I think it's safe to assume that they have a Colony Pod, but this brings up a broader point -- right now, we're planning in a vacuum because we don't have a realistic assessment of what the Pirates are able to field. The pirate fleet is their center of gravity; in an ideal world we would steal it. Second-best is to deny its use to others (noting that the other primarily-maritime factions will get the most benefit). But along with better intelligence against Yudikon, we also need better intelligence about the pirates -- where their primary colony pod is, whether they have other dry dock facilities for ship repair, and whether their foils are electric or hydrocarbon.
The good news is that fleet engagements can be decisive. That is also the bad news... and with that, I've persuaded myself.
[X] Build a primitive dry dock. [-3 Construction Supplies, -1 Survival Supplies]
This is probably the single most important option we have available to us, if we are going to take on the pirates. A drydock will let us conduct much more thorough repairs on the Skagway's hull, it will let us fix our Unity barge, and while it is a significant investment in terms of construction supplies it is the next step towards real naval capacity.
Fortunately, the Planitzer search expedition suggests Yudikon has not aggressively pushed out exploration teams yet as he lacks the numbers of professionals to do so while also guarding home and he lacks the confidence to make a militia to make up the difference. That said, we probably make the formal survey before Yudikon musters the courage to do so and watch Relief Station for any unusual increase in activity and numbers. Searching the coast will be more difficult with the pirates around and the pirates have probably picked up most of the ocean salvage already.
We might want to repair the Skycrane soon as it would increase our options in getting the Tomorrow Institute people home, picking up heavy salvage, and visiting far away factions that we know exist.
Can we just launch the Skycrane and have it look for something to pick up, or do we need to have a destination first? Is it a viable air recon platform?
Can we just launch the Skycrane and have it look for something to pick up, or do we need to have a destination first? Is it a viable air recon platform?
Can we just launch the Skycrane and have it look for something to pick up, or do we need to have a destination first? Is it a viable air recon platform?
I'm wondering if we need to focus on Conquer for a little while to arm up for our pirate problem.
In particular I would really like to be able to manufacture replacement missiles for the Skagway based on reverse engineering the Skagway's designs, and perhaps install new launchers on our foils. After that dedicated warships would be nice, but that's going to be even more involved. We've got electronics manufacturing and we can make metal and explosives, so we should be able to manage short range guided missile manufacturing once we get the design figured out.
I'm wondering if we need to focus on Conquer for a little while to arm up for our pirate problem.
In particular I would really like to be able to manufacture replacement missiles for the Skagway based on reverse engineering the Skagway's designs, and perhaps install new launchers on our foils. After that dedicated warships would be nice, but that's going to be even more involved. We've got electronics manufacturing and we can make metal and explosives, so we should be able to manage short range guided missile manufacturing once we get the design figured out.
I think the bunkers are more for preventing an amphibious landing. To protect the ships we want to build the protected anchorage.
That said, the elevated mortar position and the Skagway's guns are probably going to be a decent deterrent to ships getting too close, at least for now.
I wonder if there's anything we can do to rig our ships to make them almost impossible to steal. Might be a good idea.
I think the bunkers are more for preventing an amphibious landing. To protect the ships we want to build the protected anchorage.
That said, the elevated mortar position and the Skagway's guns are probably going to be a decent deterrent to ships getting too close, at least for now.
I wonder if there's anything we can do to rig our ships to make them almost impossible to steal. Might be a good idea.
That's what I'm thinking about, yeah. Land will always be a better weapons platform than a boat, relatively, so the ideal would be a long range weapon emplacement, some form of sensor, and coastal defenses. Something to think about.
That's what I'm thinking about, yeah. Land will always be a better weapons platform than a boat, relatively, so the ideal would be a long range weapon emplacement, some form of sensor, and coastal defenses. Something to think about.
Coastal guns overlooking our moorage would probably do the trick, but we don't have a foundry facility suitable for making big guns yet. We could make a missile battery instead, once we figure out how to make missiles.
Coastal guns overlooking our moorage would probably do the trick, but we don't have a foundry facility suitable for making big guns yet. We could make a missile battery instead, once we figure out how to make missiles.
Guided missiles are way beyond naval guns in terms of manufacturing complexity, I'd expect us to be capable of making big steel tubes that chuck smaller chunks of steel way faster than precision munitions.
Guided missiles are way beyond naval guns in terms of manufacturing complexity, I'd expect us to be capable of making big steel tubes that chuck smaller chunks of steel way faster than precision munitions.
We've got the facilities to make electronics, which is the hard part of basic missiles. Making the missile skins is as simple as rolling thin metal sheets into pipe, but you can't make guns that way.
Big naval guns need to be thick, solid cast pieces without joins in order to tolerate the extreme pressures involved in operation. Pouring tons of steel into a huge mold all at once requires seriously heavily equipment that we just don't need for anything else and almost certainly don't have. Even on modern day Earth there aren't many places that can do that sort of work. Then there's the specialized machining equipment to bore and rifle the barrels, on top of that.
We might be able to do small guns, like 5", but those are probably on par with the guns on the enemy foils so we wouldn't outrange the enemy. They also wouldn't be very effective if the enemy starts using armored ships.
Maybe super primitive dumb rockets but I don't see how we're supposed to make a miniaturized and disposable radar and avionics package when we can't even make a handheld radio in bulk (well ok we just figured that one out). Maybe we could put together a small number of desperation rockets with avionics packages made out of electronics/computers we stripped out of other equipment and can't replace, but I don't see us making anything cheap enough to throw away as ammunition. As for naval guns, we hardly need monster 450mm behemoths, the things we're trying to keep away are light hovercraft with small arms. I doubt we need anything heavier than ~130mm guns or even smaller, no harder to manufacture than field artillery. Honestly foils sound flimsy enough that you can probably keep a harbor lightly screened with just autocannons/heavy machine guns, although I'm sure the pirates have some tricks up their sleeves and/or armor upgrades.
Maybe super primitive dumb rockets but I don't see how we're supposed to make a miniaturized and disposable radar and avionics package when we can't even make a handheld radio. Maybe we could put together a small number of desperation rockets with avionics packages made out of electronics/computers we stripped out of other equipment and can't replace, but I don't see us making anything cheap enough to throw away as ammunition. As for naval guns, we hardly need monster 450mm behemoths, the things we're trying to keep away are light hovercraft with small arms. I doubt we need anything heavier than ~130mm guns or even smaller, no harder to manufacture than field artillery.
Field artillery still calls for some sort of foundry. Even small artillery pieces are /big/. A 155mm howitzer weighs over 9,000 pounds. Not all of that is barrel, but you get the idea. An American 5"/38 naval gun weighed almost 4000 pounds. That's just a whole lot of steel to heat up and pour all at once.
There are many kinds of guided missile. Some are fairly simple, like wire-operated missiles, which are fine for short ranges.
Guided torpedoes would also be fairly simple. Wire operated and acoustic types are easy enough.
[X] Send a patrol of Unity 'Rovers to check on conditions at U.N. Relief Station and complete a formal survey of the island. [-1 War Stores, -2 Rations] (Note: This will significantly deplete the base garrison.)
[X] Build a primitive dry dock. [-3 Construction Supplies, -1 Survival Supplies]
[X] Build a mass refinery to increase your access to rare Earth metals. This is a necessary prerequisite to increase the complexity of your industrial operations. [-4 Minerals, -6 Construction Supplies, +1 Energy ∞, +2 Extractive Economy, +2 Manufacturing Economy]
Votes - Settlement Administration
Conduct new experiments on the xenofungus - 11 [+1 Planet]
Build mass refinery to increase access to Rare Earth metals - 11 [+2 Extractive Economy, +2 Manufacturing Economy, -1 Energy]
Repair non-functional radio equipment - 10
Build a dry dock - 4
Send a patrol of Unity Rovers to complete a formal survey and check on U.N. Relief Station - 2*
Open cryopods - 2
Results:
Peacekeeping Forces begin close study of Chiron xenofungus
Construction of mass refinery begins at Warm Welcome
Peacekeeping Forces complete construction of radio mast on Mortar Hill; listening operations begin
Warm Welcome completes new 3D printing line
Warm Welcome machine shop begins repair of non-functional radio equipment
Peacekeeping Forces expand their colony's extractive economy
Peacekeeping Forces militia completes seasonal training cycle [Improved from Unreliable to Trained]
Peacekeeping Forces demonstrate the first Self-Healing Fabrics
Peacekeeping Forces discover the secrets of Paper Diagnostics
Outcomes: School in Session
As repairs on the Skagway slow, awaiting higher-grade electronics, the engineering talent available for practical research has expanded almost two-fold. Similar dynamics are at work in your Sick Bay. Joined by Ro's remaining orderlies Dr. Singh and Med-Techs Karimov and Takiwara worked down their caseload. Sathieu Metrion gladly loaned you a pair of idle mathematicians. Not long after, Ermac Canion was able to hold daily breakfast meetings with an informal, interdisciplinary project team of more than two dozen professionals in materials science, biology, data science, and agronomy.
Narrator said:
Part tubular colonial organism up to twenty-five meters in height, and part startlingly complex biosphere like the forests oriented around trees on Earth, the fungus is in some ways painfully familiar despite being formally alien. The closest comparison in our lexicon might be Earth's tropical coral reefs before they were destroyed by ocean acidification, but the biosphere here has evolved a harmony and precision that is unlike the ruthless competition of such environments on Earth. Future research on how evolution could result in such a cooperative equilibrium is recommended. - Field Biologist's Report, Abstract [1]
Xenofungus is actually a collection of symbiotic creatures that perform mutually supporting and supported tasks ranging from nitrogen fixation to carbon sequestration to propagation of their common substrate through rapid calcification of adjacent materials. The porousness, chemical composition, rigidity, and fertility of xenofungus are distinctly unfamiliar. It is dangerous. Many plants barb or poison to thwart predation, but you know of no such threat. Canioc's notes are sprinkled with anthropomorphisms like "aggressive" and "relentless." He speculates that you may need to be on the lookout for the fossilized remains of a grazer from Chiron's distant past--or at least an animal that might have trampled or disturbed the fungus, the way a bear might scratch itself against a suitable trunk. But that is not really what most intrigues him.
Some of Planitzer's crew reported tinitus. So many that Singh began panel interviews to isolate a common cause. Gradually, she diagnosed auditory hallucinations. Identical symptoms are now reported in the laboratories. The affliction has spread to Peacekeepers, Ro's sailors, and both of Metrion's human abaci. Consequences are at present limited to mild annoyance and irritability that usually diminish in intensity with physical distance from the plant specimens.
Your scientists monitored for the same result in subrids. The crustaceans endure the presence of xenofungus for no longer than thirty minutes before fleeing, en masse, to the farthest extent their enclosure will allow, even climbing over and atop one another. They remain agitated until the xenofungus is removed. In one experiment, when the sample was left overnight, the subrids eventually fought until only one remained.
Tech: Self-Healing Fabrics said:
"Cloth, one of humanity's oldest inventions. A treasure to our ancestors throughout the ages, re-imagined and reinvented countless times. It is appropriate, then, that as we adapt to this new planet, our old companion changes with us once more. Mastering processes pioneered on Earth and preserved in the Unity's data core we can now manufacture cloth coated in thin films that form a self-healing barrier against the many dangers of Chiron and industry alike." - ThePrivate Journals [2]
Chiron is a poison paradise. Most Peacekeepers dwell in survival tents only a few millimeters thick. Motion inside the home is conscientiously attenuated: nobody dances, spars, or is truly relaxed. Emergency breathing apparatus are as ubiquitous in their orange canisters as life rings on the rails of a water-going ship. Orders for more breathing hoses hover at the top of printer queues. No project can possibly be of higher importance.
Your environmental suits are woven of high-tensile fabric that can withstand most of the stretching and crushing dangers to which you are subject. Puncture is the common failure mode. Each colonist is equipped with a bulky roll of patch tape for these eventualities, but few have access to suits with internal pressure monitoring systems to alert them when the worst happens. By coating a garment in liquid polymer, surface tension supplies a fast-acting seal that is both automatic and far more precise. Better still, the enzyme composition of the coating can be altered to regain density with the addition of water, foils the action of toxin through hydrolase reaction, or neutralize acid through ablation.
Besides transforming the home lives of the Peacekeeping Forces, your military readiness cannot help but be vastly improved. Warriors can move more freely, no longer worried about snags or leaking precious air. Covered vehicles can be piloted without the encumbrance of environmental suits, enhancing visibility while reducing reaction time. Added coating can help dissipate smoke and chemical or biological irritants that may settle around the vehicle, enhancing passenger protection and defeating terror weapons.
Lady Deirdre Skye said:
Paper-based synthetic gene networks were first widely used at American Reclamation Corporation health clinics to finally bring Red Flu under control at the tail end of the Second American Civil War. After Planetfall, we faced two challenges to their use. First, rapid depletion of the kits carried aboard Unity, but second and equally important, their near-complete unsuitability for injuries sustained in an entirely alien ecosystem. Assembling the production chain for printed diagnostic tools and setting up a process for designing new networks that could probe the biology of Chiron's native life, was one of the small but important triumphs of the early years. - Simple Wonders [3]
Like the automobile in car cultures on Earth, personalized medical kits are tool, toy, and fashion statement combined as one. No recent standard addition has been more in-demand than the diagnostic tab, a crepe-paper wonder. For militiamen and road crews, long excursions in "the bush" produce cuts, scrapes, and rashes. The Peacekeeping Forces now source and treat these wounds on-scene long before they cripple or kill the patient. What was once the sure end of an expedition has become minor inconvenience--an excuse to break out the "medicinal" brandy.
CEO Nwabudike Morgan said:
The process of refining rare earths is complicated. The ore must be pulverized into powder, and contaminants separated using magnetic, electrostatic, and buoyancy filtering. The result is roasted to oxidize more contaminants. Only then can the rare earths can be scoured away recovered. All of this is more than worth the cost: rare earths are critical for high-performance magnets, optics, semiconductors, and displays. They are also catalysts for important industrial processes. Rarely is there an opportunity in business to add so much value to a raw material by refining it into a usable product. - The Centauri Monopoly [4]
Access to rare earths is a limiting factor on higher-order economic behavior. The road to missilery runs beneath the pile driver... and the specialists supplied by Sathieu Metrion who have displaced your own electrical engineers at their work benches. To construct your new gauntlet, you have disassembled a 'Former for its rock-crushing machinery. Finer particles will be dealt with in a centrifuge fitted to take a cartridge you have filled with large ball bearings. Results are primitive but acceptable.
Doing "open heart surgery" on a mechanism the size of a two-family home inspired one of Ro's machinists, Akira Mizurei, to experiment with your stricken Foil. Replacing the misfiring ignition was nothing to him. Adding a high-depth drilling rig built from oversized components and perfecting a remote control option appealed as hard tests of his skills. King later complained at the loss of a potential surface combatants, but not every spare vehicle can be converted to his purposes.
Right now, you anticipate harvesting soils of interest from mine tailings. Geologists on your staff hope to take core samples from farther afield but options are limited because you can neither go to sea nor venture very far north before entering the notional territory of Struan's Pacific Trading Company, even as demarcated by a very ungenerous survey.
In deference to the refinery's high value, a hole will be cut in the stockade wall facing the mining road so that its footprint can be taken under your defenses. A new enclosure will be raised around the protrusion, with minor bastions and a guarded portal of its own.
Completing a fourth line of 3D printers prompted extended discussion about whether to orient the colony at once toward trade or war. Production of bulk medical supplies remains tantalizingly out-of-reach because your infirmary is not equipped to carry out complex chemical synthesis. Nonetheless, you guess that Dole Yuidkon would pay handsomely for the long I-beams and cutting-edge structural wrap that have become hallmarks of your increasingly advanced economy. And if you have not wrought many ploughshares into swords, the steel-jacketed bullets stamped at the gunsmith's bench in your planetside arsenal shoot equally as well as the Warsaw Pact surplus you scavenged from Unity.
Five by Five
Anchoring the Mortar Hill radio mast put you in mind of the garrison flag pitched by the United States Marines on Iwo Jima. It is a conspicuous declaration not only of considerable claims on territory but also of great ambition to know the world well beyond. The tower greatly expands your sensor range should you care to broadcast. It also improves the clarity of intercepted signals traffic. A full-time intelligence section is now working under Terrance LaCroix. So far, only the Foils appear even on long-range scopes. No evidence of mother ships or a landing pod to rival Chamomile in size.
Incoming transmissions are rare, limited to coded chatter between the pirates, an occasional repetitive broadcast by Dole Yudikon, and pings from the automated distress beacons equipped on every Colony Pod. It will be a trivial task to gain directional fixes for future salvage operations and the seas surrounding your island home are affirmatively lousy with salvage at any depth you care to trawl. Both Stillwell and Abaddon propose that the Skycrane be repaired and flown out to Bright Point as soon as practicable.
Repairs to your portable radios will bring greater value in consideration of their much-enhanced signal range. Sets are being distributed to the superintendents of every work crew, along with all commissioned and most non-commissioned officers in your defense forces.
To Keep and Bear Arms
The militia are no smarter in appearance than they were six weeks ago, but it is now possible to pick out the soldiers by sight alone. They mug with shoulders back and chests out. Their level of fitness exceeds most other base-bound personnel. When someone races stairs or dashes through the dwindling gap in a closing security barrier, you know you are looking at a member of the Peacekeeping Forces militia. At their posts, the sentries talk less and scan more. They don't hug the Formers as much as was their previous custom, goosing their hovercycles up onto small rises for better vantage or taking blind corners well ahead of the more valuable industrial vehicles.
The changes are generally for the better, but some you did not foresee. Like their Marine brethren, dozens of militia members now attend Town Halls but abstain when asked to vote. Once "weekend warriors" saddled with a task most found undesirable at best, they have adopted a new identity as self-abnegating agents of the public trust. In King and Erkins, the attitude can be charming. It complements and burnishes conceptions you have about who they were before the Unity Mission. But how much is wishful thinking informed by your own belief about what military men and woman--and, conversely, civilians--should be? In the militia ranks, why do you often find similar outlooks and behaviors ostentatious and off-putting? Why does it seem so unnatural? Between the Marines, Ro's sailors, and Warm Welcome militia, you are looking at a colony that is well over half warrior.
Black Flag Ascendant
Skinner promised answers about Hazikimana and others, but once the pirate left he did not return. Instead, within days, the number of pirate Foils shot back up, this time to seven in total. They ventured nearer your island, and, perhaps most ominously of all, trended northwest, powering through uncooperative whitecaps in the same direction as U.N. Relief Station.
There has been little enough evidence of military adventurism by Dole Yudikon's people. Weeks of reporting from cabo primero Pereira told a plausible story of close-in perimeter patrol by your near neighbors. Signal traffic has been minimal. Firing of signal flares eased off, then ceased altogether. Perhaps the supply ran out. Perhaps the charter colonists simply made peace with the idea that their cry was now out in the world.
You were asleep when the alarm sounded. Erkins briefed you on the way up to Chamomile's roost. The news from Pereira was bad. Heavy contact north of his position. Thick smoke rising in a single large column. Distant, regular "thunder." Warm Welcome buttoned up: Formers, Crawler, and M.U.L.E.s were recalled. Both your gun Foils and Kungalooshi were crewed and General Quarters sounded. Marines went to the wall. Every technician turned out to the motor pool and began going over the fighting equipment. Hovercycles were warmed up because Erkins suggested you might want to quickly reinforce Mortar Hill. Ro's sailors armed themselves from the remnants of Skagway's lockers and are on stand-by. The big frigate's weapons systems are not yet operational.
Pereira and his battery are awake and in their trenches but do not have "eyes on" the charter settlement itself, which sits about a half-day out over broken scrub. From Warm Welcome, the full journey can be made overland in a single eighteen-hour cycle. Faster, by sea.
New Perspectives
U.N. Command convened quickly. Your War Council produced a diversity of recommendations and revealed an interesting shift in loyalties.
Guan Biao believes that Dole Yudikon is an emerging threat. If the pirates want to take him off the table, Guan will lose no sleep as a bad man receives his just desserts. Going to Yudikon's aid can only spend Warm Welcome's strength for no expectation of real gain. The pirates will flee and the Peacekeepers will be told by ungrateful bankers to return to our side of Mortar Hill. Guan is clearly relieved not to have to contemplate a positive reply to your recent offer of safe port for the pirates.
Base Operations Director Guan Biao said:
Not a drop of blood, food, fuel for pirates or slavers. Every strong arm and keen heart must be turned toward self-defense. Do not waste our strength assisting someone who would have gladly slit our throats. Pirates sacking U.N. Relief Station does nothing to change the strategic calculus--or theirs. We are too strong for Svensgaard to overtake. Let us be vigilant until we can be strong and dictate terms. Start work on a foundry. Repair the Skycrane and salvage aggressively. Make Warm Welcome an arsenal.
Vesper Abaddon perceives a moral imperative for marching in relief of U.N. Relief Station. Consistent with his reputation as a fearless pragmatist, he did not criticize your willingness to sell supplies to a better-armed adversary, but he also seems unafraid of early battle.
Vesper Abaddon said:
Turning our back on Dole Yudikon will only tell the world who we are. To save those people is to save yourself, Pravin Lal. The point is not to change Dole Yudikon's heart, but to steel our own. Let every survivor know: the Peacekeeping Forces will come always.
And then what? We have almost nothing for them. Can we hope that they haven't spent down all the medicines and dressings they took from us when they left? I'll go, of course, but I want everybody to understand: I can't treat an influx of wounded--ours or theirs.
As you reminded Annunciator Metrion when first he sought direct access to the Unity Data Core, the Tomorrow Instituteremains fundamentally unknown, and arguably unknowable, to the Peacekeeping Forces. Generous as helpmates, stingy in conversation, the enigmatic men and women in color-striped vacuum suits are a curiosity that defies categorization. De-facto colonists distinguished only by their excessively-cautious costume, or temporary boarders paying their way in labor? To the best of your knowledge, Metrion looks forward to the day when Skagway will lead the breakout that will take him home. He has agreed, in principle, to take passengers with him on the return voyage. And yet if ever there was a time for least-cost escape, it is now, when the pirates have lifted their blockade so as to plunder an outlying target. But the idea was never discussed. Instead, Metrion spoke as if Warm Welcome's present dilemma was fully his own. As if Kungalooshi was an integral component in the settlement's defense.
Annunciator Sathieu Metrion said:
Why not by land? Adding my crew and Ro's, we have the overwhelming advantage in numbers. Surprise the pirates--but not by engaging them in their element. Yes, Kungalooshi can and should raise a fuss. We'll probably sink a Foil or two. But if we mobilize now, we will arrive at U.N. Relief Station either during the pirate attack or just after. Yudikon's mercenaries will be preoccupied. Both his men and the pirates are probably malnourished. If we can smash the pirates on the ground, do it. Otherwise, arrest Dole Yudikon, reclaim what was stolen, and reabsorb the colony. What other choice have you? Waiting will only prolong the suffering the pirates are sure to inflict. Under this government, all things prosper.
Vesper Abaddon shrugged. "I've heard worse ideas." King, eyes like saucers, leaned far over the table and stared pointedly at Metrion, clearly torn between admiration and discomfort.
Erkins counsels offensive operations by sea, but her focus is on inflicting losses to the pirate flotilla rather than because of interest in the Struan's employees.
Captain Wasoné Erkins said:
What is the enemy's calculus? Where is his center of gravity? Svensgaard is wagering on our idleness. Send our naval forces to strike him from the rear while he bombards U.N. Relief Station. The Kungalooshi outranges his boats. Then, fall back. We can't save the charter settlement, but we can hamstring our enemy. He doesn't yet know that he won't find much of value where he is going.
Officially an outsider, Ro, like Metrion, spoke confidently as a trusted member of your inner council and took for granted that her interests and those of the Peacekeeping Forces are identical in all respects.
Master Malakai Ro said:
Whatever course we take, my people are at your disposal. We'll crew your Foils, if it comes down to it, or go as auxiliaries in a mobile column. Just don't count this "Yudikon" character out. He had shooters. You gave him more guns. The battle has gone on too long already for the pirates to be having much luck. Why shell property you want to seize? Why kill people you want to enslave? Things aren't going as-planned. Just because he didn't care to take on U.N. Marines doesn't mean he won't put up a stout fight against raiders whose coordination is already suspect.
Tell Stillwell snapped and jabbed a long finger at Ro.
Tell Stillwell said:
She's got it. Whatever the outcome, the pirates are already in a bad way. Even if the Struan's defenders sink no enemy vessels or fail to inflict a single casualty, the expenditure of fuel and ammo will be outrageous. It's going to make Svensgaard think twice about coming after us. We may be able to get away refusing to deal with him entirely. And they can see plainly that Skagway's still incomplete. Once she can convoy, the entire problem is neutralized. We can do nothing, and this is still a favorable situation. There might not be a wrong answer here.
What if we made a run to Bright Point now? Send the Kungalooshi, or, if you prefer, risk one of the lesser Foils. Get help. Offer trade. We have food, water, metals, energy, building materials. We can make bullets and bombs. We are a good ally, I think.
Terrance LaCroix used a remote to dim the lights. "Let's talk more about who we're dealing with."
Service Bio said:
Native of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Commercial sailor with no active family ties at time of mission departure. Naval veteran of Pax Decay Wars. Soon recommended for Officer Candidate School. Participated in Battles for the Arctic. Present at the costly NATO victory over the Red Banner Fleet at Baffin Bay. One of the last to evacuate the stricken William Jefferson Clinton. Wounded. Refused rehabilitative surgery. Quietly transferred to Unity Project following discovery of Holnist literature on government-issue tape reader.
Psych Profile suggests pathological animus toward "elites." Disliked by both peers and superiors despite physical bravery and acknowledged competence as a Surface Warfare Officer. Obsessed with the appearance and performance of "strength." Long exposure to crisis situations has greatly increased subject's tolerance for risk and pain.
Captain Erkins summed up: "A Holnist, in other words."
Adnan Sadak said:
So give them Holnists. Radio the pirates. Offer them the obvious trade: end the attack on U.N. Relief Station and you will let the Holnists go with them. Then make a renewed overture to Dole Yudikon. How long can he endure, on his own? A miraculous defense will not put food in hungry bellies. Perhaps living off the fruits of his own labor has humbled him? Even if it does not, we will have averted a crisis without further harm being done on either side.
Faction Overview:
Leader: Pravin Lal Title: Commissioner Rank: Chief Medical Officer / Head of Medical Division Colony Model: Democratic Republic Why did civilization on Earth fail? The free flow of information was curtailed, preventing the global populace from obtaining an accurate understanding of their plight or organizing to do anything about it. What is the fundamental truth of the universe? Only the educated are free. What is necessary to ensure the survival of humanity on Chiron? The principles and practice of democracy. Vision: Implement the U.N. Charter and reunite the Unity survivors under its auspices. Starting Technology: Informatics
Affinity: Supremacy
-1 EFFICIENCY (administration requires the careful balancing of interests and perspectives)
Our votes on the Planetary Council count double (masters of the bureaucracy)
50% chance new POPS are Talents (we attractive the intellectual elite)
Objectives
Convene a Planetary Council under the United Nations Charter
Get yourself elected to the Council Speakership
Punish violations of the Charter
Action Points: 3 Influence Points: 3 Research Focus:[Unknown] + 4 Research Nodes focused on Discover + Explore bonus Economic Focus: -
Population:
3 TALENTS
2.5 TECHNICIAN [includes Ro's sailors and Metrion's crew]
1 CITIZEN
Pieces: Combat Units 1 company U.N. Marine Corps (Veteran, Reliable) [high alert @ Warm Welcome] (over-strength: 125% effectiveness) 1 company Settlement Militia (Green, Trained) [high alert @ Warm Welcome] Ground-Effect Vehicles 1 squadron Combat Hovercycles (Electric) (12) 1 squadron Unity Rovers (Electric) (6) 1 squadrons Unity Rovers (Fission) (6) Naval Assets 1 Unity Hull Form (Skagway) [inoperable; undergoing repair] 1 large Foil (Kungalooshi) [Tomorrow Institute] 1 squadron Unity Foils (Electric) 1 work barge 1floating drill rig (prototype) Air Vehicles 1 Skycrane, with various mission modules [grounded due to cracked rotors] Construction Assets 1 squadron Space Construction Vehicles (S.C.V.) 1 Supply Crawler (Terran Nutrients) 2 Multiple Use Labor Element (M.U.L.E.) Weapons Systems 1 Heavy Mortar (107mm) [Mortar Hill battery)
Other Named Characters in Warm Welcome: Base Operations Director Guan Biao, Captain Bruce King, Second Lieutenant W.K. Planitzer, Cabo primero Felix Pereira (artillerist), Captain Wasoné Erkins (prisoner), Virhaan Singh (neuroscientist), Zara Karimov (med-tech), Taho Takiwara (med-tech), Nahele Tomatuk (firefighter), Egon Hakizimana (constable), Johann Anhaldt (robotics), Eugen Köhler (sailor), Adan Sadak (administrator), Tell Stillwell (soldier/adviser), Sun Shao (engineer), Akira Mizurei (engineer), Vesper Abaddon (prisoner), Malachi Ro (sailor), Ermac Canioc (agronomist) Other Named Characters in the World: "Carnaveron"/Dole Yudikon (governor, U.N. Relief Station), Krause Martius (Struan's colonist, U.N. Relief Station), Sathieu Metrion (Annunciator, Tomorrow Initiative), Editor Tạ Dọc Thân (Faction Leader, Tomorrow Initiative) Unassigned Characters: Kosta Kovačević (soldier)
Bases:
Warm Welcome (HQ)
Resource Pool (Net):
+Health
+3 Morale
0 Planet [+1 from examining xenofungus]
Construction Slots: 3/4 3D Printers
Slot 1 (125%): Producing Construction Supplies (+2/update) Slot 2 (125%): Producing Construction Supplies (+2/update) Slot 3 (100%): - Machine Shop Slot 4 (100%): -
Survival Supplies: 2
Medical Supplies: 0
Construction Supplies: 10 [net Δ of +8 this update due to production from Slots 1 and 2]
War Stores: 2
[1 War Stores and 3 Rations are being stored from Skagway]
Water Stockpile (25/25): 25 [-/turn] [work stoppage due to storage issues; ordinarily generates +2/turn]
Ration Stockpile: 2
Nutrient Stockpile (15/15): 15 [-/turn] [work stoppage due to storage issues; ordinarily generates +3/turn]
Energy Stockpile: 10 [-1 due to construction of Mass Refinery; you are now running down your power surplus]
Mineral Stockpile: 23 [+5/turn]
4 independent cryobeds [stowaways]
Resource Production (Gross):
Water Sector (Lvl. VI)(recurring net water yield of+2) (@ -1 Water per 2 POP/turn)
+3 Water (sector improvements) [recurring]
+2 Water (moisture catchments yield +2) [recurring]
Agricultural Sector (Lvl. II) (recurring net nutrient yield of +3) (@ -1 Nutrient/Ration per 2 POP/turn)
+1 Nutrients (sector improvements) [recurring]
+2 Nutrients (soybean fields) [recurring]
+1 Nutrients (subrid corral) [recurring]
+2 Greenhouse [recurring]
Extraction Sector (Lvl. III) (recurring net Mineral yield of +3)
Base Facilities and Improvements: Warm Welcome
Landing Pod (deployed)
+Perimeter Stockade
+Machine Shop (expanded)
+3D Printers x 3 (x 2 enhanced)
+Mass Refinery [under construction]
+Pump Station
+Moisture Catchments x 2 (recurring Water yield of 2)
+Soybean Field (recurring Nutrient yield of 2)
+Nutrient Greenhouses x 2 (recurring Nutrient yield of 2)
+Subrid Corrals (recurring Nutrient yield of 1)
+Agricultural Lab (Explore)
+Automated Mines x 2 (recurring Mineral yield of 4)
+Sensor Array (east)
+Radio Tower (Mortar Hill)
+Unity Data Core + 4 Data Nodes (Discover)
War Stores - Small arms and munitions (Lvl. II - Impact Weapons)
Construction Supplies - Simple structural components and basic electronics
Survival Supplies - Jury-rigged equipment such as long-range radio receivers and utility kits for Unity vehicles
May repair:
Survival Supplies - Mission equipment provided to support the colonization effort, including Unity vehicles
Schedules:
Radio equipment repaired: Sunday, 10/4 Mass Refinery completed: Friday, 10/9 [+2 Manufacturing, +2 Extractive] Skagway repaired: Friday, 10/30 Next research breakthroughs:
(Explore): Friday, 10/9
Vote 1 - Settlement Administration
Choose three.
Base Defense
[ ] Start hovercycle patrols. [-1 Rations]
[ ] Reassign some of the 3D Printers to expand your supply of weapons and ammunition. [-X Minerals, +X War Stores]
[ ] Build a prototype Unity Rover. [-2 Construction Supplies, -1 Survival Supplies, -1 Energy]
[ ] Build a prototype Unity Foil. [-2 Construction Supplies, -1 Survival Supplies, -1 Energy]
[ ] Expand perimeter defenses. Build a bunker complex facing the island's eastern shore.
[ ] Build prepared defenses on the path to U.N. Relief Station. This will include the setting of sensor traps and the laying of remote mines as well as establishing overlapping fields of fire for fixed weapons. [-2 Construction Supplies, -2 War Stores]
[ ] Flood a disused mining tunnel and begin blasting to produce a sheltered moorage. [-6 Construction Supplies, -3 Survival Supplies]
[ ] Build a primitive dry dock. [-3 Construction Supplies, -1 Survival Supplies]
Exploration
[ ] Send a patrol of Unity 'Rovers to check on conditions at U.N. Relief Station and complete a formal survey of the island. [-1 War Stores, -2 Rations] (Note: This will significantly deplete the base garrison.)
[ ] Equip the Marines to undertake long-range patrols aboard our Unity 'Foils. Search for salvage and map the nearby coast. [-1 War Stores, -2 Rations] (Note: This will significantly deplete the base garrison.)
Water
[ ] Set up more moisture catchments to expand our supply of clean water. [-1 Construction Supplies, +1 Water Economy]
[ ] Construct irrigation to support local planting. [-2 Construction Supplies, +1 Agricultural Economy]
[ ] Build a desalination plant. [-2 Construction Supplies, +3 Water Economy]
[ ] Build water storage tanks, either insider the perimeter of Warm Welcome (1) or down in the mines (2). [-3 Construction Supplies] (This will increase your Water storage capacity by 10.)
Agriculture
[ ] Use the 'Formers to grade more land for farming.
[ ] Build modular packages that can turn your 'Rovers into utility vehicles capable of performing basic agricultural and earthmoving tasks.
[ ] Build more greenhouses. [-1 Construction Supplies, +1 Nutrients ∞]
[ ] Reprogram the Supply Crawler and plant new Terran seed varietals in Chiron's soil. [+2 Nutrients ∞, -2 Planet]
[ ] Build cold storage. [-1 Construction Supplies, -1 Energy] (This will increase your Nutrient storage capacity by 10.)
Extraction
[ ] Detail the M.U.L.E.s to collect mass. [+2 Minerals]
[ ] Use the 'Formers to drill and set another automated mine that will produce minerals on a regular basis. [-1 Construction Supplies, +2 Minerals ∞, -1 Planet]
[ ] Build a mass pump that will source mass from an area close around and produce a constant supply. Seismic instability will almost certainly result. [-2 Construction Supplies, +4 Minerals ∞, -3 Planet]
[ ] Build a prototype grid-scale battery. [-4 Construction Supplies, -4 Survival Supplies] (This will increase your Energy storage capacity by 10.)
[ ] Build a mass refinery to increase your access to rare Earth metals. This is a necessary prerequisite to increase the complexity of your industrial operations. [-4 Minerals, -6 Construction Supplies, +1 Energy ∞, +2 Extractive Economy, +2 Manufacturing Economy]
Manufacturing [ ] Build more 3D printers. For now, simple designs suit us best. [-2 Minerals, +1 Manufacturing Economy]
[ ] Expand the Motor Pool with a dedicated workshop. [-2 Minerals, -1 Construction Supplies, +1 Manufacturing Economy] (Will allow you to customize 'Rovers with special mission packages.)
[ ] Build a dedicated production line for electronics equipment. [-5 Construction Supplies, -5 Survival Supplies]
[ ] Build a dedicated production line for armaments. [-5 Construction Supplies, -5 Survival Supplies]
[ ] Build a dedicated production line for 'Rovers/Foils. [-5 Construction Supplies, -10 Survival Supplies] [ ] Build a dedicated arsenal with a small foundry that can cast small-caliber cannon. [-10 Construction Supplies, -10 Survival Supplies]
Commerce
[ ] Send the 'Formers to grade a road between Warm Welcome and U.N. Relief Station. [-1 Minerals, -1 Rations +1 Commerce]
Research
[ ] Build a Biology Laboratory to expand your exploration of the Terran and Centauri life sciences. [-3 Construction Supplies, -1 Energy] (This will increase your Explore output.)
[ ] Build a Chemistry Lab to expand your exploration of the Terran and Centauri life sciences. [-3 Construction Supplies, -2 Energy] (This will increase your Discover output.)
[ ] Build a Physics Lab to explore various properties of the natural world. [-3 Construction Supplies, -3 Energy] (This will increase your Build output.)
[ ] Build an electronics lab to expand your knowledge of circuits and transistors. [-3 Construction Supplies, -1 Energy] (This will increase your Build output.)
[ ] Build a Psych Lab to help us better understand our colonists. [-3 Construction Supplies] (This will increase your Choose output.)
[ ] Build a Training Clinic to prepare more citizens to become med-techs. [-2 Construction Supplies, -1 Energy] (This will increase your Discover output.)
[ ] Reassign our medical resources to begin a Special Project: Human Genome Project. What if Dr. Pahlavi is correct? Imagine a world in which every error in the map of our common future is first corrected, and every infant born healthy, strong, and wise. Finish the project begun on Old Earth. Map the last gaps in the euchromatic human sequence, including heterochromatic regions, and compile a more detailed inventory of individual anomalies. [+Secret Project: Human Genome Project] (This will increase your Discover output.)
Base Operations [ ] Expand the communal living quarters in anticipation of the new arrivals. [-2 Construction Supplies]
[ ] Start pitching individual shelters. Common habs are more efficient but privacy is a cornerstone of healthy living, both physically and mentally. [-3 Construction Supplies, +1 Health]
[ ]Replace the SkyCrane's rotors. Represents a significant commitment of mass. [-2 Survival Supplies]
[ ] Allow workers to pursue personal projects, subject to approval by Guan Biao. [+1 Morale, -esteem U.N. Loyalists]
[ ] Open the remaining 4 cryopods containing stowaways. There have to be more surprises waiting, and not all of them are apt necessarily to be bad.
Choose an economic focus.
[ ] Water
[ ] Agriculture
[ ] Extraction
[ ] Manufacturing
Vote 3 - A Call to Arms
Choose one.
[ ] Enact Guan Biao's plan. Agree with Stillwell. Stand by and stay on full alert. Don't do for others what they wouldn't do for you. [Gain a new heavy mortar in Warm Welcome.]
[ ] Agree with Vesper Abaddon. Mobilize the Peacekeeping Forces to assist U.N. Relief Station. Gun rovers and hoverbikes will spearhead. Enter the fight as allies of Struan's Asia-Pacific Trading Company.
[ ] Endorse Sathieu Metrion's plan. Attack the pirates by sea and occupy U.N. Relief Station. If the pirates are still in possession, evict them. If Dole Yudikon is still alive, arrest him.
[ ] Decide in favor of Erkins. Engage the Nautilus Pirates in a naval battle. Send the Kungalooshi with three gun Foils.
[ ] Acknowledge Köhler's wisdom. Send the Kungalooshi back to Bright Point. Write in a diplomat who will go to treat with with theTomorrow Institute.
[ ] Support Köhler's plan. Send a Peacekeeper Foil to Bright Point. Write in a diplomat who will go to treat with with the Tomorrow Institute.
[ ] Agree with Sadak. Transmit an urgent message offering to parley with Captain Svensgaard. Prepare the Holnists for potential transfer.
[ ] Write-in. (Be detailed!)
@TaliesinSkye was kind enough to supply all the excellent flavor quotations. +4 extra votes.
-[X] Build modular packages that can turn your 'Rovers into utility vehicles capable of performing basic agricultural and earthmoving tasks. -[X] Build a prototype grid-scale battery. [-4 Construction Supplies, -4 Survival Supplies] (This will increase your Energy storage capacity by 10.) -[X] Build an electronics lab to expand your knowledge of circuits and transistors. [-3 Construction Supplies, -1 Energy] (This will increase your Build output.)
-[X] Expand -[X] Extraction
-[X] Agree with Vesper Abaddon. Mobilize the Peacekeeping Forces to assist U.N. Relief Station. Gun rovers and hoverbikes will spearhead. Enter the fight as allies of Struan's Asia-Pacific Trading Company.
[X] Agree with Vesper Abaddon. Mobilize the Peacekeeping Forces to assist U.N. Relief Station. Gun rovers and hoverbikes will spearhead. Enter the fight as allies of Struan's Asia-Pacific Trading Company.
[X] Build an electronics lab to expand your knowledge of circuits and transistors. [-3 Construction Supplies, -1 Energy] (This will increase your Build output.)
[X] Replace the SkyCrane's rotors. Represents a significant commitment of mass. [-2 Survival Supplies]
[X] Build a dedicated arsenal with a small foundry that can cast small-caliber cannon. [-10 Construction Supplies, -10 Survival Supplies]
Let's repair the skyCrane so we can use it to salvage and an electronics lab to hopefully unlock a new source of energy and an arsenal to produce advanced weapons.
[X] Agree with Vesper Abaddon. Mobilize the Peacekeeping Forces to assist U.N. Relief Station. Gun rovers and hoverbikes will spearhead. Enter the fight as allies of Struan's Asia-Pacific Trading Company.
[X] Build an electronics lab to expand your knowledge of circuits and transistors. [-3 Construction Supplies, -1 Energy] (This will increase your Build output.)
[X] Replace the SkyCrane's rotors. Represents a significant commitment of mass. [-2 Survival Supplies]
[X] Build a prototype Unity Foil. [-2 Construction Supplies, -1 Survival Supplies, -1 Energy]
Let's repair the skyCrane so we can use it to salvage, start a new Foil so we can better fight the pirates as even after this battle they still will be a problem and an electronics lab will allow the construction of the parts needed to complete the skagway.
I think the Skagway repairs might require the dedicated electronics production line, not the electronics science lab, but I'm not sure.
I'm torn. I want to intervene, but the question is how. Engaging the pirates by land is safer, but it's a longer trip by land than by sea. That means in theory the pirates could double back and attack our base before our forces could return. Would we be able to hold them off with whatever we left behind? I don't know.
But at sea they outnumber us. We can use hit and run tactics to reduce their numbers without, hopefully, taking serious losses, but it's a risk.
