured asteroid barely on the edge of hydrostatic equilibrium, the Nasty Bastardhad been excavating rudimentary shelters for "leave" for its crew.

Thoa I: An asteroid belt.

Thoa 4: A normal Jovian planet.

Thoa 4a: A moon much like Mars in climate.

Thoa 5: A Jovian planet with an unusual triangular wind pattern at the poles.

Thoa 6: Blooms of hydrogen well up from the core of this Jovian, perhaps disturbed by some recent impact.

Thoa 7: Bathyscapes would find themselves at home on the surface of Thoa 7. Pressures much like that at Earth's seabed keep a crust of ice 3 stable enough robotic drones could walk on it.

Thoa 7a: Unusually, Thoa 7a is the only large icy body in the system. Scientists are unsure of where the others went. As the only easy source of volatiles, the UNasty Bastard periodically stopped by a handful of obsolete volatile collection systems on the surface to top up.

Thoa II: A Kuiper belt of icy objects.

Empty Systems

Spoiler: Kimberly

Kimberly: A fairly unremarkable and empty system, this site was chosen as Rhodes' spinward boneyard—a place for failed experiments, old equipment, and ships so worn they weren't worth maintaining anymore, but were still valuable enough to warrant not throwing into a gas giant or otherwise completely destroyed. For 2 decades a Rhodes-affiliated salvaging contractor worked here, gathering scrap and other valuables, but following high injury and death rates and low returns, the contract (and most non-local dumping) was cancelled in 2247 (4 years before the March Days.)

Kimberly 1: A large rocky planet, this must have migrated inwards from further out in the system a long time ago to be so large so close to its parent star.

Kimberly 2: A Martian planet that keeps a comfortable daytime temperature despite its lack of atmosphere due to a close orbit.

Kimberly 3: A Jovian world.

Kimberly I: This asteroid belt is actually combined with a thinly-spread junkyard corralled by Kimberly's 2 gas giants.

Kimberly 4: A Neptunian world, this planet has several starship hulks abandoned as the closest stable orbit to the gate out. An old deactivation hub orbits in resonance with Kimberly 4a, the former site of a salvaging operation.

Kimberly 4a: The only significant satellite in the system, this icy moon retains a thin crust and a massive subterranean freshwater ocean.

Spoiler: Full Income Report

Total:


Radiant:


Gaid:


Five Lions:

Head of Diplomatic Corps:

Spoiler: 'Veronica Stardust' - The XP Star

Name: Amanda Redcrest, Victoria Blackwell, and Kayla Hayashi


DoB: "2222", 2219, 2227, 2224


Current Position: Influential media figure and figurehead of Social Committee propaganda


Not a traditional diplomat, or a traditional individual 'Veronica Stardust' is the persona of a trio of XP broadcasters who have been working together since 2246 and has consistently been one of the most recognized figures across Charter space and is a local Elysian celebrity.


In Charter space those individuals who choose to make money by recording their lived experiences, of all kinds, for later playback are treated with an indulgent disdain by the polite classes as a mix of internet celebrity and sex worker despite the practice of selling XP experiences being common in the poorer segments of society and a smaller portion of the professional middle class attempting to stay afloat in a tight gig economy.


Amanda Redcrest was a former media programmer whose attempts to supplement her income with XP work backfired and saw her fired from her job. Contrarily, Kayla and Victoria both come from lower class backgrounds, though Kayla's attempts to climb into the middle class by earning a marketing degree were frustrated when her lower class status markers and financing of education via XP work saw her frozen out of the job market.


A former collaborator of Kayla's, Victoria had been a rising XP star in her own right and had no desire to change her station, but as her brief celebrity began to fade Victoria approached Kayla to propose the creation of a dedicated broadcasting persona that both would act as. Later bringing on Redcrest, who they'd both done crossover XP work with, to do technical work, the trio used carefully gathered market data and some intuition to create the "Veronica Stardust" persona of an middlingly-intelligent and freewheeling persona who played to the upper class's picture of what depravities and indignities the poorer class must get up to in their spare time.


From 2246 to 2251 the Veronica Stardust persona (performed by all three at various times, though primarily Victoria) produced experience recordings that were nearly always in the top 10 best sellers across Charter space.


Though they enjoyed the wealth that they brought in, the trio increasingly chafed at the market driven limitations of Veronica, and were considering a number of possibly catastrophic brand shifts when the March Days broke out and all three participated in street actions in a private capacity after sending one last broadcast as 'Veronica' to encourage revolt.


Since the formation of the Social Committee the figure of Veronica has been rebranded to serve as the figurehead of Social Committee Propaganda and several major initiatives have been launched with her at the forefront including a highly successful part of the anti-overproduction initiatives.


As part of the now-completed campaign to maintain the charade that Radiant was still under Charter control, Veronica Stardust continued to sell broadcasts to HI media chains, though the trio could not help but begin a brand shift towards a far more intelligent and radical persona.


Pros: XP Celebrity, influential, well known, inspiring to the middle and lower classes


Cons: XP celebrity, little diplomatic experience, three people


Diplomatic Goals: Defeat the Charters in the field of public opinion, push social revolution and freedom of information and communication, cause public opinion to oppose attacking Radiant

Spoiler: Science Committee, Tech Reports

Unlocked FRM

Ares Peacekeeping Grade - Access to planetary army formation

Ares Military Grade - Access to mid-sized shipyards, bonuses to planetary army combat. Bonus to completion of Chinook remodeling


Rhodes Light industrial Grade - 10% increase to all mining income, reduced Cost for BLG and other actions that use basic fabber processes

Rhodes Heavy Industrial Grade - Massive discount on mining upgrades, able to unlock automated technologies with Omoikaine


Cernunnos Consumer Grade - +1 to all Soccom actions

Cernunnos Enterprise Grade - NOT UNLOCKED


Omoikane Consumer Grade - +1 to FRM reserach for each two tech bases unlocked (+6 currently)

Omoikane Enterprise Grade - +5 to blue sky research, automation with Omoikane


Hermes-Ishtar Consumer Grade - Your economy doesn't crash when the turn of funding

Hermes-Ishtar Production Grade - NOT UNLOCKED


MSI Consumer Grade - Consumer Goods, Drones, and personal vehicles, +2 to domestic projects in IndComm and SocComm

MSI Enterprise Grade - NOT UNLOCKED


Original Tech

The Box: Fabber the size of a X-box that can, with time, materials and power, print the components for a full sized box. Less efficient, but easy to print and hide.

Spoiler: Military Committee Reports

Defence Coordinator:

Spoiler: Maria Awhina, the Commando

Name: Maria Awhina

DoB: 2165

Current Position: Military Committee Delegate from the Radiant Veterans Guild


Born into poverty on Earth as the twenty-second century began to wane, young 22-year old Maria Awhina caught up in radical anti-Charter politics during the third black summer of 2187 and was convicted of property destruction during the rioting and sentenced to serve as a contractor to Hermes-Ishtar until her contract was paid off.


The stark choice of starvation or service to Hermes-Ishtar caused Maria to descend into self-destructive behavior where for twenty years Ms. Awhina continuously volunteered for the highest paid and most dangerous positions that Hermes-Ishtar had available.


Hermes-Ishtar considers Special Operations Lieutenant Awhina to have served with distinction throughout the heavy skirmishing of that era, though Maria herself continues to carry guilt for her service and her survival.


After performing exceptionally well in a hostage rescue operation Awhina was transferred to the Protective Detail Division of Hermes-Ishtar Security, and was eventually assigned to serve as the head of the Radiant Vice President's protective detail.


Over the next four decades she came to see the world as her home, and while her professionalism never wavered, her loyalty to the company who still owned her contract did.


This March, Maria had the option to gun down her fellow planetary headquarters workers to secure Yang's escape, or to finally return to roots in anti-Charter agitation. The fact that we are all here today shows what choice she made.


Pros:

-Actual Combat Veteran, knows Radiant inside and out, special operations expert, professional.


Cons:

-only academic knowledge of starship operations, logistics, organization command and strategic operations.


Command Traits:

-Objective oriented, unflappable, aggressive, prefers attacks and operations to come from unexpected angles.

Spoiler: Intelligence Reports

Reports from the Permanent Commission for Military Intelligence on hostile forces in neighbouring systems:

Spoiler: Forces Stationed in Thoa:

Blue Squadron:
-Allegiance: Ares Combat Solutions
-Service: Mars Interstellar Security
-CO: Rear Admiral Weylon Kang
-Flagship: MIS Yorktown

We know little about Rear Admiral Weylon Kang except that he has received a number of commendations from the MIS board for keeping costs low while on deployment. He appears to be making an effort to clamp down on the rumours racing back and forth across the fleet.

MIS Yorktown
-British Empire-class Fleet Tender
MIS Eurymedon
-New Model-class Strike Corvette
MIS La Rochelle
-New Model-class Strike Corvette
MIS Cape Rachado
-New Model-class Strike Corvette
MIS Second Schooneveld
-New Model-class Strike Corvette
MIS Matapan
-New Model-class Strike Corvette
MIS Valcour Island
-New Model-class Strike Corvette
MIS Kerch Strait
-New Model-class Strike Corvette
MIS Galveston Harbour
-New Model-class Strike Corvette
MIS Cape Sarych
-New Model-class Strike Corvette
MIS River Plate
-New Model-class Strike Corvette
MIS Third San Francisco
-New Model-class Strike Corvette
MIS Scipio Africanus
-Cossak-class Frigate
MIS Suleiman I
-Cossak-class Frigate
MIS Louis Botha
-Cossak-class Frigate
MIS Fort Ware
-Hudson's bay Company-class Fast Fleet Tanker
MIS Fort Mackinac
-Hudson's bay Company-class Fast Fleet Tanker
MIS Fort Osage
-Hudson's bay Company-class Fast Fleet Tanker
MIS Arabian
-Postal-class Courier
MIS Macedonia
-Legionary-class Fast Troop Transport
MIS Hispania Citerior
-Legionary-class Fast Troop Transport
MIS Hispania Ulterior
-Legionary-class Fast Troop Transport
MIS Gallia Narbonensis
-Legionary-class Fast Troop Transport
MIS Sicilia
-Legionary-class Fast Troop Transport
MIS Corsica et Sardinia
-Legionary-class Fast Troop Transport

Fixed Defences:
Battery A
-MSS-54-F LMP Constellation
Battery B
-MSS-54-F LMP Constellation
Battery C
-MSS-54-F LMP Constellation
Shoal A
-ASR-33-C TAM Shoal
Shoal B
-ASR-33-C TAM Shoal
Shoal C
-ASR-33-C TAM Shoal
Shoal D
-ASR-33-C TAM Shoal
Shoal E
-ASR-33-C TAM Shoal
Shoal F
-ASR-33-C TAM Shoal

Spoiler: Forces Stationed in Osliam:

Fixed Defences:
Battery A
-Blindfire-Pattern LMP Constellation
Battery B
-Airstrike Pattern LMP Constellation
Shoal A
-Macross-Pattern LMP Constellation
Shoal B
-Macross-Pattern LMP Constellation
Strikecraft Wing, ID# 48603
-Radiance-Type Strikecraft

Spoiler: Forces Stationed in Kimberly

-None

Spoiler: Forces Stationed in Bestreer:

-None

Spoiler: Forces Stationed in Akleod:

Local Security Forces
-Approximately fifty strong volunteer station security militia drawn from station personnel

Spoiler: Forces Stationed in Xotreh:

Local Security Forces:
-Deep Space Security Solutions (Omoikane Subsidiary) Customs shuttle squadron based out of Xotreh B-4a's orbital station
-Three companies of Standard Planetary Security Company (Ares subsidiary) troops based out of Xotreh B-4a's habitat complexes for internal security and law enforcement

Spoiler: SolNav Forces Stationed In Raphanus:

139th Solarian Navy Squadron:
-Allegiance: Solarian Compact
-Service: Solarian Navy
-CO: Vice Admiral David Visser
-Flagship: SNS Krak de Chevaliers

Thanks to his heavy handed labour discipline and extractive tribute and demands for corvee labour from Ascension Admiral Visser is viscerally hated by the populace of Ascension, and to a lesser degree the rest of the Solarian Force as well. While the gate's completion draws near, it is uncertain what path that Visser will persue.

SNS Krak de Chevaliers
-Star-hold-Class light-tender
SNS Victoria Newman
-Leonard Greyson-Chang-Class Strike Corvette
SNS Julia Stonechild
-Leonard Greyson-Chang-Class Strike Corvette
SNS Robert Chuikov
-Leonard Greyson-Chang-Class Strike Corvette
SNS Wallace Al-Wazir
-Leonard Greyson-Chang-Class Strike Corvette
SNS Dawn's Early Light
-Freedom's Light-class cruiser
SNS Jacob Nagumo
-Herald Kanumba-Class frigate
SNS Alexander Hamilton
-Liberation-class troop transport

Solarian Marines now spread throughout the system

PCMI Provides new system data on the single system that lies beyond beyond Five Lions:

Spoiler: Mobile Assets

Mobile Force:

Current Orders: Defend the All Radiant Congress by acting as a rapid response in the event of any hostile acts.

CO: Commodore Stephanie Rousseau

CNS Velasco, United States of America-class Fleet Carrier

-CO: Captain Esteri Attar

-Orca Wing, Switchblade-type strikecraft (Customized)

-CO: Wing Commander Jasmine Ang

-Red Wolf Wing, Switchblade-type strikecraft (Customized)

-CO: Wing Commander Heloisa Kimura de Lima

CNS Shieldmaiden, Great Heathen-class Light Cruiser

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-

CNS Shamhat, Great Heathen-class Light Cruiser

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-

CNS Righteous Tempest, Cossak-class Frigate

-CO: Captain Vehement Shade

CNS August Willich, Cossak-class Frigate

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-

CNS Elysium, Cossak-class Frigate

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-

CNS Asphodel, Cossak-class Frigate

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-

-


Home Force:

Current Orders: Defend Radiant, comet patrol, act as a reserve force

CO: Commodore Erina Kozlova

CNS Blaire Mountain, New Model-Class Strike Corvette

-CO: Captain Guillermo Kageyama

CNS Scutum, Comet-Class Patrol Corvette

-CO: Captain Martin Pagonis

CNS Buckler, Comet-Class Patrol Corvette

-CO: Captain Samuel Smiles

CNS Nasty Bastard, A Jury Rigged Mess of a Drone Carrier

-CO: Captain Jean-Paul Beaumont

-


Radiant System Self Defence Force:

Current Orders: Defend Radiant, comet patrol

CO: Overseen by Admiral Gregory Mansur in his capacity as MilComm Chief of Naval Operations


Radiant Customs Squadron, Arabia-class boarding craft with marine contingents

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-

Switchblade Wing, Switchblade-type strikecraft

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-

Apogee Wing, Switchblade-type strikecraft

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-


Battery A, Blindfire-Pattern LMP Constellation

(Radiant-Bestreer Gate)

Battery B, Blindfire-Pattern LMP Constellation

(Radiant-Bestreer Gate)

Battery C, Blindfire-Pattern LMP Constellation

(Radiant-Bestreer Gate)

Battery D, Airstrike-Pattern LMP Constellation

(Radiant-Bestreer Gate)

Battery E, Airstrike-Pattern LMP Constellation

(Radiant-Bestreer Gate)

Battery F, Airstrike-Pattern LMP Constellation

(Radiant-Bestreer Gate)

Shoal A, Macross-Pattern TAM Shoal

(Radiant-Bestreer Gate)


Radiant Orbital Yard 1

Current construction: None

Radiant Orbital Yard 1

Current construction: None


-


Gaid System Self Defence Force:

Current Orders: Defend Gaid

CO: Commodore Victor Raine

Battery A, Blindfire-Pattern LMP Constellation

Battery B, Blindfire-Pattern LMP Constellation

Battery C, Blindfire-Pattern LMP Constellation

Battery D, Airstrike-Pattern LMP Constellation

Battery E, Airstrike-Pattern LMP Constellation

Battery F, Airstrike-Pattern LMP Constellation

Shoal A, Macross-Pattern TAM Shoal

Shoal A, Macross-Pattern TAM Shoal

Shoal A, Macross-Pattern TAM Shoal

Zephyr Wing, Switchblade-Type Strikecraft (Customized)

-CO: Wing Commander Ara Helge

Aeolus Wing, Switchblade-Type Strikecraft (Customized)

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-

Gale Wing, Switchblade-Type Strikecraft (Customized)

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-

-

Frontier Force

Current Orders: Keep watch on SolNav force in Raphanus, assist with integration of Ascension military forces, patrol Spinward frontier

CO: Commodore Shayla McLean

CNS Kiel Mutiny, Kaiserreich-class BattleCruiser

-CO: Captain Inana Devlin

CNS Choreographer, Janissary-class Light Tender

-CO: Captain Karl Xanthopoulos

CNS Valiant, New Model-class Strike Corvette, attached to CNS Choreographer

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-

CNS Defiant, New Model-class Strike Corvette, attached to CNS Choreographer

-CO: Captain Fool's Errand

CNS Reliant, New Model-class Strike Corvette, attached to CNS Choreographer

-CO: Captain Rouge Napier

CNS Actium, New Model-class Strike Corvette, attached to CNS Choreographer

-CO: Captain John Rankin

CNS Crête-à-Pierrot, New Model-class Strike Corvette, attached to CNS Choreographer

-CO: Captain Nkiru Chaudhari

CNS Valmy, New Model-Class Strike Corvette, attached to CNS Choreographer

-CO: Captain Sumac Barros

CNS Revolutionary Will, Cossak-class Frigate

-CO: Captain Yamamoto Hanae

CNS Revolutionary Grace, Cossak-class Frigate

-CO: -N/A DATABASE ERROR, CONTACT IT FOR HELP-

CNS Under New Management, Don-Class Fast Tanker

-CO: Captain Adras Kierenos

CNS Liberte, Hollywood(C)-Class Frigate

-CO: Captain Colin McRae

CNS Egalite, Hollywood(C)-Class Frigate

-CO: Captain Adelia Swift

Resources
Naval Ship Types: Ship Types (Public Version)
Naval Officers: Congressional Navy Officers (Public Version)
System Codex: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rtNbPCcPsTK7HCHKo9dPgK7ntx5tBKOpltrZb_In7GY/edit#
Blaze Zhang: Blaze Zhang is trans-masc. That means his pronouns are he/him.


DISCORD LINK:

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[clockworkchaos]

Okay, so I have a contact package proposal for the other charter planets.

---

Hi there, I'm Veronica Stardust Radiant's special little ambassador, just for you, [CEO NAME HERE]. We have had a revolution, but only because old HI and Atlas were such assholes. Not like [Insert charter name here] you've always been great with your [insert product CEO works on here], and we really want to do business with you. Also, it's so hard running our planet, and we are so week kneed. Maybe if we had a generous CEO who gave us good deals on trade we'd just melt into their arms, not like those HI and Atlas ones. Some of our people admire you so much they just want to go out and see how great you run your planets. But enough about that, have some drugs, and let's talk trade, okay?

 

[Jane Dough]

[X] [Name] Write in - All-Radiant Congress

 

[LucidProp]

[X] [Name] Write in - All-Radiant Congress

 

[Ultrackius]

[X] [Name] Write in - People's Republic of Elysium

alternatively

[X] [Name] Write in - Radiant People's Republic

 

[clockworkchaos]

Prologue: News

Spoiler: "Hermes Ishtar Pacification Procedures News Templates"

Template #16

Variables needed
Name of Riot leadership - [RL]
Purchase by the reader- [PR1]
#The auto selector should find one that's the highest income purchase relative to other #purchases, but make sure it looks good, if not, find something.
Purchase by reader- [PR2]
Location of riots - [Loc]
Building damaged in riots - [Build]
#This auto-populates with a palace where either purchase variable can be gotten, it tries to find #one with records of damage but will go for anything in the area. Make sure it's not something #that would be obviously not attacked.
Estimate damages- [DMG]

"Communist leader decries "Wasteful decadence of [PR1]"

In a speech before a crowd armed with bats, hammers, and illegal guns, [RL] decried the wasteful decadence of the upper class. "While we have nothing, they sit in luxury, in the coming society, such decadence will not stand". [RL] then went on to list several luxuries that would be ended once the revolution came, including [PR1], organic foods, [PR2], HI media, and Life expansion treatments. [RL] then led the crowd to attack [BL]

[RL] has been the leader of several riots in [Loc] leading to damages of an estimated [DMG]. And attacks on several people deemed 'enemies of the revolution.'

Template #17 - Only for those over 50% income.

Variables needed
Name of Riot leadership - [RL]
Income level-[Inc]
#This variable should automatically populate, it's an income amount derived from the incomes of the reader and all associated peers, so that when published no one will see different numbers, and no one will be below the income level. In extreme cases of cross income interactions, the algorithm will instead work to minimize the numbers below the reported income.
Story picture - [PIC]
#This picture was taken from the Disney's Planet riots, the auto-shop feature should smooth it #over to look like whatever planet you are on. Since you can use the same photo for every #variation of this, make sure to take the time to make sure it looks good.

"Communist leader decries all who make over [Inc]."

In a speech before a crowd armed with bats, hammers, and illegal guns, [RL] declared that no person should earn more than [INC][. That once the revolution came, all incomes would be equal, and those who had taken everything would pay. The crowd then brought out a guillotine and used looted store marionettes for mock executions

[PIC]

Spoiler: Marketing Data for #543-3582754

Customer #543-3582754
Planet: Radiant
Income percentile (3-year average): 74
Income percentile (1-year average) 82 (flagged, income increase)
Income relative to mean income of Radiant: 40%

Estimated net worth percentile: 90
Estimated net worth as a percentage of mean Radient net worth: 10%

Sex: Transgender female
Race: Default
Spirituality: Default
Work specialization: Data/ Accounting
Hobbies: Reading, Streaming movies, productivity mods, Health food, Sweets,
Success Notes: Anxiety focused on marketing
Special Note: High degree of browsing information sites relative to consumption of media pieces, flagged as a suspected fanfic reader any rentals of writing guides or grammar tools should be flagged immediately

A Place in the world
Part 2: Let them Eat Cake​

Kay didn't report into work the next day, she hadn't even gotten out of bed. There, wasn't really much point. When you get an "all hands" message whose title is "You're free" states that the company has been liberated and the CEO arrested. It was a weird e-mail, in a sense. Full of grammar mistakes and awkward phrasing and enthusiasm. Not the sort of announcement that would have been made by CEO.

Freedom… freedom was supposed to be a good thing, like an adventure. The heroic captain, fighting for freedom against the evil empire full of communists. Only apparently they liked the freedom too. She was the weird one, she always was. People like her weren't the heroic captains or writers, mavericks who loved to be creative. They were boring corporate drones to be tricked. Maybe, if they were lucky, they could stand next to the hero and say 'according to my calculations' and tell the hero it would never work. (They would also be a man, just one more way she failed). Then the hero would laugh, explain that the human heart can't be reduced down to numbers, and win anyway.

She'd always hated that.

But… they were right, weren't they? After all, the corps had lost. For all their focus testing and market drive data, the rebellion had happened. All the lessons and studies on why capitalism was the end stage of history and the most efficient form of economics maximizing wealth. On how it was the system that used humanity's natural tendencies, rather than work against it. Was all, nothing. All that work felt… pointless now.

Maybe the number of errors had been wrong. The collective data fudging driving things to this. But… but it felt like this was bigger, and it was more broken than that. How much… maybe it had all been wrong. From the start. The idea that people could be studied, examined, understood by numbers. It turned out that the captains and heroes were right, and it was laughable that someone like her could ever understand people. You had to just 'trust your instincts' to understand them.

She hated normal people.

She held onto the anger for a bit, like an ember, it felt good, and… and she knew what was coming afterward. Shame.

She wasn't supposed to feel this way. It was so male. Dominating, powerful. It wasn't kind. The evidence she was still male on the inside. People would see it and judge you, see you for what you really were. It was gross, and dominating others, looking down on them, felt...awful, after the fire burned out. She'd gotten good at making it didn't last long.

She should get up. Instead, the bedsheets went over her head.

---

In the end, her bladder had not cared that she was awful and worthless, and had made demands that she opted not to ignore. This, in turn, led to being out of the warm blankets, and into the cold world, which met a hot shower, which met wet hair. Which met letting it dry. Hence why she was up.

Food was the next dilemma. Normally it was either one of the nutrient pastes she kept in her travel bag (or if the contract was good personal desk) or delivered food. However, on days after a contract, two other choices presented themselves. A small chocolate cake to celebrate a contract done well, or if the contract had not gone well, noodles fried in a peanut butter and soy mix, scrambled with eggs. Carbs, fat, salt, and not a drop of health in sight. The noodles were odd, it was, in one sense, the kind of food she might have eaten when her parents were both out off of contracts, but in another sense, it was not. Back then the cheap food had been the plain stuff, with special, premium genetically modified fortified with vitamins as what you ate when it was good. Now, heirloom 'real food' was what you were supposed to get, and vat-grown genes were dirty and unsafe. But, she still liked them, and failure noodles weren't met to be good, just cheap and tasty.

So, noodles or cake. The email was congratulatory, but then so were a lot of 'project canceled' ones. And… she didn't have a check or a good rating, any rating, any chance at a contract… ever again. Freedom… felt a lot like a lost contract. So noodles then. And that would have been it, had she not opened her newsfeed, more out of habit than thought.

The news was… well the news had gotten weird. First, it had been about rioters, then other times it had been how they weren't so bad. Then how they were terrible. Then occasionally articles about corporate corruption or how to help, only to disappear quickly. Then a brief period of almost no articles, or obviously AI-generated ones, and now…

The main article was "Yang Arrested". but the entire page was something of a mess. Some of the ads were corp ads, still advertising launch parties that wouldn't happen for starting people who had been arrested. Others were just basic types or hand-drawn pictures. Words of thanks. Children's drawing. Messages of love. A riot of different crude options, against the sleek still corp ads. So odd, and perhaps, more noticeable for that. She focused her eyes on one or two of the new ones, which was supposed to help their algorithm if that mattered now. But it still felt like good luck.

"Starhelm sex abuser." She stopped at that. She'd loved Starhelm movies. They have always been so hopeful, and his characters so nice. The article wasn't like other articles. It didn't use "alleged" or provide quotes from his lawyers. It was a person talking about her experience with him. No interviewer, just her, talking about her love, and then… it was ugly, it was uncomfortable, it wasn't sleek and enticing. It left a pit in her stomach.

Eventually, she clicked back, it felt to… painful to continue to read. She shouldn't have, she ran it, from the information. It left her feeling more empty. She scrolled down, "Apologies for the ads." A quick article, "Sorry about all the ads, the HI software doesn't make it easy to remove them, but we are working on it and won't sleep till it's done. For now, we can start to replace the ads at least, so give us what you want to say!" She nodded and continued to scroll.

"FREE CAKE! LA-FRESH BAKERY." That… wasn't that far from here. And cake… cake was good, but she wasn't sure she really deserved cake. It wasn't like her contract had succeeded. Then again, it was free food, and free food was something you got when you didn't have a job. Granted, theoretically, launch parties were for everyone, but time was short, so unless the company had an official launch party where attendance was 'highly encouraged', you couldn't really go.

Justification made, she set out. The streets were… packed, not packed? It was… there were people everywhere, but a lot of them were just there. Not at the designated launch party activities. There were no crowd directors trying to managed crowds to the designated spots and packed in at the ideal amounts. It was just… here, there, so chaotic and loud.

But as strange as it felt, it was also… quieter than launch parties. No blaring speakers. And she could walk around the tighter crowds without worrying about security. Or interns. Interning might be good for children (though one of the released docs on true-studies seemed to say otherwise) but it was so uncomfortable. Having a nine-year-old come up and try to sell you things made her feel so guilty to refuse. Especially because of the descriptions on the fanfic sites she secretly browsed, which talked about how parents were encouraged to spank interns who got reported to a manager. Grants, she wasn't sure how true those were.

She made it to the bakery unbothered. There were a few people who said hi, but the strategy of smile, say hi back, focus on getting that body language of going somewhere but happy to see you and walk away. She didn't want to be mean but.. But people tryingtalk to her was so much. Even so, so many different noises, she'd be glad when she could get back, this was… so much. Launch parties had been easier with her parents. She could just bury herself in a book, and get praised for being a 'little scholar'. At least usually, unless security decided she was being disrespectful to the main attraction, but her parents usually let her know when someone important was talking. Look up and smile then, sing along when others did, don't sway to the music to much less someone mistake you for autistic. A few, simple, rules and it was fine.

Rules seemed more in short supply here. At the bakery, there wasn't really a line, just a crowd milling around. She hung back for about fifteen minutes without being able to determine where the line started or ended, while there were no directors. Eventually, she concluded, there was no getting around it. She was going to have talk to someone. She breathed in and, started forward, even knowing her vocal cords were HI perfect, there was always that moment of panic. "Um, excuse me, sir, do.. Do you know where the line starts?"

"Oh." One of the men in the line turned around. "Hey there, don't worry there isn't one."

"Isn't one?"

"Yeah." He turned. "Hey guys, if you already got yours don't stand around like an ass blocking everyone's way."

"What are you, security?" Someone yelled back.

"No, what are you, an exec? Anyways, she wants cake, so move." There was a set of laughter, and milling to make room for her, which felt… uncomfortable, there was pressure, making her the center of everyone's actions. Everyone staring and-

Breath in, remember her manners. "Um, thank you," she said, moving forward quickly so as to not bother people more. At the table in front, several cakes were lined up. Not the usual small cut pieces of a launch party, but full ones, or full mini-ones, enough to keep a single person very, very full if they tried on their own, or to take home. Looking around, people were just, grabbing them, as bakers inside rushed them out. Calling out what they were as they were laid down. She waited, eventually going for a plain chocolate one when it came out, as many were far more adventurous.

Cake in hand, she waited again, the pressure of knowing she was taking up space getting to her. Eventually, with no other option, she waited till one of the bakers came out. "Um, excuse me. Do I need to do anything, sign or… get a stamp or… something?"

The baker gave a laugh. "Nope, take it. Heck, if you got family, take two. It's a new Radiant, and none of that shite."

Kay nodded. Confused but, aware that you didn't ask for clarifications in launch party lines. She quickly made her retreat, comprehending her prize. The entire thing was… strange. You were supposed to go through the line and then have to say some slogan, or give a cheer, or sign up for a mailing list, or something, to get your food. Then, you'd get a hand stamp, (or get a ticket earlier, and give it now), so that you didn't take more than one. But they…. Didn't? How did they keep people from taking too many? How did any of this work without security? How did they deal with all the chaos?

Stewing in these thoughts kept her occupied until she arrived back in her apartment. There she bit into her prize.

She felt a bit mixed. It wasn't the chocolate cake she was used to. Darker, and a hint of some new spices. It felt more complex and less sugary which was probably…. Good? Even so, she kind of missed the old cake.

---

 

[Regency]

[X] [Name] Write in Option - Radiant Free Territory
[X] [Name] Elysium Congress of Industries, Communities, and Peoples
[X] [Name] Write in - All-Radiant Congress

Updated my vote

 

[Shard of Victory]

Part 2: Let them Eat Cake

Click to shrink...

Ugh. Right in the feels. It's just drives in how horrible Charter society was.

 

[Happerry]

[X] [Name] Write in - All-Radiant Congress
[X] [Name] Write in Option - Radiant Free Territory

 

[Ambit]

[X] [Name] Write in Option - Free Communities Coalition.

 

[Solarstream]

[X] [Name] Write in Option - Radiant Free Territory
[X] [Name] Write in - All-Radiant Congress

 

[Adnate]

[X] [Name] Write in Option - Free Communities Coalition.
[X] [Name] Elysium Congress of Industries, Communities, and Peoples

 

[Gladsome]

This has been a thrilling vote to watch. It's ebbed and flowed in plenty of radically different directions.

 

[Alex the Average]

I'm actually quite chuffed that so many people have voted for my suggestion. Even if I don't win I'm at least coming in a very respectable second.

Edit: That said if anyone wants to throw a last minuet vote behind the Free Communities Coalition I would be even more chuffed.

 

[ortonobot]

[X] [Name] Elysium Congress of Industries, Communities, and Peoples

 

[Derpmind]

Adhoc vote count started by Derpmind on Jan 3, 2021 at 7:55 PM, finished with 125 posts and 47 votes.

• ---

  18 people have voted

  [X] [Name] Write in - All-Radiant Congress

  • Happerry
  • Solarstream
  • Crimson Alchemis
  • Krall
  • Nyvis
  • Chimeraguard
  • LilyWitch
  • Rhymes
  • Donkey Hote
  • Gladsome
  • Strunkriidiisk
  • Derpmind
  • Artificial Girl
  • minorred
  • Jane Dough
  • LucidProp
  • AlphaDelta
  • Regency

  15 people have voted

  [X] [Name] Write in Option - Free Communities Coalition.

  • giodan
  • Alex the Average
  • Cataphract
  • The Laurent
  • clockworkchaos
  • notbirdofprey
  • tankdrop24
  • TheMaskedReader
  • Random Member
  • Ambit
  • Sara
  • Chamberlain1012
  • Adnate
  • Rhymes
  • Kirook

  13 people have voted

  [X] [Name] Elysium Congress of Industries, Communities, and Peoples

  • me.me.here
  • ortonobot
  • Larasati
  • Argent Citadel
  • Godwinson
  • Sara
  • Nyvis
  • Chimeraguard
  • LilyWitch
  • Chamberlain1012
  • Adnate
  • Rhymes
  • Regency

  7 people have voted

  [X] [Name] Elysian Republic.

  • taovkool
  • gale
  • Traveller76
  • Lord Cheddar
  • ALanos
  • Ifraka
  • Argent Citadel

  7 people have voted

  [X] [Name] Write in Option - Radiant Free Territory

  • veteranMortal
  • Happerry
  • Solarstream
  • Larasati
  • Sara
  • Kirook
  • Regency

  3 people have voted

  [X] [Name] Interstellar Congress of Democratic Federations

  • Shard of Victory
  • Godwinson
  • Kirook

  1 people have voted

  [X] [Name] Last Alliance of Free Peoples - Write in Option

  • Darkandus

  1 people have voted

  [X] [Name] Write in Option - The Democratic Congress of Industries, Communities, and Peoples

  • Crimson Alchemis

  1 people have voted

  [X] [Name] Write in - Interstellar Congress of Autonomous Communities

  • Krall

  1 people have voted

  [X][Name] Write-in: Radiant Elysium

  • AlphaDelta

  1 people have voted

  [X] [Name] Write in - People's Republic of Elysium

  • Ultrackius

  1 people have voted

  [X] [Name] Write in - Radiant People's Republic

  • Ultrackius

 

[neutronium95]

Just binged this today. I'll come back and read more of the discussion tomorrow.

[X] [Name] Write in - All-Radiant Congress
[X] [Name] Write in Option - Free Communities Coalition.

 

[Amorous Intent]

Adhoc vote count started by Amorous Intent on Jan 4, 2021 at 7:20 PM, finished with 128 posts and 48 votes.

• ---

  19 people have voted

  [X] [Name] Write in - All-Radiant Congress

  • Happerry
  • Solarstream
  • Crimson Alchemis
  • Krall
  • Nyvis
  • Chimeraguard
  • LilyWitch
  • Rhymes
  • Donkey Hote
  • Gladsome
  • Strunkriidiisk
  • Derpmind
  • Artificial Girl
  • minorred
  • Jane Dough
  • LucidProp
  • AlphaDelta
  • Regency
  • neutronium95

  16 people have voted

  [X] [Name] Write in Option - Free Communities Coalition.

  • giodan
  • Alex the Average
  • Cataphract
  • The Laurent
  • clockworkchaos
  • notbirdofprey
  • tankdrop24
  • TheMaskedReader
  • Random Member
  • Ambit
  • Sara
  • Chamberlain1012
  • Adnate
  • Rhymes
  • Kirook
  • neutronium95

  13 people have voted

  [X] [Name] Elysium Congress of Industries, Communities, and Peoples

  • me.me.here
  • ortonobot
  • Larasati
  • Argent Citadel
  • Godwinson
  • Sara
  • Nyvis
  • Chimeraguard
  • LilyWitch
  • Chamberlain1012
  • Adnate
  • Rhymes
  • Regency

  7 people have voted

  [X] [Name] Elysian Republic.

  • taovkool
  • gale
  • Traveller76
  • Lord Cheddar
  • ALanos
  • Ifraka
  • Argent Citadel

  7 people have voted

  [X] [Name] Write in Option - Radiant Free Territory

  • veteranMortal
  • Happerry
  • Solarstream
  • Larasati
  • Sara
  • Kirook
  • Regency

  3 people have voted

  [X] [Name] Interstellar Congress of Democratic Federations

  • Shard of Victory
  • Godwinson
  • Kirook

  1 people have voted

  [X] [Name] Last Alliance of Free Peoples - Write in Option

  • Darkandus

  1 people have voted

  [X] [Name] Write in Option - The Democratic Congress of Industries, Communities, and Peoples

  • Crimson Alchemis

  1 people have voted

  [X] [Name] Write in - Interstellar Congress of Autonomous Communities

  • Krall

  1 people have voted

  [X][Name] Write-in: Radiant Elysium

  • AlphaDelta

  1 people have voted

  [X] [Name] Write in - People's Republic of Elysium

  • Ultrackius

  1 people have voted

  [X] [Name] Write in - Radiant People's Republic

  • Ultrackius

 

[Alter]

[X] [Name] Write in - All-Radiant Congress

Very interesting discussion and I couldn't decide even after reading it all!
All in all I settled on the All-Radiant Congress because it sounds good and that is important for a name, it also paints an inoffensive, but not defenceless picture, byway of claiming authority over the entire system and not just one planet and by proclaiming itself to be democratically structured, while not overtly revolutionary.

While I also like the more non-system specific ones, most to me seem to be a cordon sanitaire or a full scale intervention by other Charters waiting to happen. I think we could allow any of that to happen only if we had more military resources or knowledge, or if we were willing to commit to a grueling militarisation. Anything else would see a disproportionate reaction to our every action.

 

[Esprit]

snip

Click to shrink...

Sorry mate. You're a little late.

 

[Alter]

Sorry mate. You're a little late.

Click to shrink...

Oh, I hadn't noticed.
In any case I still put my opinion out there and it's no matter if I missed the time. I'll see that I'll be able to participate from now on. Still, thanks for telling me.

 

[AKuz]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] [Name] Write in - All-Radiant Congress

-

"Three… Two… One… Live!"

Jessica Tanaka snaps her fingers to signal the XP Recording equipment built into her clothing to fire up and focuses on her own heartbeats, silently waiting as viewers log into her broadcast, most directed by an alert sent out by the Citizen Journalists Association.

Holding back the habitual urge to check her broadcast statistics, Jessica starts speaking, "I am reporting live from Persephone's old business district where celebrations have begun to mark one year of independence and self rule."

She smoothly looks to her left and right, taking in the sights and sounds of Elysium's de facto planetary capital. Tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands crowd into the Persephone's central boulevard as far as Jessica can see, even with her enhanced contacts.

It's a good day for it too, Persephone's year round mild weather in full effect, the sky overhead is filled not with clouds but with splashes of colour from the wakes of various skycraft taking full advantage of the crowds below to show off and entertain.

Jessica lets the cheerful babble of the crowd sweep over her, as she pushes forward, describing the experience to her viewers as the odd passerby recognizes her or her broadcast equipment and waves enthusiastically.

As she walks by an open air grill operated by one of Baldi's V-Rancher disciples, it strikes her how different the crowd is from the one she made her first free report on a year ago. Not just in attitude, the crowds are happy instead of shocked and relieved, but people spend time just standing and talking. Before people had been rushing to experience as much as possible, to make sure that they didn't miss anything, driven by a sense of FOMO bred into Radiant by three centuries of Charter marketing.

Not that everyone was taking their time, mind you; people still hurried around, but their faces weren't set in a grim mask of determination to wring every drop of enjoyment out of this rare break before another eighteen hour day.

Even the fashions are different. Or rather, Jessica considered she autopilot through a list of sponsors for the street parties and upcoming parade, clothes were just as bright as before, but more varied, less of millions of people chasing a single person's look and more of individuals putting their own spin on current trends.

Finally, breaking through a small crowd of kids cosplaying as their avatars from Paths of Enlightenment, Jessica sights her target, the reason why she'd come to Persephone's business district instead of reporting from her home district in the outskirts of the city.

"Today, I have the great pleasure of interviewing one of Congress Day's founders, Delegate Vernon King of the Elysian Animator's Guild." She extends a hard warmly towards a short harried little man, who was probably the most frazzled looking person in the entire city despite his tropical shirt and bright orange shorts. "Good afternoon, Mr. King."

He takes her hand distractedly, his eyes distant, probably checking his own contacts UI for something. "Ah! Yes, Ms. Tanaka!" His face widens into a smile. "Oh good, you're on time, the right time, good."

She smiles and turns her head slightly to catch some of the crowd as a group of men in camouflage patterned fatigues walk by carrying signs that say 'SOLIDARITY WITH SHEOL' and shouting something she can't make out but assumes are calls for Sheol's liberation.

"I aim for professionalism, Mr. King."

"Well, that's like," he looks down at a tablet in his hand, "that's like five of you today, I-"

He gives a drawn out laugh and tucks away his tablet in a large shorts pocket. "It's good to see you, I can worry about out of position floats later." He lets out a long breath and gestures for Tanaka to follow him as he begins moving generally northward along the boulevard. "So, I bet your followers want the short, so I'll try not to get bogged down in the details."

"Much appreciated, Mr. King." Jessica thinks that a lot of her followers wouldn't mind getting bogged down in the details, but she can see someone setting expectations when she sees it.

"So, I used to do animation work; I would check the work of VIs and TLIs in media to make sure that product was up to Aich Eye's exacting standards. No slowdowns, no weird pop-ins, no funny business at all." He pauses to let a group of revellers pass. "Now, I did balloons; I was Elysium's premier balloon expert; I could crank through thousands of the things in a full eighteen hour day, depending on the gig and art style."

She knew how it worked, an inbox filled up with gig requests that could vanish in an instant if you slipped your quality even once.

"Thing is? Balloons, always in party and parade scenes? Right, a lot of historical dramas and games had them; I spent nine weeks once running through every balloon in a period accurate recreation of this pre-Tide, Four July parade that the protagonist was attending as a kid. It was ahh… in the show for something like two and a half minutes, but it was a steady gig."

"So I got good at parades." King shrugs. "Balloons and parades were my thing."

Jessica gives a sensible chuckle. "Seems to have come in handy."

"Yeah, so after the March days, I get elected Delegate for the AG, and I'm splitting my time between SocComm and MedComm, and a couple months back I realise that the anniversary of the March days is coming up, so I put forward a motion to memorialize it.

"Buuut, no one can agree on the exact date that the March Days started, and then things started to lose momentum, so when we began debating on the new name and someone from IndComm suggests that we formally adopt the day on April 17, exactly one year after the referendum that saw Radiant elect a new government and formalize independence. Obviously April 17 is the perfect date, so I start pushing that, MilComm steps in and backs it because they think, 'Well, parades are what militaries in shows and games do right?' So we've got some guaranteed participants right there. Then my buddy representing the street food alliance suggests a contest, and things… well." He gestures around them.

Jessica turns to see as much of the surrounding crowd as possible. "You seem to have quite the turnout."

"I'm just planning for Persephone and it feels like too much." Kings leans forward conspiratorially. "Don't tell nobody, but I've been working ten hour days the last week."

Jessica raises a hand to her lips delicately and lets out an exaggerated gasp of shock.

King grins. "Though, I will say, at least two of those are lunches where my SocComm buddy and I go over contest entries."

The organizer's face goes serious. "The other thing is that, this last year has been a time of… well things haven't been easy, exactly, but next year when the Charters are breathing down our necks and throwing soldiers at us, I don't want people to remember inconclusive arguments over the reuse program, or fabber confusions, or the outrage over Yang's Cronies, or all the other annoyances.

"I want us to remember how far we've come, and how much further we can go."

-

Journal of M Chakrabarti, Congressional Delegate
April 2th, Hot and overcast

The All-Radiant Congress.

Simple, unassuming, non-aggressive, but still states our break with traditions.

A fine name for an independent people to conduct business under. Which we will be needing to do rapidly as it's become clear in the last few days that someone in Sol has noticed that something is up.

All of Radiant's accounts have been frozen, and we are now unable to print licensed Hermes-Ishtar products. If we hadn't cracked HI's FRM we'd be in deep trouble right now. As it is we are currently limited in our high end gear to either the gear of other charters or whatever we can scrape together on our own.

Whatever reckoning we have coming to us is now in motion. It remains to be seen if we are strong enough to meet the challenges ahead.

-

Current Approximate Population: 255,000,000 (Approximate)

Trust: 70 (The populace is happy with your performance so far, no effect)

BR Stockpiles: 52
SR Stockpiles: 60

E Stockpiles: 31

Spoiler: Full Income Report

Total:

Radiant:

Gaid:

-

Head of Diplomatic Corps:

Spoiler: 'Veronica Stardust' - The XP Star

Name: Amanda Redcrest, Victoria Blackwell, and Kayla Hayashi

DoB: "2222", 2219, 2227, 2224

Current Position: Influential media figure and figurehead of Social Committee propaganda

Not a traditional diplomat, or a traditional individual 'Veronica Stardust' is the persona of a trio of XP broadcasters who have been working together since 2246 and has consistently been one of the most recognized figures across Charter space and is a local Elysian celebrity.

In Charter space those individuals who choose to make money by recording their lived experiences, of all kinds, for later playback are treated with an indulgent disdain by the polite classes as a mix of internet celebrity and sex worker despite the practice of selling XP experiences being common in the poorer segments of society and a smaller portion of the professional middle class attempting to stay afloat in a tight gig economy.

Amanda Redcrest was a former media programmer whose attempts to supplement her income with XP work backfired and saw her fired from her job. Contrarily, Kayla and Victoria both come from lower class backgrounds, though Kayla's attempts to climb into the middle class by earning a marketing degree were frustrated when her lower class status markers and financing of education via XP work saw her frozen out of the job market.

A former collaborator of Kayla's, Victoria had been a rising XP star in her own right and had no desire to change her station, but as her brief celebrity began to fade Victoria approached Kayla to propose the creation of a dedicated broadcasting persona that both would act as. Later bringing on Redcrest, who they'd both done crossover XP work with, to do technical work, the trio used carefully gathered market data and some intuition to create the "Veronica Stardust" persona of an middlingly-intelligent and freewheeling persona who played to the upper class's picture of what depravities and indignities the poorer class must get up to in their spare time.

From 2246 to 2251 the Veronica Stardust persona (performed by all three at various times, though primarily Victoria) produced experience recordings that were nearly always in the top 10 best sellers across Charter space.

Though they enjoyed the wealth that they brought in, the trio increasingly chafed at the market driven limitations of Veronica, and were considering a number of possibly catastrophic brand shifts when the March Days broke out and all three participated in street actions in a private capacity after sending one last broadcast as 'Veronica' to encourage revolt.

Since the formation of the Social Committee the figure of Veronica has been rebranded to serve as the figurehead of Social Committee Propaganda and several major initiatives have been launched with her at the forefront including a highly successful part of the anti-overproduction initiatives.

As part of the now-completed campaign to maintain the charade that Radiant was still under Charter control, Veronica Stardust continued to sell broadcasts to HI media chains, though the trio could not help but begin a brand shift towards a far more intelligent and radical persona.

Pros: XP Celebrity, influential, well known, inspiring to the middle and lower classes

Cons: XP celebrity, little diplomatic experience, three people

Diplomatic Goals: Defeat the Charters in the field of public opinion, push social revolution and freedom of information and communication, cause public opinion to oppose attacking Radiant

Defence Coordinator:

Spoiler: Maria Awhina, the Commando

Name: Maria Awhina
DoB: 2165
Current Position: Military Committee Delegate from the Radiant Veterans Guild

Born into poverty on Earth as the twenty-second century began to wane, young 22-year old Maria Awhina caught up in radical anti-Charter politics during the third black summer of 2187 and was convicted of property destruction during the rioting and sentenced to serve as a contractor to Hermes-Ishtar until her contract was paid off.

The stark choice of starvation or service to Hermes-Ishtar caused Maria to descend into self-destructive behavior where for twenty years Ms. Awhina continuously volunteered for the highest paid and most dangerous positions that Hermes-Ishtar had available.

Hermes-Ishtar considers Special Operations Lieutenant Awhina to have served with distinction throughout the heavy skirmishing of that era, though Maria herself continues to carry guilt for her service and her survival.

After performing exceptionally well in a hostage rescue operation Awhina was transferred to the Protective Detail Division of Hermes-Ishtar Security, and was eventually assigned to serve as the head of the Radiant Vice President's protective detail.

Over the next four decades she came to see the world as her home, and while her professionalism never wavered, her loyalty to the company who still owned her contract did.

This March, Maria had the option to gun down her fellow planetary headquarters workers to secure Yang's escape, or to finally return to roots in anti-Charter agitation. The fact that we are all here today shows what choice she made.

Pros:
-Actual Combat Veteran, knows Radiant inside and out, special operations expert, professional.

Cons:
-only academic knowledge of starship operations, logistics, organization command and strategic operations.

Command Traits:
-Objective oriented, unflappable, aggressive, prefers attacks and operations to come from unexpected angles.

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Spoiler: Military Assets

Scutum, Targe, Buckler: Space Patrol Corvettes

Three old corvettes used by the Space Patrol for heavy-duty asteroids and some light mining work when not diverting dangerous objects. Their weapons haven't been used seriously in decades, if ever, but they seem in good order.

Liberte, Egalite: Corvettes (Converted Couriers)

A set of hastily-converted couriers armed with a light PD laser and a mass driver salvaged from smaller Space Patrol boats. Fast, but fragile and without much firepower. These were never meant for squaring up against purpose-built warships, and no amount of jury-rigging can really change that.

Switchblade Wing: Several squadrons of aerospace fighters

Several squadrons of general-purpose Switchblade-class fighters, used for general purpose aerospace patrols. Jack of all trades, master of none.

Radiant Customs Squadron: Squadron of boarding craft with marine contingents

Once used to check cargo ships for illicit goods, this small squadron of Arabia-class assault shuttles, and most of its complement of marines, came over to the revolution's side early on. Arabia-class shuttles are capable of both space- and land-based assaults, including boarding actions. They lack everything except light PD lasers and miniguns, though, and are sitting ducks against fighters.

Choreographer: Crippled Light Carrier

(Formerly the Ishtar's Arrow): At Elysium for R&R, the fighting over this light carrier turned violent unlike most other places in Radiant. It had been written off in the initial chaos, but careful investigation has found that some of its critical damage was in fact a clever fake, projected by the ship's own systems on the command of an officer now dead or in confinement.

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MEETING OF THE GENERAL CONGRESS

(For the following plan, each project requires a die to be assigned. Each dice is a d20 plus the category bonus that will be rolled to progress on the project. Some projects will require certain resources to complete, please make sure those are on hand. Some projects complete automatically. Excess progress may be shifted to other projects in that section. Please vote by plan by picking a FOCUS and then assigning dice to projects. Project costs are Per Die)

Pick one option, thanks to focus being put in that category, it gains one extra dice to spend this turn, and will open up more options in that category next turn:

[ ] [FOCUS] Industry Committee
[ ] [FOCUS] Military Committee
[ ] [FOCUS] Science Committee
[ ] [FOCUS] Social Committee
[ ] [FOCUS] Media Committee

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INDUSTRY COMMITTEE (Two Dice)

"Here's to another year of free workers!"

-Asphodel Environmental Commission: +5 to dice rolls involving Asphodel
-Orbital Industrial Workers Union: +2 to dice rolls on industrial rolls

Spoiler: Industrial Committee Projects

Project: Begin Mining operations for BR

The Industrial Committee has presented plans to begin basic resource extraction in both Radiant and Gaid, and though we have little practical and institutional experience at doing so, the Committee is confident in the ability of our workers.

[ ] [IndComm] Begin BR mining operations on Radiant-2 (Quality-7)
[ ] [IndComm] Begin BR mining operations on Gaid A-1 (Quality-10)
[ ] [IndComm] Begin BR mining operations in Gaid Asteroid Belt (Quality 1)
[ ] [IndComm] Begin BR mining operations on Gaid B-2 (Quality 10)
[ ] [IndComm] Begin BR mining operations on Gaid B-3a (Quality 7)
[ ] [IndComm] Begin BR mining operations on Gaid B-3a (Quality 8)
[ ] [IndComm] Begin BR mining operations on Gaid B-4 (Quality 12)

Dice Bonus: +1

Project Completion: Automatic

Cost Per Die: 10 BR

Projected Result: Increase BR Production Infrastructure to Level 1 on selected planet

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Project: Expand BR production

The Industrial Committee has presented plans to expand our existing BR mining facilities. As we now have some practical and institutional experience with doing so, the Committee believes in the ability of our workers to complete these projects on time and on materials budget.

[ ] [IndComm] Expand BR mining operations on Radiant-1 to level 2 (Quality-7)
[ ] [IndComm] Expand BR mining operations on Gaid B-1 to level 2(Quality 15)
[ ] [IndComm] Expand BR mining operations on Gaid B-7 to level 2(Quality 14)

Dice Bonus: +2

Project Progress: Automatic

Cost Per Dice: 40BR

Projected Result: Increase BR Production Infrastructure to Level 2 on selected planet


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Project: Begin Production operations for SR

The Industrial Committee has presented plans to begin special resource extraction, synthesis, and processing in Gaid. As we have some practical and institutional experience at doing so, the Committee is confident in the ability of our workers to complete these projects on time and on materials budget.

[ ] [IndComm] Begin SR mining operations on Gaid A-2 (Quality 7)
[ ] [IndComm] Begin SR mining operations on Gaid A-4 (Quality 5)

Dice Bonus: +2

Project Completion: Automatic

Cost Per Die: 10 BR

Projected Result: Increase SR Production Infrastructure to Level 1 on selected planet

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Project: Begin Energy Collection Operations.

The Industrial Committee has presented plans to expand our energy collection facilities in Gaid. As we have some practical and institutional experience with doing so, the Committee is confident in the ability of our workers to complete these projects on time and on materials budget.

[ ] [IndComm] Begin Energy Collection Operations on Gaid B-5 (Quality 3)
[ ] [IndComm] Begin Energy Collection Operations on Gaid B-6 (Quality 7)

Dice Bonus: +2

Project Completion: Automatic

Cost Per Die: 10 BR

Projected Result: Increase E Production Infrastructure to Level 1 on selected planet

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[ ] [IndComm] Expand SR Production on Asphodel

Asphodel has long been a source for the rare earth metals desired across the length and breadth of Compact space and is one of the primary reasons that Hermes-Ishtar not only constructed courier yards in Radiant, but placed several high end laboratories here.

Dice Bonus: +7

Project Progress: Automatic

Cost per die: 100 BR

Projected Result: Increase Production Infrastructure to Level 4 on Asphodel

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[ ] [IndComm] Expand E Production on Elysium

While Radiant currently possess more than sufficient power generation, the Industrial Committee believes that we could easily increase generation by building many more of the tidal generators that use the high tides caused by the Elysium/Asphodel binary system along with simple renewable resources such as wind and solar power and fusion reactors as baseline power.

Dice Bonus: +2

Project Progress: Automatic

Cost per die: 100 BR

Projected Result: Increase Production Infrastructure to Level 4 on Elysium

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[ ] [IndComm] Smallcraft Yards

Unlike frigates or capital and assault ships, smallcraft are comparatively simple, and don't have built-in warp drives. While this means they're strictly limited to local defense, they're also cheap, fast to build, and can be ferried by tow or cargo ship to other locations if needed.

Using sections of the blueprints from the Ares corvette yards, your engineers think they can kitbash a few sections into a generalist yard plan then construct it. It won't be efficient, or fast, but it'll be able to pump out any type of smallcraft that fits its dimensions-- fighters, bombers, interceptors, or assault shuttles. Even cargo shuttles, though you have plenty of those at the moment.

They brush off the fact you don't have anyone extra trained to fly them. They'll come, in time.

Dice Bonus: +2

Project Progress: 0/30

Cost per die: 5 BR, 5 SR, 5 E

Projected Results: Gain a basic smallcraft yard.

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[ ] [IndComm] Expand BLG with household nanofabricators

Many of the distribution issues with the BLG can be solved by repurposing fabbers for household use. They can even print food-- though it's not exactly what anyone would call fresh. Nevertheless, as long as the planetside infrastructure is up, you've solved the issue with the BLG.

Dice Bonus: +2

Project Progress: 0/40

Cost per die: 5BR, 5SR, On completion permanent +2BR, +2E upkeep per 50 million citizens

Projected Results: +5 Trust, Raise Trust Floor by 5, Improve General Congress Focus Vote

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[ ] [IndComm] Monuments to Independence

You know what free people are free to do? To use their resources on pointless, wasteful, and profitless extravagances like majestic monuments to our freedom.

With a year passed since the March Days evicted Hermes-Ishtar from Radiant, there are calls for us to immortalize that victory in literal stone.

Let's make it an event for everyone, to let the universe know, for all time, that we did something worth celebrating!

Project Progress: 0/10

Dice Bonus: +2

Cost Per Dice: 3BR, 1SR, 1E

Projected Results: +5 Trust Bonus

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MILITARY COMMITTEE (One Die)

"Please, please, please let us fuck up those Ares Bastards in Shei. We're begging you!"

-Courier Crewperson Community: +5 to dice on military rolls for smaller warship fabrication
-All-Radiant Congressional Defence Committee: +2 to dice on Military Rolls.
-Defence Coordinator's Maria Awhine: +2 to Commando and small unit operation rolls

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Spoiler: Military Committee Projects

[ ] [MilComm] Begin Corvette Construction at Orbital Yard 1


Dice Bonus: +7

Project Cost: ?/2 quarters of production

Cost for Project: 20BR, 15SR, 10E

Projected Results: Launch a Buckler-class corvette

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[ ] [MilComm] Begin Corvette Construction at Orbital Yard 2


Dice Bonus: +7

Project Cost: ?/2 quarters of production

Cost for Project: 20BR, 15SR, 10E

Projected Results: Launch a Buckler-class corvette

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[ ] [MilComm] Repair Choreographer

With Choreographer now fully assessed, our shipyard workers are brainstorming ways to fabricate or replace military grade parts while our computers teams plan how to either replace or bypass most of her operating systems and firmware to get this light carrier operational.

While this project would be an ugly, graceless kludge, completing repairs would add an entire Light Carrier, a type of vessel we have no ability to build indigenously, to our arsenal and expand our military capabilities by leaps and bounds.

If taken the same turn as [MilComm] Liberate Shei, or [MilComm] Take control of Thoa, Choreographer will be available for the main operation.

Dice Bonus: +2

Project Progress: Automatic

Cost per die: 30BR, 20SR, and 20 E

Projected Results: Choreographer and attendant corvettes become fully combat capable

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[ ] [MilComm] Scrap Choreographer

An alliance of Military Committee members have collaborated with Industrial Committee delegates to propose the scrapping of Choreographer. Pointing out that we lack the sort of dedicated logistics tail and fabrication facilities that a military vessel of Choreographer's size and complexity requires, they contend that we could get the most out of scrapping the vessel and using those resources elsewhere in our economy.

Dice Bonus: +2

Project Progress: Automatic

Cost per die: N/A.

Projected Results: Gain BR and SR based on dice roll. Even on a one you will gain the repair cost of 30BR, and 20SR.

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[ ] [MilComm] Convert Choreographer into a corvette shipyard

A minority faction on the Military Committee has put forward an intricate plan to convert Choreographer's hull into a corvette shipyard, and the worker's delegates from our current shipyards admit that the task is theoretically possible.

Dice Bonus: +7

Project Progress: 0/20

Cost per die: 5E

Projected Results: Gain a corvette shipyard

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[ ] [MilComm] Take control of Thoa

Ugly Duckling simply isn't built for combat against anything with more than jury-rigged weapons. Against one of your three corvettes and your pair of converted couriers, it would have no choice but to surrender or be destroyed.If you're lucky, nobody would notice.

On the other hand, others argue that this is an overextension and emphasize the 'if' and 'lucky' parts of the proponent's plan.

Dice Bonus: +2

Project Progress: Automatic

Cost per Die: 10 E

Projected Results. Take control of Thoa. Depending on roll, Ugly Duckling may surrender or be destroyed, and your actions noticed or kept covert.

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[ ] [MilComm] Liberate Shei

With Captain Rousseau more-or-less on our side, we could try to use speed to neutralize other Ares assets in-system while the cruiser is disabled. Should she fail to convince enough fellow contractors to cripple or turn Shieldmaiden, however, the cruiser would prove… difficult to defeat.

Dice Bonus: +4

Project Progress: Automatic

Cost Per Die: 10E

Projected Results: Potential to take control of Shei system. Results are dice dependant

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[ ] [MilComm] Permanent Special Forces Training Division

While the Military Committee has been relying on our Defence Coordinator's personal special forces experience to plan and execute operations, some delegate's fear relying on a single point of failure.

By setting up a Permanent Special Forces Training Division, we would institutionalize Awhine's knowledge within the Military Committee and provide a pool of experienced special forces operatives that can be drawn from to conduct training or operations.

Dice Bonus: +4

Project Progress: 0/30

Cost Per Die: 2BR, 1SR

Projected Results: Makes Awhine's personal bonus permanent and gains +1

Proposed By: Delegate @Gladsome praetorian on Discord

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SCIENCE COMMITTEE (One die)

"Someone in Sol is paying attention, as they've just tried to cut off our ability to print Hermes-Ishtar stuff and our capital accounts have been frozen. The naive fools!"

-Elysium Free Physicists Alliance: +5 to Dice rolls involving experimental physics projects
-Professional Union of Laboratory Technicians and Coders: +2 to dice rolls on Science Rolls

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Spoiler: Science Committee Projects

[ ] [SciComm] Assist with Prototype Wormhole research -FTL Communications

Developing on the already established laboratory work conducted on Elysium, it may be possible to create a prototype for a fixed location interstellar communications device. Once we have the prototype in hand, we can begin iterating on this technology. It is expected that this project will require moderate amounts of SR and E to see to completion.

Dice Bonus: +7

Project Progress: ???/???

Cost per die: 10SR and 5E

Projected Result: Unlocks Wormhole Communications Prototype

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[ ] [SciComm] Assist with Prototype Wormhole research -Personal Wormhole

Developing on the already established laboratory work conducted on Elysium, it may be possible to create a fixed location interstellar travel device large enough for a single individual to travel through. Once we have the prototype in hand, we can begin iterating on this technology. It is likely that this project will require large amounts of SR and E to see to completion.

Dice Bonus: +7

Project Progress: ???/???

Cost per die: 10SR and 5E

Projected Result: Unlocks Personal Wormhole Prototype

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[ ] [SciComm] Bypass Charter Fabricator Rights Management for Ares

Building on our success with unlocking and analyzing HI blueprints, we should be able to make rapid progress stripping the anti-consumer protections built into Ares' extensive catalogue of blueprints. Without having access to the private keys for the blueprints, we will first have to crack the DRM protection, but the tools we've built up will streamline this process significantly.

Dice Bonus: +2

Project Progress: 03/20

Cost per die: 3SR and 3E

Projected Result: Unlock Ares 'prints for consumer Ares products

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[ ] [SciComm] Bypass Charter Fabricator Rights Management for Cernunnos

Building on our success with unlocking and analyzing HI blueprints, we should be able make rapid progress stripping anti-consumer protections built into Cernunnos' extensive catalogue of blueprints. Without having access to the private keys for the blueprints, we will first have to crack the DRM protection, but the tools we've built up will streamline this process significantly.

Dice Bonus: +2

Project Progress: 14/20

Cost per die: 3SR and 3E

Projected Result: Unlock Cernnunos consumer grade 'prints

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[ ] [SciComm] Bypass Charter Fabricator Rights Management for MSI

Building on our success with unlocking and analyzing HI blueprints, we should be able make rapid progress stripping anti-consumer protections built into MSI's extensive catalogue of blueprints. Without having access to the private keys for the blueprints, we will first have to crack the DRM protection, but the tools we've built up will streamline this process significantly.

Dice Bonus: +2

Project Progress: 03/20

Cost per die: 3SR and 3E

Projected Result: Unlock Mississippi Shipping Interstellar consumer grade 'prints

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[ ] [SciComm] Bypass Charter Fabricator Rights Management for Rhodes

Building on our success with unlocking and analyzing HI blueprints, we should be able make rapid progress stripping anti-consumer protections built into Rhodes' extensive catalogue of blueprints. Without having access to the private keys for the blueprints, we will first have to crack the DRM protection, but the tools we've built up will streamline this process significantly.

Dice Bonus: +2

Project Progress: 03/20

Cost per die: 3SR and 3E

Projected Result: Unlock Rhodes consumer grade 'prints

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[ ] [SciComm] Bypass Charter Fabricator Rights Management for Omoikane

Building on our success with unlocking and analyzing HI blueprints, we should be able make rapid progress stripping anti-consumer protections built into Omoikane's extensive catalogue of blueprints. Without having access to the private keys for the blueprints, we will first have to crack the DRM protection, but the tools we've built up will streamline this process significantly.

Dice Bonus: +2

Project Progress: 03/20

Cost per die: 3SR and 3E

Projected Result: Unlock Omoikane consumer grade 'prints

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[ ] [SciComm] Crack advanced Hermes-Ishtar Fabricator Rights Management 'prints

Building on our success with unlocking and analyzing HI blueprints, we should be able make rapid progress stripping anti-consumer protections built into the blueprints whose keys were deleted by the Charter Loyalists. Without having access to the private keys for the blueprints, we will first have to crack the DRM protection, but the tools we've built up will streamline this process significantly.

Dice Bonus: +2

Project Progress: 03/30

Cost per die: 3SR and 3E

Projected Result: Unlock HI advanced 'prints

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[ ] [SciComm] Subvert Hermes-Ishtar Communications Network across Charter Space

Our hacking team believes they've found an exploit using the interaction of the emergency and priority broadcast systems within the H-I Buoy network that will allow them to insert media for gate transfer without requiring system keys. This means that, until technicians on-site reset their networks, we will have free reign to broadcast anything of our choosing for a few days, and resetting only purges the data-- not the vulnerability. The only way to get around this would be to completely rewrite the (century-old) firmware and all its legacy and compatibility coding for the buoys and manually reimage them, along with replacing the older variants-- and there's an awful lot of buoys out there. It would be a long time before H-I would be able to totally shut you out.

Dice Bonus: +2

Project Progress: 0/45

Cost Per Dice: 5SR and 5E

Projected Results: Ability to send unjammable messages across Humanity's entire communications network at a time of our choosing for between several hours to several weeks per system. Once used, H-I will begin attempting to counter with their own project.

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[ ] [SciComm] Document Charter Abuses, Radiant

They say that all happy families are alike, and all unhappy families are unhappy in their own unique way.

The same applies to the Charters and the systems they've controlled. Direct encounters have shown us that the tyranny of Hermes-Ishtar in Radiant and Ares in Shei have taken different forms and that they may be hard for others to understand.

A coalition of academics, social workers, and journalists are requesting the resources and public attention in order to create an organization dedicated to documenting for all time the excesses and evils of Charter misrule.

Naturally, the first stage will be a project to document Hermes-Ishtar's impact on Radiant before they were driven out in the March Days.

Dice Bonus: +2

Project Progress: 0/25

Cost Per Die: 1BR and 2E

Project Results: Add a dice bonus to foreign relations, along with narrative advantages.

Proposed by: Delegate @clockworkchaos

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[ ] [SciComm] Showcase our Accomplishments

The flip side of documenting the Charters' abuses is the realisation that if we want to inspire others to follow our example, we must show them exactly what they stand to gain.

To that end we will be throwing open the floor to our own people to share their lives and accomplishments with the universe.

Project Progress: 0/25

Dice Bonus: +2

Cost Per Die: 1BR and 2E

Project Results: Add a dice bonus to foriegn relations, along with Narrative advantages

Proposed By: Delegate @clockworkchaos

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SOCIAL COMMITTEE (Two Dice)

"Try this one on for size: For the prosperity of the All-Radiant Congress! No? Well, I have another thirtysome slogans around here somewhere..."

-Congress of Caregivers and Physicians: +2 to all Social roll dice
-Ex-Marketing Division Gang: +5 to Propaganda rolls

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Spoiler: Social Committee Projects

[ ] [SocComm] Expand BLG with household nanofabricators

Many of the distribution issues with the BLG can be solved by repurposing fabbers for household use. They can even print food-- though it's not exactly what anyone would call fresh. Nevertheless, as long as the planetside infrastructure is up, you've solved the issue with the BLG.

Dice Bonus: +2

Project Progress: 0/40

Cost per die: 5BR, 5SR, On completion permanent +2BR, +2E upkeep per 50 million citizens

Projected Results: +5 Trust, Raise Trust Floor by 5, Improve General Congress Focus Vote

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[ ] [SocComm] Immortality Guarantee

Functional Immortality has been a practical reality for the wealthy since the mid 2020s, and has long been a leading cause of why workers will permanently indenture themselves into Charter service. With this program implemented no longer will our people have to work or die. By overwhelming popular demand, this program is paired with the full legalization of voluntary euthanasia.

Dice Bonus: +2

Program Progress: 0/50

Cost per die: N/A

Projected Result: When Project is Completed have a permanent upkeep cost of 5BR, 5SR, and 5E per 50 million citizens, a permanent propaganda dice bonus, raise the trust floor by +10, and get one free die.

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[ ] [SocComm] Encourage Retraining

With the end of Charter jobs comes the loss of tens of millions of what can, if one were charitable, have been called "makework jobs". While these jobless people have full access to the essentials of life it seems to be an inevitable part of the human condition that we want to do something productive with our time. Joint programs between educators, local communities, unions, and industrial committee delegates can be formed to attempt to steer those idle hands towards jobs that bring them satisfaction and accomplishment.

Dice Bonus: +7

Project Difficulty: 0/40

Cost per die: 2E per 50 million citizens

Projected Results: Gain an extra die into one of either Indcomm, Milcom, or Scicomm

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[ ] [SocComm] Document Charter Abuses, Radiant

They say that all happy families are alike, and all unhappy families are unhappy in their own unique ways.

The same applies to the Charters and the systems they've controlled. Direct encounters have shown us that the tyranny of Hermes-Ishtar in Radiant and Ares in Shei have taken different forms and that they may be hard for others to understand.

A coalition of academics, social workers, and journalists are requesting the resources and public attention in order to create an organization dedicated to documenting for all time the excesses and evils of Charter misrule.

Naturally, the first stage will be a project to document Hermes-Ishtar's impact on Radiant before they were driven out in the March Days.

Dice Bonus: +2

Project Progress: 0/25

Cost Per Die: 1BR and 2E

Project Results: Add a dice bonus to foreign relations, along with narrative advantages.

Proposed by: Delegate @clockworkchaos

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[ ] [SocComm] Showcase our Accomplishments

The flip side of documenting the Charters' abuses is the realisation that if we want to inspire others to follow our example, we must show them exactly what they stand to gain.

To that end we will be throwing open the floor to our own people to share their lives and accomplishments with the universe.

Project Progress: 0/25

Dice Bonus: +7

Cost Per Die: 1BR and 2E

Project Results: Add a dice bonus to foriegn relations, along with Narrative advantages

Proposed By: Delegate @clockworkchaos

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[ ] [SocComm] Monuments to Independence

You know what free people are free to do? To use their resources on pointless, wasteful, and profitless extravagances like majestic monuments to our freedom.

With a year passed since the March Days evicted Hermes-Ishtar from Radiant, there are calls for us to immortalize that victory in literal stone.

Let's make it an event for everyone, to let the universe know, for all time, that we did something worth celebrating!

Project Progress: 0/10

Dice Bonus: +7

Cost Per Dice: 3BR, 1SR, 1E

Projected Results: +5 Trust Bonus

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MEDIA COMMITTEE (Two Dice)

"Rested and ready to spread the truth!"

-Creator's Forum: +2 to all media dice rolls
-Market Segment Analysis Hobbyists' Club +5 Signals Intelligence
-Guild of Professional and Amateur Performers: +5 to Human Intelligence

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Spoiler: Media Committee Projects

[ ] [MedComm] Encourage Retraining

With the end of Charter comes the loss of tens of millions of what can, if one were charitable, have been called "makework jobs". While these jobless people have full access to the essentials of life it seems to be an inevitable part of the human condition that we want to do something productive with our time. Joint programs between educators, local communities, unions, and industrial committee delegates can be formed to attempt to steer those idle hands towards jobs that bring them satisfaction and accomplishment.

Dice Bonus: +2

Project Difficulty: 0/40

Cost: 2E per 50 million citizens

Projected Results: Gain a dice in either Industry, Military, or Science

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[ ] [MedComm] Document Charter Abuses, Radiant

They say that all happy families are alike, and all unhappy families are unhappy in their own unique way.

The same applies to the Charters and the systems they've controlled. Direct encounters have shown us that the tyranny of Hermes-Ishtar in Radiant and Ares in Shei have taken different forms and that they may be hard for others to understand.

A coalition of academics, social workers, and journalists are requesting the resources and public attention in order to create an organization dedicated to documenting for all time the excesses and evils of Charter misrule.

Naturally, the first stage will be a project to document Hermes-Ishtar's impact on Radiant before they were driven out in the March Days.

Dice Bonus: +2

Project Progress: 0/25

Cost Per Die: 1BR and 2E

Project Results: Add a dice bonus to foreign relations, along with narrative advantages.

Proposed by: Delegate @clockworkchaos

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[ ] [MedComm] Showcase our Accomplishments

The flip side of documenting the Charters' abuses is the realisation that if we want to inspire others to follow our example, we must show them exactly what they stand to gain.

To that end we will be throwing open the floor to our own people to share their lives and accomplishments with the universe.

Project Progress: 0/25

Dice Bonus: +2

Cost Per Die: 1BR and 2E

Project Results: Add a dice bonus to foriegn relations, along with Narrative advantages

Proposed By: Delegate @clockworkchaos

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[ ] [MedComm] Insert Assets into Xotreh

Currently controlled by Omoikane, Xotreh appears to be a system deliberately lost by the bureaucracy. With a population barely cresting 54,000 individuals, the bulk of the inhabitation is limited to seasteads on the icy ocean world of Xotreh B4a, unofficially known as "Sushi". By all indications, "Sushi" is being used by Omoikane to dump workers with poor records and incorrigible troublemakers. The Media Committee wants to insert a team into the system under the cover of maintenance of local comms relays. Once we have a tap into system communications and agents on the ground MedComm planners will begin to plan to encourage Xotrah to throw off Omoikane and join the Congress.

Dice Bonus: +12

Project Progress: 0/10

Cost per die: 1SR

Projected Results: Insert Assets into Xotreh, new projects on completion.

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[ ] [MedComm] Insert Assets into Bestreer.

Officially owned by Cernunnos, Bestreer is barely inhabited, with only a gate maintenance team and a SAR station. The few hundred Cernunnos employees appear to have the same extremely relatable gripes and problems that all spacers relegated to backwater worlds have. The Media Committee wants to insert a team into the system under the cover of maintenance of local comms relays. Once we have a tap into system communications and agents on the ground MedComm planners will begin to plan to encourage Bestreer to throw off Cernunnos control and join the Congress.

Dice Bonus: +12

Project Progress: 0/10

Cost per die: 1SR

Projected Results: Insert Assets into Bestreer, new projects on completion.

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[ ] [MedComm] Insert Assets into Fliveons.

One of the two other heavily inhabited systems in this region, Fliveons is home to over 15 million Rhodes workers. With over nine times Radiant's Basic Resource income alone, Fliveons is one the many Rhodes mining systems that feeds the great many-headed beast that is the Charters. Most of Fliveon's inhabitants live in spartan accommodations on the technically inhabitable Oyu Tolgoi (Fliveons 6b). The Media Committee wants to insert a team into the system under the cover of maintenance of local comms relays. Once we have a tap into system communications and agents on the ground MedComm planners will begin to plan to encourage Fliveons to throw off Rhodes control and join the Congress.

Dice Bonus: +12

Project Progress: 0/30

Cost per die: 1SR

Projected Results: Insert Assets into Fliveons, new projects on completion.

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[ ] [MedComm] Insert Assets into Akleod

The last of Radiant's surrounding systems, Akleod is home to a Mississippi Interstellar transshipment hub. The just over 5000 inhabitants of Akleod are concentrated in an orbital station above Gnat's Ass (Akleod 2). It appears that the MSI Junior Executive in charge of Akleod is an utterly venal individual who had several under the table deals with Vice President Yang and other member's of Radiant's former rulership. The Media Committee wants to insert a team into the system under the cover of maintenance of local comms relays. Once we have a tap into system communications and agents on the ground MedComm planners will begin to plan to encourage Akleod to throw off MSI control and join the Congress.

Dice Bonus: +12

Project Progress: 0/10

Cost per die: 1SR

Projected Results: Insert Assets into Akleod, new projects on completion.

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[ ] [MedComm] Flood Shei with Propaganda
(Can be taken same turn as [MilComm] Liberate Shei)

One method to soften Shei up might be to simply flood the airwaves with Radiant media and propaganda. The prospect of friendly aid may entice the imprisoned population to begin large-scale offensive movements to tie up Ares forces, or convince crew on board Ares' spaceborne assets.

This would, needless to say, blow your cover. If you could capitalize on it fast enough and eat all the bandwidth, however, Ares executives may be too busy putting out fires to ensure their message gets out.

Dice Bonus: +7

Project Progress: 0/10

Cost per die: 6E

Projected Results: More likely to disrupt Ares operations and encourage defections, one way contact will be established with Sheol prisoners.

Failure State: If roll fails, next quarter Ares will attempt to contact neighbouring systems and alert Sol weather Shei is liberated or not

-

[ ] [MedComm] Provide aid to Rousseau's Clique
(Can be taken same turn as [MilComm] Liberate Shei)

Rousseau is on board with Radiant seemingly on ideological grounds, but many of her fellow officers and crew will require more tangible commitments. Promises of pardons and material aid, combined with a large array of Radiant ideological materials personalized based off of Rousseau's subordinate data, should help turn both the pragmatic and the idealistic.

Dice Bonus: +7

Project Progress: Automatic

Cost per die: 3SR and 3E

Projected Results: More likely to flip Shieldmaiden and other Ares units intact depending on roll.


[ ] [MedComm] Sabotage Ares Operations in Shei
(Can be taken same turn as [MilComm] Liberate Shei)

A more permanent solution to preventing Ares operations from alerting reinforcements or sounding the alarm would require a multifaceted approach. Courier sabotage or interception, jamming, malware, and physical blocking of the buoy laser chains in-system could prevent the message from getting out.

Dice Bonus: +7

Project Progress: 0/20

Cost per die: 2BR, 2SR, 2E

Projected Results: Prevent Ares loyalists in Shei from alerting other systems about Radiant and decreases Ares' ability to respond to revolutionary actions and rebellions.

Failure State: If roll is failed on a turn where [MilComm] Liberate Shei is not taken, immediately break cover.

-

[ ] [MedComm] Reassess Media Committee Responsibilities

It's an unusual quirk, and one that is understandable considering Radiant's origins, but a lot of resources and responsibilities have been placed under the oversight of the Media Committee.

Everything from espionage, to communications, to foreign affairs, to social programs have fallen under the purview of the Media Committee, much to the consternation of other sections of the Congress who feel that those resources and responsibilities would be better allocated their way.

Completing this project will begin an attempt to shift one or more of the Media committee's responsibilities, and their attached resources, to a different committee.

Dice Bonus: 0

Project Progress: Automatic

Cost Per Die: N/A

Projected Results: Create a vote to shift resources and responsibilities to other committees

-

Project: Dispatch Diplomats

While our Diplomatic Corps is still in its infancy that doesn't mean that we can't begin making open contact with our neighbours. Opening contact, will open up new possibilities for dealing with neighbouring systems and the Charters they represent. Though a more comprehensive ability to engage in diplomacy can only begin once a Diplomatic Corps head has been elected.

[ ] [MedComm] Open relations with Shei
[ ] [MedComm] Open relations with Fliveons
[ ] [MedComm] Open relations with Bestreer
[ ] [MedComm] Open relations with Xotreh
[ ] [MedComm] Open relations with Akleod

Dice Bonus: +2

Project Progress: Automatic

Cost per die: 2E

Projected Results: Opens up options for diplomacy, trade, and avoiding hostility with individual Charters.

 

[The Laurent]

Let's go after Shei this turn.

 

[Chimeraguard]

[ ] Plan Final Espionage Efforts
-[ ] [FOCUS] Media Committee
-[ ] [IndComm] Begin BR mining operations on Gaid B-4 (10 BR)
-[ ] [IndComm2] Begin Energy Collection Operations on Gaid B-5 (10 BR)
-[ ] [MilComm] Repair Choreographer (30 BR, 20 SR, 20 E)
-[ ] [SciComm] Bypass Charter Fabricator Rights Management for Cernunnos (3 SR, 3 E)
-[ ] [SocComm] Encourage Retraining x2
-[ ] [MedComm] Insert Assets into Fliveons x2 (2 SR)
-[ ] [MedComm2] Provide aid to Rousseau's Clique (3 SR, 3 E)

Total Cost: 50 BR, 28 SR, 26 E

So, this is a plan draft I've come up with. Specifically, it's a plan draft built in the idea that we don't attack Shei yet, but instead repair the Choreographer, and use the MedComm Dice to insert assets into Fliveons (the other big system neighboring Radiant, and the one with a humongous BR production) so we have guys in place for when the locals cotton on.

The last MedComm die either goes on providing more support for Rosseau, or maybe inserting agents into one of the smaller systems.

I think we could technically do the inserting Assets into Fliveons, and liberating Shei, but that also means we're not doing the other fun MedComm actions that could help in making sure the Shei liberation goes smoothly. It also probably means no Choreographer for Shei.

Gonna let someone else write up the plan for securing Shei this turn instead of waiting.

 

[Artificial Girl]

We need a lot of MedComm stuff this turn.

 

[Rhymes]

So there are two approaches here-- I'm calling the "build up one extra turn" plan SHUNEM (to keep with the theme naming for ENDOR) and the "hit Shei now" plan GILBOA. We can, believe it or not, get the Choreographer up to hit Shei, but it'll be very tight.

For both plans, I think we should spend one IndComm die on SR generation--look at the net generation: we make 35 BR, 38 E, and . . . 18 SR per turn--we've just been spending E like water lately because of the big stuff we're doing right now. If we step up espionage et al, I think our SR consumption is going to outstrip our production unless we invest a bit in it. Even with extra upkeep from Retraining SR would still be lagging behind.

SHUNEM is pretty close to Final Espionage efforts, although I might suggest Propaganda in Shei instead.

[x] Plan SHUNEM
-[x] [FOCUS] Media Committee
-[x] [IndComm] Begin SR mining operations on Gaid A-2 (Quality 7) (10 BR)
-[x] [IndComm2] Begin Energy Collection Operations on Gaid B-5 (10 BR)
-[x] [MilComm] Repair Choreographer (30 BR, 20 SR, 20 E)
-[x] [SciComm] Bypass Charter Fabricator Rights Management for Cernunnos (3 SR, 3 E)
-[x] [SocComm] Immortality Guarantee x2
-[x] [MedComm] Insert Assets into Fliveons x2 (2 SR)
-[x] [MedComm] Flood Shei with Propaganda (6 E)

Total cost: 50 BR, 25 SR, 29 E (plus 10 E upkeep once Retraining completes)

GILBOA is where we just go fucking ham on Shei and try to get the most actions out of what we have left with basically no spare E for the turn. Unfortunately SciComm has literally nothing that doesn't cost E, so they'd have to sit idle for the turn.

[x] Plan GILBOA
-[x] [FOCUS] Military Committee
-[x] [IndComm2] Begin Energy Collection Operations on Gaid B-5 (10 BR)
-[x] [IndComm] Begin SR mining operations on Gaid A-2 (Quality 7) (10 BR)
-[x] [MilComm] Repair Choreographer (30 BR, 20 SR, 20 E)
-[x] [MilComm] Liberate Shei (10 E)
-[x] [SciComm] NOTHING
-[x] [SocComm] Immortality Guarantee x2
-[x] [MedComm] Insert Assets into Fliveons. x2 (2 SR)

Cost: 50 BR, 22 SR, 30 E

Honestly, I could go for either one since we can have our cake and eat it too with respect to the Choreographer.

E: Swapped retraining to Immortality because I forgot how the fuck Retraining works in terms of cost because I AM A DUMDUM.