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

AKuz · Dec 10, 2020

THE ALL-RADIANT CONGRESS

Setting Information: 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.

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:

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.

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.

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

Techbros, some of them science, some of them explore

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.

Sketchy buggers, they can get you anything tho

Historical Topics:

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:

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: 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.

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

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.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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

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

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:

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

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

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

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

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.

Total:

Radiant:

Gaid:

Five Lions:

Head of Diplomatic Corps:

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

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.

Defence Coordinator:

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.

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

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

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

-None

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

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

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:

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.

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Setsul · Dec 28, 2022

To add to that:
It's also often used in interviews, because it is trivial to solve, but can illustrate the general approach of a programmer to problems, as well as coding style.
There is also No Elegant Solution. A basic and completely serviceable solution is possible to create with even rudimentary programming knowledge, but as soon as you try to get clever about making it more "elegant", an entire horde of pitfalls opens up to either forget about one edge case while you try to handle another more elegantly by folding it into the main flow of the logic, or to slip into bad coding practices to kludge a fix for that edge case back on because you did remember about the edge case, but only after you were halfway through your "more elegant" solution and don't want to embarrass yourself by erasing all that and just using the most basic approach that anyone could've pulled off. You are after all trying to impress the interviewer.

FizzBuzz Enteprise Edition is "FizzBuzz as written by a Serious Company" so it's in Java and many, many, many pages of code for some that should take 10 lines, tops.
"Branchless" FizzBuzz is on the opposite end of the spectrum. I mostly call it branchless to avoid the details of the horrors I've put in there. It's an extreme example of an "elegant" solution to FizzBuzz that does what it set out to do (no ifs in the code) by "optimizing" the code via "clever programming hacks". It is also completely and utterly unreadable, reinvents the wheel, relies on machine-specific behaviour (it will only run correctly on certain computers), and slightly slower than a much simpler solution that could've been written in less than a tenth of the time.

Winged One · Dec 28, 2022

AKuz said:
Expand BLG with Food Forest Initiative
"Okay, just to be clear, I am here only as a neutral negotiator. I had nothing to do with this offer, here is the new offer from your parents.

You can add your own waste to the compost piles, but will need to do so in outhouses until new piping to the compost sets is installed. In exchange they agree to upgrade their houses, the first starting within a month, the neighbourhood not to be finished in more than six months.

Sanitary guidelines to be followed on the handling of all compost.

Meat eating plants are to be allowed, as long as they are limited to bug eating, preferably pests. Nothing that could bite off your hand, no matter how cool.

All other genetic engineered plants allowed, as long as they are approved by the Committee on GE plants.

In the event that the garden is not maintained on at least

Yes Timmy, sorry, right

5. In the event that the food forest is not maintained on at least a weekly basis, penalties and reductions of size may be imposed.

Fungus will be allowed.

That work for you?"

"Yes Sam, I recognize that your parents are being reactionary by forbidden new plants. I'm just the negotiator."

"Yes, I recognize that makes me a tool of the burgess, though honestly not sure that's how it's pronounced. I will convey that you have guns and are ready to defend your territory with the full force of soaking water."

"You parents have responded. They acknowledge your super soakers, and have fabbed ponchos and are prepared for full water actions, should it come to that. Also, they have emphasised that you can't stay in the food forest forever, and you are going to get hungry."

"Yes, Timmy I understand the point of a food forest. However, they would note that the food isn't grown right now. So while you can manage that after it's set up, you can't right now. Also, several of your parents point out that you can't cook on your own because you said that was boring."

"Yes, I realise this is a starvation tactic. Your parents inform you the community fabber 'goo' as you call it is perfectly healthy."

"I see, I'll convey your counteroffer back to them."

Corporal (Ret.) Blake Cameron
Local Grown Up, Drafted Parent-Child negotiator, New Thebes
Project Progress: 23/40

Projected Results: +5 Trust, Raise Trust Floor by 5, Reduce population baseload E costs 1/3. E upkeep of 7-reduced by 1 each year until it becomes 0. Grass Touched

I don't know whether to be amused, pleased, or unsettled by the resemblance to union negotiations if the more powerful party actually gave a shit.

Anyway, if I didn't screw up the math this project will begin as energy-neutral and only get more efficient as time goes on. I suspect it's primarily motivated by making even the most tepid of starvation tactics less effective, but I'm fine with that. And maybe we do need to touch grass, even if it's necessary to grow some first.

Kirook · Dec 28, 2022

So…yeah. We need to clear out our tech debt and we need to clear it soon. I'll support a maximum of one more turn where we don't do it, since our military situation is still a bit pressing, but after this turn I will not vote for any plan that doesn't allocate a SciComm die to that project.

Derpmind · Dec 28, 2022

Kirook said:
So…yeah. We need to clear out our tech debt and we need to clear it soon. I'll support a maximum of one more turn where we don't do it, since our military situation is still a bit pressing, but after this turn I will not vote for any plan that doesn't allocate a SciComm die to that project.

Problem is, people were saying much the same last turn. I want to do it immediately so that we can't put it off One More Turn anymore.

Angle · Dec 28, 2022

Even if the code base is really bad, throwing it all out and starting over is still a poor approach. Personally, I would go for a far more gradual approach with refactoring, optimizing, documentation, profiling, bugtesting, etc, all built into the standard dev cycle and made a part of normal operations. Actually how I'm planning to do things with my own project, once I get it to the point where other people start to get regularly involved. :/

Though actually, the listed project is literally just, like, setting up the committee to do the actual project, right? So we're not even going to have anything happen until after those two quarters, at which point we start getting options for how to actually do the project, like with the other megaprojects? :/

Redshirt Army · Dec 28, 2022

Angle said:
Even if the code base is really bad, throwing it all out and starting over is still a poor approach. Personally, I would go for a far more gradual approach with refactoring, optimizing, documentation, profiling, bugtesting, etc, all built into the standard dev cycle and made a part of normal operations. Actually how I'm planning to do things with my own project, once I get it to the point where other people start to get regularly involved. :/

Though actually, the listed project is literally just, like, setting up the committee to do the actual project, right? So we're not even going to have anything happen until after those two quarters, at which point we start getting options for how to actually do the project, like with the other megaprojects? :/

Yep. It'll take six months just to put together a plan of action on how to start untangling this clusterfuck, because as you say, we kind of need to keep using all our tech constantly while development takes place.

Whatever can be salvaged will be, of course - nobody does a total rewrite for shits and giggles - but with how much cruft has accumulated, it may literally be less work to do a clean slate start for some of it.

:/ :/ :/ :/ :/ :/

pheonix89 · Dec 28, 2022

So speaking as an actual software dev I will betcha anything that our devs will want to throw as much out as possible because a lot of that pile of legacy code is going to be painful to think about and the only cure for the pain of comprehending horrible code is to purge it.

Spart117MC · Dec 29, 2022

I'm a rather lay person when it comes to software engineering, but wouldn't it be better to do the various Fractures Skies projects and get familiar with everything in the Charter catalog first before starting work on clearing the tech debt?

Winged One · Dec 29, 2022

Spart117MC said:
I'm a rather lay person when it comes to software engineering, but wouldn't it be better to do the various Fractures Skies projects and get familiar with everything in the Charter catalog first before starting work on clearing the tech debt?

No, because starting is just forming the committee and trying to figure out just what we need to do.

Spart117MC · Dec 29, 2022

Doesn't knowing what pieces of technology are going to be used help in doing that?

Derpmind · Dec 29, 2022

Spart117MC said:
I'm a rather lay person when it comes to software engineering, but wouldn't it be better to do the various Fractures Skies projects and get familiar with everything in the Charter catalog first before starting work on clearing the tech debt?

We already got an understanding of the Charter's technology through the FRM cracking projects, and the many follow-up projects we've done to integrate much of that tech for our people's use. Fractured Skies projects are part of us moving beyond Charter level tech, in this case by mix-and-matching tech from different Charters. Something we couldn't do if we weren't already familiar with their catalogs of stuff.

bdun140 · Dec 29, 2022

And now, for absolutely no good reason, have a low effort meme I posted to the Discord

Please take note, it has been agreed upon that both of the objects pictured above are both at their respective upper ends of what is possible in terms of mass and volume.

taovkool · Dec 29, 2022

pheonix89 said:
So speaking as an actual software dev I will betcha anything that our devs will want to throw as much out as possible because a lot of that pile of legacy code is going to be painful to think about and the only cure for the pain of comprehending horrible code is to purge it.

Uhh, I don't know much about codings but we do have AIs on our side, and I heard those are really good at this computer stuff.

Some of them recently emancipated as well. They might want a new job, especially in this economy.

Setsul · Dec 29, 2022

Derpmind said:
Problem is, people were saying much the same last turn. I want to do it immediately so that we can't put it off One More Turn anymore.

Eh, I said 2 turns last turn, I'm saying 1 turn this turn, so I am consistent in my plans.

Like Kirook said, our military situation is a bit of a problem. Our mid term strategic situation is survivable, but the short term tactical situation is potentially catastrophic. Vanguard Force is obviously tied up preventing an invasion from the the Marshals and 2nd battlegroup in Arizona, Ismeu Force and Home Force won't come into play unless things start going wrong (Baikal/Akleod attacking us), and Frontier Force is stuck patrolling the Osliam chain, so Mobile Force is supposed to hold Thoa/Chinook on its own.
1st battlegroup is on its way back, 3rd battlegroup never left, they just weren't allowed to do anything either thanks to Vizzari-Blaauwoord not knowing what to do. If 9th Fleet shows even the tiniest bit of competence when the ceasefire breaks down, they'll send both to Thoa and that's it.
Mobile Force is 5 Light Cruiser (3 converted), 8 Frigates, and 4 Strikecraft Wings. A few more wings from Chinook SDF if they retreat.
2 Light Battlegroups are 4 Battlecruisers, 8 Light Cruisers, around 4 or 5 DOZEN Corvettes, Frigates, and PDDs, and 16 Wings.
There is no conceivable scenario in which Mobile Force holds Chinook against that.

Now if we're lucky, the ceasefire holds long enough to get one or two Battlecruisers out, Frontier Force manages to reinforce in time (might have to give up Chinook anyway), and only one battlegroup is coming because Vizzari-Blaauwoord is concerned about surprise anarchism attacks from behind. In that case the absolute best case is a passive admiral who just sits in Thoa/Relay/Pasnato because a 2 to 1 advantage isn't 3 to 1 and it's roughly even in medium sized ships and up, but more likely is some desperate fight in which we need all the advantages we can get.

So our primary concern right now is 9th Fleet figuring out how to fleet, secondary is Tereshkova exploding, the Triage Command saying fuck it or any other reason that would cause them to come at us, and a distant third is the Omoi techbro cultists trying to remotely turn of our internet/explode our infrastructure, MSI/HI backdoors, or Charter tech starting to break down without constant maintenance from the techpriests.

For the first we need to get some short term military stuff done (Academy might take too long), for the second we're really banking on diplomacy because we won't be able to do anything against a Triage Command for many years, and for the third HI is actually help us out a bit because no comms mean no remote sabotage for a while.

Anyway, my rough mid term plan for SciComm is this:
AHB/Monster/Soldier/? -> AHB/Jailbreak/Wormhole/CTD -> AHB/BEG/BAG/CTD -> actual CTD begins
AHB is simply a must have, the bonus in SciComm is higher (plus likely Focus bonus), IndComm is busy with fixing SR/E problems/Kimberly gacha/shipyards. As soon as it's done it'll either be switched out for an infinite SR or E project or we just have a free slot for more wormholes and potentially Blue Skies stuff or Jefferies or whatever. If we can fit a few AHB dice here and there in IndComm it'll simply go faster, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Monster Within is obvious and we should do it before Jailbreak and any not time sensitive augmentation projects to really take advantage of it.
Universal Soldier needs a followup project in MilComm, so presumably 6-9 months until it's actually done, which is hopefully fast enough to have it before Tobby's Tantrum might ruin the ceasefire. Ideally First Focus this turn if MedComm doesn't need it.

Jailbreak should then easily finish in one turn, no need for a focus, and we can do a chill turn where there's no focus on SciComm at all, or only Second Focus. Initiate Mega Project: Clearing out Tech Debt starts as well, depending on priorities AHB or a wormhole project that doesn't need any bonus to compete or both or something else to fill up the remaining slots.

Then some fun stuff that we do want to get done, Basic Embodiment Guarantee and Basic Augmentation Guarantee, which Jailbreak should unlock. Doing them at the same time is just narratively nice. They might need more than 1 die each, but we'll see that when we get to it. If they do, we'll have to prioritize, if they don't then the actual CTD projects will be ready immediately afterwards.

While I'm at it, MilComm would be:
Logistical/Examine -> Soldier followup/Examine -> probably still Soldier/Academy -> Doctrine or more yards/Academy
Logistical Overhaul is 100% locked in.
Examine Warcraft so we can get PDDs, a look at the SolNav Frigates/Minesweepers, Heavy Cruisers and just generally insurance in case we lose an irreplaceable ship to something stupid. It'll also allow us to see how much effort new ship designs are. As a bonus it doesn't cost SR.

Universal Soldier space variant followup so we're not just relying on our navy pulling miracles out of their collective asses when Tobby's pro gamer move shakes things up.

Eventually we'll want to get started on the Academy, Fleet Doctrine, and building more yards, in no particular order.
The cost savings from Fleet Doctrine probably aren't worth going for sooner. Standardization isn't going to work with the Kimberly gacha, we're going to need lots of SR mining for the next couple of turns to keep up and a single one off discount that might take 2 turns to acquire isn't going to cut it, and the bonus to new ship designs is useless until we actually unlock them with Examine Warcraft.

SocComm is hard to predict because a lot of the projects we can't see yet:
BSS/Toys -> FC -> LbD is what I suspect, but the second project starting next turn is going to be something like AI stuff (reveal, TLI education), maybe one of the projects that Monster unlocks, hard to tell.
Basic Spacer Skills is the fastest boost in military capabilities we can get, and again the bonus here is higher than in MilComm, thanks to Grey Skies. Yes, I do plan on spending only a single die on it. We seem to be get 1 progress each turn, probably from Chinook, it's already at 6/35, the PMCL lowers target progress on all Reorganize Training projects, Long Term Goals provides bonus progress, so I expect it to turn into something like 12 +8 /30 and that's very doable, especially with AC/FC on top.
All the Toys is just a no brainer. Thanks to overflow it's at 11 +8 /25 if VI Retraining doesn't apply in SocComm. If it does then it's +11 and becomes impossible to fail unless a double crit fail on both the d20 and the omake d4 preventing the Auditor Commission (AC is the superior abbreviation) from taking effect. Even with +8 we just need to not roll 2 or 3.

Finishing Crews (hence AC is better for the other one) is very nice. AC I didn't much care for because +2 next turn at most once per project is just not as good as the +1 on everything all the time from Toys, but boosting it to 5 moves a lot of breakpoints. E.g. a +10 /25 project going from 42.5% (aka more likely to need two dice) to 52.5%, but 10% of those still mean it finishes next turn is kind of underwhelming. Pushing it to 67.5% for one die then even though it's not actually going to be faster, I'm starting to like that gamble.

MedComm is basically impossible to predict.
We probably want to Establish External Espionage Rings first because that's where the real threat lies, and ideally we'll find a diplomatic solution to Akleod and maybe even Baikal, so Found Espionage Agency should probably take a backseat to actually contacting Baikal first, but we don't know what options the Conference will open up.
If there's anything that depends on good rolls, then MedComm might need First Focus, but again it's still impossible to predict.

IndComm is fairly set in stone:
Argent/Capital/SR/SR -> Argent/SR/SR or E -> SR/SR or E/Kimberly or docks
We do just straight up need roughly 5 dice on SR mining to feed the yards that are coming. That's the capital dock, smallcraft yards in Five Lions that Five Lions may or may not give to the Congressional Navy, smallcraft yards in Ismeu that are definitely going to the CN, the smallcraft yards in Ascension that have finished the de-conversions, the almost finished smallcraft yards in Radiant, and the general cost increase from running out of salvage options, as well as wanting to build more expensive ships like the Centaur class.

If the E rework does happen and Ascension is in E trouble, then it might be worth doing E sooner. Depending on how it works out with SR costs and SciComm in general, it would be possible to use First Focus to make finishing Argent Chevalier much more likely (and make the roll for E project more effective), since not having to pay another 15 SR for that again next turn is almost as good as adding 20 SR worth of mining this turn.

Unless we want to drop one or both of our Big Bote Projects or just give up on getting out of our SR deficit and leave docks idle, there's not much that can be changed here.

The3rdCorinthian · Dec 29, 2022

bdun140 said:
And now, for absolutely no good reason, have a low effort meme I posted to the Discord

Please take note, it has been agreed upon that both of the objects pictured above are both at their respective upper ends of what is possible in terms of mass and volume.

It's still mecha enough for me.

*wipes away a single tear while smiling *

Genderite · Dec 29, 2022

Angle said:
Edit: To use the debt analogy, I'd argue that we should pay it off slowly and steadily. Trying to pay off your entire mortgage at once is only likely to end up with more debt, for most people.

Given that the figure out how to handle tech debt project is going to unlock a load of other projects. I'm pretty sure that is how we are going to end up handling it.

nocarename · Dec 29, 2022

The first step of solving any problem is figuring out what 'solved' looks like. If you can't articulate that, you'll just keep trying things and, eventually, make more mistakes.

Redshirt Army · Dec 29, 2022

My thoughts for next turn:

Spacecraft Construction

Mandatory said:
Continue Existing Builds
[X] [Idilya Strikecraft 1]
-[X] Chinook Model Switchblade Strikecraft Wing (0/1) (3BR, 3SR)
[X] Interstellar Orbital Workers' Union Yards [Smallcraft Yard, Radiant System]
-[X] Make Outrider-Class Frigate ready for service (1/2 Quarters) (10BR, 5SR, 4E)
[X] Lor'Vela Orbital Construction Facility [Smallcraft Yard, Ascension System]
-[X] Cossak-class Frigate: (1/3) (20BR, 12SR, 6E)
[X] Unity Spaceyards [Cruiser Yard, Shei System]
-[X] Make Second World War-Class Heavy Cruiser ready for service (1/2 Quarters) (20BR, 15SR, 6E)

Reduced Price Salvage
[X] Modern Engineering Orbital Workshop [Cruiser Yard, Ascension System]
-[X] Make Janissary-Class Light Tender ready for service (0/2 Quarters) (10BR, 7SR, 3E)
[X] Loknar Tamash Fleet Yards, [Smallcraft Yard, Ascension System]
-[X] Make Free Companies-Class Strike Corvette ready for service (0/1 Quarters) (20BR, 15SR, 5E)

Total Cost: 83 BR, 57 SR, 24 E

This leaves us with two free yards:

Free Yards said:
[ ] Radiant Star Yards [Smallcraft Yard, Radiant System]
[ ] Chinook Bay 3 [Cruiser Yard, Chinook System]

Depending on what we negotiate during the upcoming diplomatic turn, it may be best to dedicate these yards to producing civilian freighters that we can use to contribute to the evacuation of Drake - doing so is good PR, will help us improve relations with Asgard and hopefully mitigate some of the hate that the Drakian refugees might have towards us, and will make it more awkward for SolNav to commit to destroying the AIC in the short term. For all of the same reasons that it was a good idea for Trescore to contribute, it's a good idea for the AIC to contribute as well. On the supply side of things, civilian ships are almost certainly a lot more light on SR costs than military vessels, and we're primarily constrained by SR at the moment. We can expect to have around 109 SR available next turn, and just the commitments from the other shipyards already eat 57 of that, leaving only 52 free for these yards plus the entire rest of the plan for the turn.

INDCOMM (1st Focus)

Mandatory said:
[x] [IndComm] Recommission Battlecruiser "Argent Chevalier" in the Congressional Navy [10BR 15SR 5E]
[x] [IndComm] Build Capital Craft-sized Spacedock in Five Lions [30BR 15SR 8E]
[x] Expand Mining Operations [20 BR]
-[x] [IndComm] Begin SR mining operations on Five Lions 6a (Quality 17)
-[x] [IndComm] Begin SR mining operations on Five Lions 8 (Quality 15)
[x] Expand Mining Operations, again [20 BR]
-[x] [IndComm] Begin SR mining operations on Five Lions 9 (Quality 9)
-[x] [IndComm] Begin SR mining operations on Five Lions 10 (Quality 8)

Total Cost: 80 BR, 30 SR, 13E

With first focus on IndComm, we have a 67.5% chance of finishing Argent Chevalier this turn (as opposed to a 47.5% chance with first focus) , meaning we get the ship in service 3 months sooner and save 15 SR. This also increases the chance of finishing the capital dock from 77.5% to 96.25%. We're in a major SR slump, so spending two mining actions to address that is vital. Indeed, just two actions isn't going to be enough, we're likely to need to continue to commit to SR expansion in the coming turns, but that's going to get pricey in terms of BR very fast, since each stage increases BR costs dramatically, and this is the last chunk of "cheap" stage 1 expansions available. Long story short, we need the Automated Mining Breakthrough very soon if we want to feed our shipyards. I don't think there's any room to maneuver in this section.

MILCOMM

Mandatory said:
[x] [MilComm] Logistical Overhaul [3BR 1SR 2E]

Total Cost: 3 BR, 1 SR, 2E

This is a cheap action which autocompletes when selected and gives an immediate boost to our logistics and combat performance.

Consider said:
[] [MilComm] Examine Captured Warcraft and Cracked Designs [5E]
[] [MilComm] Reorganize Training 2: Basic Spacer Skills [5BR 4SR 4E]
<> The new projects that Long Term Planning unlocked.

We may want to examine our warcraft this turn, or we can put that off one more turn to make certain that we gain the schematics for an AGI-equipped Dai Nihon Teikoku-class Battlecruiser from completing Argent Chevalier. If we do put it off, then we need to take a different action that costs no SR instead, like one of the reorganization actions that LTP unlocked. (Or Basic Spacer Skills, in which case we'd take an action that costs no SR with that slot in SocComm instead.

SCICOMM (2nd Focus)

Mandatory said:
[X] [SciComm] Automated Harvesting Breakthrough [4BR 2SR 4E]
[X] [SciComm] Fractured Skies Combination Projects: Embrace the Monster Within [2BR 2SR 2E]
[X] [SciComm] Genetic Augmentation Jailbreak [5E]
[X] [SciComm] Initiate Mega Project: Clearing out Tech Debt [2E]

Total Cost: 6 BR, 4 SR, 13 E
Automated Harvesting research is mandatory to keep up with the voracious BR appetite we're about to have as our shipyards and SR production start kicking into high gear. Clearing out Tech Debt and the Genetic Augmentation Jailbreak both cost no SR and are useful - in particular, we can share the GAJ data with anyone who agrees to receive it in the upcoming diplomatic meeting. Monster Within has narrative synergies if taken at the same time as GAJ and provides bonus progress to that project when completed, which has a 77.5% chance of happening with the second focus on SciComm. (We can bump that up to a 96.25% chance with 1st focus, but I think completing Argent Chevalier is more important.)

Consider said:
[ ] [SciComm] Fractured Skies Combination Projects: All the Toys [3BR 1SR 3E]
<> Unlocked Blue Skies Research

Alternatively, we may put off the GAJ project itself, to see if the bonus progress plus potential overflow from Monster Within completes it by itself and to benefit from MW's bonus to genetic research if it doesn't. In that case, we can replace GAJ with any Blue Skies research that doesn't cost SR, or do All The Toys in SciComm and replace it in SocComm with an action which doesn't cost SR.

SOCCOMM

Mandatory said:
[X] [SocComm] Reorganize Training 2: Basic Spacer Skills [5BR 4SR 4E]
[X] [SocComm] Fractured Skies Combination Projects: All the Toys [3BR 1SR 3E]

Total Cost: 8 BR, 5 SR, 7 E

Both Basic Spacer Skills and All The Toys are extremely high priority actions. The only reason not to take them in SocComm is if we've taken them in other committees instead and taken 0 SR actions in SocComm instead. As such, for tabulation purposes, I will treat their costs as locked in.

Consider said:
[ ] [SocComm] Learn By Doing [2E]
[ ] [SocComm] Adopt new Calendar [1 BR 1E]
<> Finishing Crews

There are several useful actions available in SocComm which should cost no or very little SR - Learn By Doing is a cumulative bonus, Finishing Crews is a +3 bonus to every action with the only cost being potential delays, and the New Calendar will likely help reduce potential concerns within our population regarding radical changes - like, for example, going full Van Neumann with automining.

MEDCOMM

Mandatory said:
[X] [MedComm] Establish External Espionage Rings [20BR 5SR 5E]
<X> Send Diplomats using the Diplomatic Office[4E]

Total Cost: 20 BR, 5 SR, 9 E

External Espionage Rings are invaluable now that we've been cut off from communications by SFREA, since they're our only means of keeping an eye on what's happening in the outside world. Sending diplomats costs no SR and can help us not need to fight in the first place - trying to establish communications with Baikal should be a priority of ours, I feel.

SUMMATION

This plan uses a minimum of 200 BR, 102 SR, and 68 E - this is prior to considering the costs of any non-locked in actions, and prior to considering ship production in our remaining two yards. I have 7 spare SR, so in theory, depending on how SR cheap civilian freighters may be (assuming that offer goes through in the diplomatic meeting), some non-zero SR actions might be possible with my free/flex slots.

Whenyouseeyou · Dec 29, 2022

Say guys how would the world reacted if we (before the broadcast) announce ourselves as the DemFed instead of the one we use for our nation

The3rdCorinthian · Dec 29, 2022

Very confused since the Demfed was North America.

We'd probably be seen closer to a Self declared sucessor... and thus have less legitimacy than the actual re-established Demfed.

Winged One said:
I don't know whether to be amused, pleased, or unsettled by the resemblance to union negotiations if the more powerful party actually gave a shit.

Honestly, I'm kinda okay with it.

History never ends. Even in a post scarcity, post capitalist world with immortality, there will still be some form of social thing (Not necessarily unrest or divide, just a social... thing) that we cannot yet forsee.

Kids trying to make sure that youth is something respected is... honestly both fair and pretty mild as far as that goes.

DracoDracul · Dec 29, 2022

Redshirt Army said:
There are several useful actions available in SocComm which should cost no or very little SR - Learn By Doing is a cumulative bonus, Finishing Crews is a +3 bonus to every action with the only cost being potential delays, and the New Calendar will likely help reduce potential concerns within our population regarding radical changes - like, for example, going full Van Neumann with automining.

Should be noted that Finishing crews is not a +3 to actions, it's a minus 3 to DC. This is an important distinction because that means it's not cumulative over multiple turns nor can performing the action in multiple categories stack the bonus.

I'm personally of the opinion that we should be putting one at least one die towards wormhole related actions each turn. Probably FRM because it's the least SR intensive one.

Of course any speculation now is going to be heavily changed because we're likely to get a number of new options and the conference is likely to give us some things we need to do to help with diplomacy.

Derpmind · Dec 29, 2022

Redshirt Army said:
With first focus on IndComm, we have a 67.5% chance of finishing Argent Chevalier this turn (as opposed to a 47.5% chance with first focus) , meaning we get the ship in service 3 months sooner and save 15 SR. This also increases the chance of finishing the capital dock from 77.5% to 96.25%.

You should be using the syntax '>=' for your anydice calculations here. You should be checking if you meet or exceed the target number; if we get to exactly 50/50 total, then the project completes in time. By just using '>' you're essentially checking for if we get to 51/50, or 81/80. (In my maths post from a few days ago, I also got a 47.5% chance for Argent Chevalier, but that was without the +1 from using the Second Focus.) Accordingly, your completion chances (in one turn) should be:

Argent Chevalier: 47.5% normal, 52.5% Second Focus, 72.5% First Focus.
Five Lions Capital Spacedock: 77.5% Normal, 82.5% Second Focus, 98.75% First Focus.

Monster Within has narrative synergies if taken at the same time as GAJ and provides bonus progress to that project when completed, which has a 77.5% chance of happening with the second focus on SciComm. (We can bump that up to a 96.25% chance with 1st focus, but I think completing Argent Chevalier is more important.)

Here you're using a target number of 24 instead of 25, which does give you the correct percentage results in a round-about way. But just to try and keep things clear:

Monster Within: 72.5% normal, 77.5% Second Focus, 95.25% First Focus.
(This one uses our +12 bonus from last turn, then the +3 VI Retraining and +1 Grey Skies bonuses. And then the Second/First Focus as appropriate.)

Setsul · Dec 29, 2022

I thought I'd post one of my current plans (I've got a few) for comparison. It is mostly fairly similar.
Differences marked in red.
This one in particular is version 6D for "Doesn't have a good name yet" and part of 6E for Energy.

Spacecraft Construction: Salvage, Strike Corvettes, Strikecraft

-[] [Idilya Strikecraft 1]
--[] Chinook Model Switchblade Strikecraft Wing (0/1) (3BR, 3SR)
-[] Radiant Star Yards [Smallcraft Yard, Radiant System]
--[ ] Chinook Model Switchblade Strikecraft Wing (0/1) (5BE, 5SR, 3E)
-[] Interstellar Orbital Workers' Union Yards [Smallcraft Yard, Radiant System]
--[] Make Outrider-Class Frigate ready for service (1/2 Quarters) (10BR, 5SR, 4E)
-[] Loknar Tamash Fleet Yards, [Smallcraft Yard, Ascension System]
--[] Make Black Regiment-Class Strike Corvette ready for service (0/1 Quarters) (12BR, 5SR, 4E)
-[] Lor'Vela Orbital Construction Facility [Smallcraft Yard, Ascension System]
--[] Cossak-class Frigate: (1/3) (20BR, 12SR, 6E)
-[] Modern Engineering Orbital Workshop [Cruiser Yard, Ascension System]
--[] Make Janissary-Class Light Tender ready for service (0/2 Quarters) (10BR, 7SR, 3E)
-[] Unity Spaceyards [Cruiser Yard, Shei System]
--[] Make Second World War-Class Heavy Cruiser ready for service (1/2 Quarters) (20BR, 15SR, 6E)
-[] ? [Smallcraft Yard, Five Lions System]
--[ ] Chinook Model Switchblade Strikecraft Wing (0/1) (5BE, 5SR, 3E)
Total Cost: 85 BR, 57 SR, 29 E

Not too different, it simply uses an older, but a lot cheaper Strike Corvette and uses the leftover SR budget for two more Strikecraft Wings.
Chinook Bay 3 is under control of the All-Chinook Congress (they built that Light Cruiser all on their own) and we have no say in what they'll build there next on their own dime.
Five Lions has been working on smallcraft yards as well and they were "nearing completion for next gensess" when I asked a few months ago on discord. We may or may not have to pay for ships in that yard, hasn't been decided yet. If it's somehow not ready or the Five Lions Congress uses it, then I'll substitute the Wings with a single
-[ ] New Model-class Strike Corvette: (0/2) (20BR, 12SR, 6E)
+10 BR, +2 SR, presumably within budget.

Not so fun fact: This requires 13 E in Ascension. We've got 11.85 E to spare right now, but this doesn't include the upkeep for the wormhole connection that we're getting for free from MVP. Should the E rework be instated fully, at least one of the docks would have to remain idle. In that case the Black Regiment-class Strike Corvette goes to Radiant and one Wing disappears.
That's why I wanted the Cossak in Radiant and the Outrider in Ascension last turn.

I don't feel comfortable planning with some hypothetical option of civilian ships that use less SR. If it is possible, I can still change the plan, but I'd rather try to keep all yards running without relying on speculation.
Also a medium sized ship could take a year to complete and I'm not sure if we want to commit to that, especially not in exchange for the Light Tender since we do not control Chinook Bay 3. The offer that we will send one ship to Drake a year from now is not the greatest PR move ever.
Smaller builds should be faster, but 3 quarters still isn't great. Maybe civilian ships are easier to build. We'll see if we get the option, until then I'd rather not speculate on it being one.

If we want something faster, we could try deconverting the Auxiliary Carriers. That would potentially get us 2 medium civilian ships in 1 turn. Wouldn't affect our defence either, since we can simply station the 2 Wings in Bestreer without Carriers. There is 1 already, so it's definitely possible. And unless building civilian ships is twice as fast, building a single Light Carrier later to replace them is a net positive compared to building two civilian ships and keeping the two auxiliary carriers.

INDCOMM (2nd Focus)

-[] [IndComm] Recommission Battlecruiser "Argent Chevalier" in the Congressional Navy (10BR, 15SR, 5E)
-[] [IndComm] Build Capital Craft-sized spacedock in Five Lions (30BR, 15SR, 8E)
-[] [IndComm] Begin SR mining operations on Five Lions 6a (Quality 17) (10 BR)
-[] [IndComm] Begin SR mining operations on Five Lions 7 (Quality 2) (10 BR)
-[] [IndComm] Begin SR mining operations on Five Lions 8 (Quality 15) (10 BR)
-[] [IndComm] Begin SR mining operations on Five Lions 9 (Quality 9) (10 BR)
Total Cost: 80 BR, 30 SR, 13E

Quality is meaningless for production, only max expansion level, so I'm doing them in order.
Merely 2nd Focus, because I'm liking our chances. Y'all wanted the Auditor Commission, so now we'll use it.
With AC the chance of finishing Argent Chevalier is 62.5%, and that's honestly ok. Yeah, the AC triggering means it would still take two turns, but the cost remains the same and that's the main concern here. We want all 3 Battlecruiser in a reasonable time frame; if we get attacked next turn before the ink on the ceasefire is even dry, we're not going to do well with or without Argent Chevalier.
Same with the Capital Dock. 92.5% with AC and honestly the AC triggering would help with SR. That's one turn where we neither have to pay for the building project, nor for building a ship in the finished dock. Obviously in a perfect world both Big Bote projects would finish directly in one turn so we can get more battlecruisers the fastest, but I don't think anything terrible will happen here if we don't use 1st Focus.

INDCOMM 2, Electric Boogaloo (1st Focus)

-[] [IndComm] Recommission Battlecruiser "Argent Chevalier" in the Congressional Navy (10BR, 15SR, 5E)
-[] [IndComm] Build Capital Craft-sized spacedock in Five Lions (30BR, 15SR, 8E)
-[] [IndComm] Begin SR mining operations on Five Lions 6a (Quality 17) (10 BR)
-[] [IndComm] Begin SR mining operations on Five Lions 7 (Quality 2) (10 BR)
-[] [IndComm] Increase E collection in Ascension (19-41 BR)
Total Cost: 79-101 BR, 30 SR, 13E

If the E rework happens, we're going to have a problem in Ascension, see above.
No more gambles on getting lucky with Argent Chevalier or "lucky" with the Auditor Commission, 1st Focus for maximum SR savings and an E collection project to get the yards running again asap.

MILCOMM

-[] [MilComm] Logistical Overhaul (3BR, 1SR, 2E)
-[] [MilComm] Examine Captured Warcraft and Cracked Designs (5E)
Total Cost: 3 BR, 1 SR, 7 E

I want PDDs and Heavy Cruisers. We're not going to be copying Argent Chevalier for a while, if at all.

Examine Warcraft is a matter of timing for me. The Heavy Cruiser is going to finish in 1 turn, Argent Chevalier is going to finish in 2 turns or less, the Cossak Frigate and Light Tender will finish in 2 turns, right when the Kimberly gacha runs out of non-Battlecruiser (we've got 2 more 1 turn Corvettes), and Examine Warcraft will finish in 2 turns if we start it now.
Yes, there is a 22.5% chance it might finish in 1 turn, but I'm fairly confident that won't happen. And if it does, no harm is done.
The point is to get PDDs and SolNav Frigates unlocked right when our smallcraft yards finish their current production, as well as Heavy Cruisers for the medium dock that will be done with the Light Tender.
It's also better to be safe than sorry. We don't want to lose any of the 5 unique and important ships before we Examined them. And I'm not actually counting Argent Chevalier there. We've got another Dai Nihon Teikoku-class Battlecruiser lying around, Isthar's Naginata, and the ethics of drafting an AGI at birth to serve on a battlecruiser until their death are quite dubious.
Our Capital Dock will be busy restoring Naginata and Stormberg for a couple of turns and only then would we need the plans for Argent Chevalier, if we decide to use them instead of coming up with an entirely new design or Monitors.

The worst case here is actually that Examine Warcraft finishes in one turn and that ships commissioned in the same turn don't count, so that we can't build Heavy Cruisers. But because further Examine Warcraft projects are now Automatic Progress, all we need to do to fix that is simply take the project again next turn, exactly as planned.
And if we decide we don't want Heavy Cruisers, we'll just enjoy our PDDs and take Examine Warcraft again once we actually get around to building Battlecruisers from scratch or have found something new in Kimberly.

Honorary mention:
-[] [MilComm] Case Sublime: Secure Thoa (5E)
This is Mildly liked by Chinook, so if the political situation allows it (ceasefire terms unchanged), then we definitely want to add defences there eventually. As a side benefit, if the mining infrastructure hasn't been destroyed, it would add 8 or 9 SR income, depending on how E maintenance costs now work.
The lack of SR costs despite this project building gate defences for two gates, which would normally cost 10 BR, 10 SR, 6 E total, might be a copy paste error though, since 5 E is the cost for a normal offensive project that does not erect any defences.

SCICOMM (1st Focus)

-[] [SciComm] Automated Harvesting Breakthrough (4BR, 2SR, 4E)
-[] [SciComm] Fractured Skies Combination Projects: Embrace the Monster Within (2BR, 2SR, 2E)
-[] [SciComm] Fractured Skies Combination Projects: Project Universal Soldier (2BR, 3SR, 2E)
-[] [SciComm] Anything that doesn't need SR (2-5E)
Total Cost: 8 BR, 7 SR, 10-13 E

I know Redshirt thinks Universal Soldier isn't worth it at all, but "Unlocks a MilComm project to make the Congressional Navy more effective in the Combat Engine" is literally better than Logistical Overhaul and that one's a no-brainer. It's going to have far more impact than a single Battlecruiser and that's part of why 1st Focus goes here. Also unlocks a groundside option that we could take if things go really wrong at any point.
The most likely candidates for the last slot are obviously Clearing out Tech Debt (2E) and Genetic Augmentation Jailbreak (5E), but we don't know the Blue Skies projects yet, the TLI education might be in SciComm, not SocComm, and we're not completely out of SR in this plan. Shuffling around All the Toys is also possible.

SOCCOMM

-[] [SocComm] Fractured Skies Combination Projects: All the Toys (3BR, 1SR, 3E)
-[] [SocComm] Reorganize Training 2: Basic Spacer Skills (5BR, 4SR, 4E)
Total Cost: 8 BR, 5 SR, 7 E

No changes here, would be weird not to do these. Unless the sky is falling and it can only be propped up by SocComm projects, I wouldn't move these to SciComm/MilComm.
I mean for absolute maximum defence we could break out [] [SocComm] Encourage Emergency Local Strikecraft Cottage Industry Production (6E) but that's it.

MEDCOMM

-[] [MedComm] Establish External Espionage Rings (20BR, 5SR, 5E)
-[] [MedComm] Open relations with Baikal (2E) + Test the Sincerity of the Landgrave (1SR, 1E)
Total Cost: 20 BR, 6 SR, 8 E

We've Formalized our Diplomatic Service and can now take multiple Foreign Affairs projects per die. I'm hoping that the Landgrave counts as that. Otherwise I'm not sure what we'd use the second (are there more?) action on, because other than Baikal, everyone is coming to the Conference already.
Also, before anyone suggests Found Espionage Agency: Who do you want to spy on? Baikal is a closed system so we literally can't, and for now we've got better things to do than chug away indefinitely at Insert Assets into Arizona, Progress (????). We could spy on Akleod and Arizona simultaneously if we found the agency, but we are trying diplomacy first with both (Ceasefire and Conference), so knowing far enough in advance even without comms whether Tobby's pro gamer move is going to get us killed that we can make it to the bunkers in time takes priority.

SUMMATION

This plan uses a minimum of 204 BR, 106 SR, and 74 E - this is prior to considering the increased costs from any alternative actions.
I have 3 spare SR, two of which might be used to substitute a Strike Corvette for 2 Strikecraft Wings. Alternatively, a SciComm project for up to 3 SR could be chosen.

SCDMR Aramatha · Dec 29, 2022

[X] Barricade - Trinary Star HuK
[X] London Commune - Outrider FFG
[X] Frontovitchka - Great Heathen CL
[X] Stargazer - Homer Class Light Explorer

Redshirt Army · Jan 1, 2023

For The Tyrants Fear Your Might is the Sufficient Velocity 2022 User's Choice for Best Original Work!

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

Been Better

Not the Simurgh

Expand BLG with Food Forest Initiative

Release Candidate Enby

Cannon Fodder

Wants to be Seven Of Nine

Amateur human

Not the Simurgh

Amateur human

I have ideas. Sometimes they're even good.

Forever Gone

Cannon Fodder

Spacecraft Construction

INDCOMM (1st Focus)

MILCOMM

SCICOMM (2nd Focus)

SOCCOMM

MEDCOMM

SUMMATION

Transbian Communist

Spacecraft Construction: Salvage, Strike Corvettes, Strikecraft

INDCOMM (2nd Focus)

INDCOMM 2, Electric Boogaloo (1st Focus)

MILCOMM

SCICOMM (1st Focus)

SOCCOMM

MEDCOMM

SUMMATION

Cannon Fodder

For The Tyrants Fear Your Might is the Sufficient Velocity 2022 User's Choice for Best Original Work!

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/Nn6evsa.png" data-url="https://i.imgur.com/Nn6evsa.png" class="bbImage lazyload" style="" width="" height="" /> Congratulations, @AKuz , @Amorous Intent , @clockworkchaos , @Cyanblackstone , @The Laurent , and @BiopunkOtrera !

Congratulations, @AKuz , @Amorous Intent , @clockworkchaos , @Cyanblackstone , @The Laurent , and @BiopunkOtrera !