As for Erkins, you've had her provide some autobiographical material already. Can you help me understand what you'd like a deeper dive to illuminate so that I can prepare something appropriate?
No, I meant more in terms of a reference post that lists all the various named characters that are important and what they did. It can just be a blurb. I just have trouble keeping track of who's who having just caught up. Maybe have a 'Information' set of posts alongside 'Threadmarks'? That might also help reduce the update-to-update clutter by having one post that sums up the most recent state of the faction?
In this narrative, either the Human Ascendancy or the Holnists better fit the "Nietzchean neo-Nazi" villain slot.
No, I meant more in terms of a reference post that lists all the various named characters that are important and what they did. It can just be a blurb. I just have trouble keeping track of who's who having just caught up. Maybe have a 'Information' set of posts alongside 'Threadmarks'? That might also help reduce the update-to update clutter by having one post that summs up the most recent state of the faction?
The canon flavor text suggests that Deirdre and Lal ended up allied in a Green-flavored bloc by the mid game iirc so making compromise with Harmony is hardly out of character, but yeah Lal is definitely a Purist on a personal level. If you're feeling charitable he's a wide-eyed idealist, if you aren't he's a hidebound reactionary clinging to an irrelevant piece of paper that didn't even work how it was supposed to 200 years ago back on Earth much less here and now. His personal outlook is fundamentally backwards-looking, trying to recreate a somewhat tweaked but basically similar order to how things were back on Earth rather than the revolutionary transformations just about everyone else offers. The tug of war between his personal desire to just go back to the good old days and the harsh realities that 1) the Good Old Days weren't very good for a whole lot of people and 2) the way we did things in the Good Old Days make zero sense on Planet should be a very interesting contradiction to work through.
I thini it wouldn't be a contradiction - Lal's core belief is that what people want matters, even if it conflicts with what makes him comfortable. His second focus is on first doing no harm and the Gaians are hugely persuasive on that once nature starts retaliating.
Gaians also tend to be very growth positive, the Hive rivals them but the Hive has terrible freedoms. By raw popular vote, they have influence.
It doesn't hurt that Planet increasingly seems to be a person in the late game and that means Planet has rights too.
I agree, but at the same time... using PSI weapons or mind worms against humans at all could & maybe should be considered an atrocity due to the horrible nature of the death that comes from it?
Most warcrimes tend to be those with terrible lingering effects on the survivors I think? Psi attacks tend to be 'clean' either you died or you didn't but saw something horrible(which is true for all acts of war not conducted by drone va drone)
Well in that case the four Network Nodes are really poor prototype of a Genomic Processor. Do we need the Human Genome Project to be able to upgrade to at least a better prototype?
Vote 1 - Settlement Administration
Build arsenal - 8 [-10 Construction Supplies, -10 Survival Supplies]
Replace SkyCrane rotors - 8 [-2 Survival Supplies]
Build electronics lab - 7 [-3 Construction Supplies, -1 Energy Supplies, increases Build output]
Vote 2 - Research and Development Research
Choose - 10
Economic Development
Extraction - 9
Vote 3 - A Call to Arms
Sathieu Metrion's plan - 6
Results:
Peacekeeping Forces mobilize by land and sea with the following objectives: (1) Attrit pirate flotilla. (2) Relieve U.N. Relief Station. (3) Take Dole Yudikon into custody.
Peacekeeping Forces savage Nautilus Pirates off the northwestern coast of Garland Island.
Hand-held equipment from Unity repaired.
Warm Welcome completes mass refinery.
Warm Welcome begins construction of arsenal.
Warm Welcome begins construction of electronics laboratory.
Motor pool begins rotor replacement for SkyCrane.
Peacekeeping Forces discover the secrets of Centauri Chemistry.
Warm Welcome will focus on Extraction.
Outcomes: Beat to Quarters
The command staff was stunned when you settled on Metrion's plan. Though tactically sound, it had a self-aggrandizing flavor that most clearly found unpleasant.
In many respects, the Peacekeepers have never come to terms with Dole Yudikon's behavior. It is axiomatic that his followers are unfree, though all who cared to renounce their contracts were permitted to do so. At Town Hall, there are still bitter complaints about how you were the victim of a shake down. This, notwithstanding that Dole Yudikon rode out through a gauntlet of U.N. Marines, taking with him only what you allowed. Annunciator Metrion, who has never sworn an oath to the U.N. Charter, seemed to believe wholeheartedly in this fairy tale. U.N. Relief Station? Helpless. Your militia and Marines? The stout-hearted vanguard of justice.
Sadak was the first to engage in depth with Metrion's proposal. "So we kick them when they're down? Show up and arrest their leader?"
Base Operations Director Gian Biao pounded the table. "What leader? These were desperate people. MacClare Struan sold them berths at extortionary rates. Their business model was literally based on providing regime stability to the worst dictators of the last century." He shot a scowl at Abaddon Vesper. "Present company excluded, I'm sure."
Captain Köhler raised both palms in a supplicatory gesture. "He's reminding us not to act from emotion."
"What's wrong with emotion?" Guan was leaning over the table now. At some point, he'd rolled his sleeves up past the elbows, like he was fighting with a greasy engine rather than taking part in a war council.
"Man's got a point," said Abaddon. "I'll wager every worst decision you think the U.N. ever made was taken in the name of cold logic." The craggy-faced bull of a man was looking directly at you.
Captain Erkins spoke in sotto voice. "A soldier can afford only to make emotional decisions. To play false with oneself is too dangerous in the face of the enemy." She looked up, as if from reverie. "In Canada, do you wish all these years later that the United Nations had done what was right?"
"But is it right?" Ermac Canioc tossed a stylus onto the tabletop. "Aren't we promoting the right to self-determination? Yudikon's people self-determined. Not as we might wish they have, but they did." He leveled an impressively judgemental gaze on the Spartan across from him. "Your argument is that the U.N. didn't defer to the genuine sentiments of the Canadian people, Anglophone and Francophone alike." Pivoting toward Abaddon, the agriculturalist shook his head. "Fortinbras was only cleaning up the ashes. We don't save Denmark by clapping Hamlet in irons."
Smiling at the allusion, LaCroix peaked a brow. "Could we defer matters until we get a good look at what life is like inside their compound?"
Tell Stillwell put down his mug, swallowed hard, and cocked his head. "We're going to spill our blood to pull his chestnuts off the fire with no expectation of reward?"
Abaddon looked incredulous. "For Christ's sake, man, isn't that who we are?" Across the table, Dr. Singh nodded vigorously.
Malachi Ro stood up, snapping a salute. "Sir. Permission to be dismissed to see to the naval task force." Typical Ro. Leave the why of it to somebody with the patience for weighing scales. You guessed that Zakharov had simply awoken one day and announced that Skagway should sail away, never to return. Ro doesn't seem to have it in her to argue with civilian authorities--and Zakharov had enjoyed the added benefit of a senior naval rank in two navies.
You nodded Ro off, then sighed heavily. "We'll look to join in the mutual defense," you announced. "If we are welcomed, we won't ask anything in return. There will probably be wounded. Nobody taken back to Warm Welcome for treatment will be obligated to depart once they are healthy." Guan and Abaddon both settled. "From the sounds of it, not much will be left by the time we arrive."
Köhler crushed a cigarette, then scratched his stubble. "If we're done with strategy, shall we turn to optionational considerations?" You nodded. "With Kungalooshi and three ships fully crewed, you'll still have every Marine, every militiaman, and about half Ro's sailors."
At the far end of the room, on a raised semi-circular dais fronted by floor-to-ceiling windows, Chamonille's digital sand table lit up with a 3D wire-frame representation of what you were called Garland Island. One yellow Foil appeared--Metrion's ship--attended by three smaller consorts. "All the navy we've got," LaCroix said, "less... one Foil missing, presumed lost; one converted to industrial operations; one dedicated to repairs aboard Skagway. If the pirates come inshore, we can pull our squadron back."
King strode up to the platform and adjusted angles so that Warm Welcome came into focus. "We'll be safest behind the stockade walls. Some of my Marines will stay behind, along with Ro's sailors and about a quarter of the militia. That gives us in excess of one hundred trained defenders." Planitzer will command the garrison. You tasked King with leading the ground column.
LaCroix spoke next, explaining that he'd rigged the Mortar Hill radio tower for jamming. Both your task forces would use hand-helds and lower-powered sets except at pre-determined intervals.
Beat to Quarters
Your naval squadron was first to assemble and depart. The Heavy Foil, Kungalooshi, boasted a crew of more than thirty, but twenty of Ro's officers and ratings spread comfortably across your three 'Foils. Of the three able commanders from which to choose--Metrion, Ro, and Köhler--you had seen only two in a fight. You gave Ro the command. Neither Metrion nor Köhler objected.
Kungalooshi mounted a turreted gauss cannon forward, a close-in weapons mount above the wheelhouse, and a magazine-fed micro-missile launcher with matched triple-firing torpedo tubes aft. Two of the 'Foils bore fire-linked heavy machine guns in a forward ring turret and a single mount behind the Coxswain's flat. Weeks ago, Köhler arranged for welders to add ceramic splinter shields. A third Foil received the Skagway's anti-submarine rockets along with an improvised turret of anti-ship missiles hoisted off Skagway, and a pair of TV-guided missiles sorted out of miscallenous Unity salvage. Köhler was doubtful of the turret's accuracy but expected it would dissuade the Pirates from closing in. The motor pool offered spare 'Rover tires for added spall protection, and the steel-banded rubber held up admirably in firing trials. These were added to both Kungalooshi and the big-gun Foil.
Outside Warm Welcome, Marines in heavily upgraded 'Rovers and militia aboard hoverbikes goosed their engines and joked about putting King's recent training to the ultimate test. Erkins put herself in one of the lighter karts, intending to lead a forward skirmish line. Med-tech Karimov repurposed the mobile laboratory into a mobile surgery, helped by a reluctant Dr. Singh, who duly advised you that they took with them nearly the last trauma packages. King planned to coordinate from within the equally ponderous command crawler. To give the column some added punch, Mizurei converted an agricultural tractor into an armored car featuring a home-cast recoilless gun. Every vehicle and pilot was lavishly provided with smoke canisters for use in the event that the column happens upon missile-armed foes.
That Sinking Feeling
United Nations peacekeeping missions had rarely received authorization to go "weapons free." When they did, it had usually been in places where the French were doing all the heavy lifting. You were unused to bellicosity, and the transmission you sent on all channels sounded awkward to your ears. "To the pirate vessels operating in the vicinity of Warm Welcome. You are directed to immediately disengage and proceed away from Garland Island. Fail to do so, and we will open fire."
As you feared, Ro's vessels arrived at the line-of-contact without any perceptible change in the Nautilus Pirates' dispositions. They fired first, recognizing the danger: three fast-moving blips on Chamomille's scopes, which the controlman said were short-range missiles. Your heart stopped.
One blip vanished. "Must be the Kungalooshi's CIWS," said the controller. After a long beat, the two marks seemed to track away. "They're being jammed."
A sensor shadow flashed, centered on Metrion's boat. "Gauss fire." Miles northwestward, a nickle-iron slug cracked the hull of a buccaneer Foil like an egg. "Direct hit!" One of many pink-outlined OPFOR contacts went fire engine red, blinking rapidly.
Kungalooshi bloomed with lazy-sailing flashes. "Micro-missiles away." Foils didn't usually carry counter-measures. Two of the pirate combatants slowed, going red. One vanished.
Köhler's Foil spit forth blips of its own. One, two, then three. Rather than bother with vessels already struck and foundering, his salvo was directed toward the rest of the slow-forming pirate battle line. One missile went wide but the other pair homed true. In an instant, the number of pirate casualties rose to five ships.
"Close enough for guns," the controller advised. That aspect of the battle couldn't be tracked as precisely. The screen fuzzed, which could have been micro-missiles or chaff. You got some sense of things only when the previously-hit pirate Foil faded out as your heavy combatant and two gun Foils began pulling away from Köhler's ship. A bad sign. For that, the pirate force had disintegrated: two were running but six had been sunk or disabled. When Kungalooshi drew up alongside an OPFOR silhouette, it was obviously for boarding action.
Köhler motored on a vector for home, but Ro took the rest of her force farther out. LaCroix reported good readings on his sensors. Of the pirates still in range, most were bugging out. Three lingered in proximity of U.N. Relief Station. Of those, one seemed to have beached. You forced yourself to head elsewhere to accept Guan Biao's review of mining operations. Ro would be in motion for a while yet before the second round of battle.
Ten hours later, Ro was patrolling off U.N. Relief Station. You'd watched the pirates flee but for a ranging shot with a missile that yet again refused to stay its course.
Odds of six-to-one were good, but Eugen Köhler's surgery was a grueling all-day affair. Along with most of his crew, the naval officer suffered ghastly burns. His XO, one of Ro's lieutenants, explained that they'd gotten the worst of a marauder micro-missile barrage. The crew was still hacking away at the collapsed forward gun pit when they were raked by impact weapons fire. You are unsure whether the taciturn West German will survive. Two of his subordinates did not.
Not-So-Warm Welcome
The overland trek to U.N. Relief Station was completed in a record-setting sixteen hours. King left a large quantity of failing equipment behind, including his command vehicle, obliging you to scramble Tomatuk and a M.U.L.E. to effect retrievals. Fortunately, the armored gun truck (dubbed "Crusher Bob") and medical wagon kept pace.
Pereira couldn't see the Struan's settlement, but he started receiving guests: civilian refugees. Yudikon prepared a hot audience for the pirates. They'd landed and were unhurriedly climbing down into the surf when Struan's Sabre Corporation yellow-coats delivered a Light Anti-Tank warhead into the Foil's skirt that blew it, and the pirates, sky-high. Bombardment followed.
Pereira heard that Yudikon was refusing to leave his squatter's compound and, for the time being at least, still commanded the loyalty of his paid retainers. Ignoring the consequences of the shellfire, they'd forced the rest of the settlers to evacuate their shelters at gunpoint, entrusting them with everything from space heaters to bullets. The lucky ones found spots on 'Rovers or the mechanically unreliable M.U.L.E.
Ro knew better than to come inshore without an express invitation from King, who in turn advised Erkins of what she could expect unless wary. Raised by radio, Yudikon agreed to step out for a parley in the open, demonstrating the minimum of good faith required for Erkins to accept. Later, Erkins said the Sabre troopers had lain down their rifles when her party appeared from the undergrowth, suggesting they, too, were at the end of the road with their employer. Yudikon, uncharacteristically quiet, objected to the Spartan captain that you had left him without the means to defend himself. In the end, Erkins surmised that he agreed to ride with her to Warm Welcome "half because he expected his people to tear him limb from limb, half because he had nowhere else to go."
U.N. Marines soon collected thirty terrified hangers-on who assured King they had no intention of returning to what they described as a "failed" colony. Karimov treated seven for xenofungal exposure. Pereira's artillerists found the M.U.L.E. the next day, wedged in a wall of xenofungus. Using magnetic tow-cables, they pulled it free without venturing too close and, following instructions form LaCroix, reprogrammed it for independent return home.
King reported that the Relief Station was "a complete shambles," and not just from the fight. Lowlights of his virtual tour included pit latrines, a large caged space obviously put to use for detentions, and most of an incomplete radio transmitter, the purpose of which seemed obvious to you. Like Warm Welcome, modular containers provided a curtain wall. Most were piped and sealed as grow houses for high-density food crops. LaCroix successfully probed the base's DataLinks network but found nothing of interest.
On the Home Front
Centauri Chemistry said:
Chiron is low in oxygen, rich in carbon. Nitrates, once comparatively rare on Earth and so highly valued, are a commonplace. On Earth, we associated life with oxygenated environments. On Chiron, most life is anoxic. Our species has no obvious place here. Oxygen, we cannot do with out, but carbon is our weapon of choice. We are a danger. - Lady Deirdre Skye, Planetdreams
War has not kept Ermac Canioc from his studies. He has completed cataloguing the samples taken during the Planitzer expedition and now claims to have a rudimentary understanding of the chemical basics of life on Planet. Energy will be your next limiter. Canioc believes he can now devise a means to efficiently gather and process biomass as fuel, provided you are comfortable with the resulting ecological consequences. He cannot say what might happen once you denude Garland Island of its "floor" of organic debris. This is, of course, in keeping with Base Operations' current emphasis on extractive activities in hopes of generating more power to reduce or eliminate your dependence on parked Fission Rovers.
The fight for U.N. Relief Station demonstrated that you have a pressing need for improved weapons. Your engineers are already erecting an arsenal in which you hope to soon machine rifled barrels for crew-served and vehicle-mounted fighting platforms. Likewise, the SkyCrane rotors are being recast, seaborne travel having become rather too dangerous of late. Akira Mizurei might be over-fond of bubble gum and bailing wire, but drawing on handbooks in the Unity Data Core, he should be able to do the job correctly. An electronics laboratory will round out your new investments. Johann Anhaldt complains loudly that the planned space and equipment are not enough, but his steady stream of requisitions indicates that, to the contrary, he has actually embraced the project. Adan Sadak and Med-Tek Taho Takiwara meanwhile have themselves a side venture preparing a series of ethical roundtables for the month ahead.
Warm Welcome's economic boom has been tempered by a shortage of certain electronics products and finished goods, but Guan Biao assures you the slowdown is temporary.
Dole Yudikon returned to a colony even richer than the one he'd (allegedly) fleeced. The Marine guards who opened the gates before him used radios. Inside the stockade, crowding had become an issue. The slag pile next to Chamomille was half as high as the Landing Pod now. The pump station and mass refinery anchored either end of a solidly industrial colony from which 'Formers came and went at all hours. The citizens enjoyed variety and abundance in their diets, resort to a voluminous library of cultural and educational products, and a standard of medical care with which only Sathieu Metrion seemed able to find fault.
This was a home for Spartans and sailors, explorers and exiles. Some were racing long shadows still, but all seemed to be making the most of the new opportunity set before them. Each agreed that they were Peacekeepers. For some, King and Erkins among them, that meant a condition of service in which they could feel comfortable laying down their lives. For others, such as Metrion and Ro, it meant inclusion in a society that proposed to give them license in the charting of their own fates. Singh and Karimov were happy to heal the sick untroubled by distinction about who was deserving and who not. Guan Biao could feel he was working for an honest man. Abaddon Vesper and Tell Stillman, the old warhorses, told themselves there was a worthy student yet in need of their wisdom.
When the man who called himself Carnaveron found his way to the spot behind you in the line at mess, you turned to him with an indulgent smile. "Mr. Carnaveron. We meet again." He was startled when you pressed a plastic tray into his hands. "May we offer you tea and tinned biscuit?"
Faction Specifics
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:Choose + 4 Research Nodes focused on Discover + Explore bonus Economic Focus: Extraction
Population:
3 TALENTS
.5 OVERSEERS [Struan's refugees]
2.5 TECHNICIANS [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) 1.5 squadrons Unity Rovers (Fission) (9) [+3 from Struan's colony] Naval Assets 1 Unity Hull Form (Skagway) [inoperable; undergoing repair] 1 large Foil (Kungalooshi) [Tomorrow Institute] 1 squadron Unity Foils (Electric) (4) [-1 crippled, +1 seized from Nautilus Pirates] 1 work barge 1 floating 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)
3 Multiple Use Labor Element (M.U.L.E.) [+1 from Struan's colony] 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), "Carnaveron"/Dole Yudikon (governor, U.N. Relief Station), Krause Martius (Struan's colonist, U.N. Relief Station), Sathieu Metrion (Annunciator, Tomorrow Initiative), Other Named Characters in the World: Editor Tạ Dọc Thân (Faction Leader, Tomorrow Initiative) Unassigned Characters: Kosta Kovačević (soldier)
Bases:
Warm Welcome (HQ)
U.N. Relief Station [razed]
Resource Pool (Net):
+Health
+3 Morale
0 Planet
Construction Slots: 4/4 3D Printers
Slot 1 (125%): Arsenal Slot 2 (125%): Electronics Laboratory Slot 3 (100%): SkyCrane rotors Machine Shop Slot 4 (100%): Arsenal
Survival Supplies:-6[+1 from Struan's colonists, -10 from arsenal construction, -2 from SkyCrane rotor replacement]
Medical Supplies: 0
Construction Supplies: 1 [+4 from 3D Printers, -13 from arsenal and lab construction]
War Stores: 0 [-2 from fighting]
[3 Rations are being stored from Skagway] [-1 from fighting]
Water Stockpile (25/25): 25 [-/turn] [work stoppage due to storage issues; ordinarily generates +2/turn]
Nutrient Stockpile (15/15): 15 [-/turn] [work stoppage due to storage issues; ordinarily generates +3/turn] [all packaged rations consumed this turn due to fighting]
Energy Stockpile: 3
Mineral Stockpile: 29 [+6/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. V) (recurring net Mineral yield of +4) (recurring net Energy drain of -1)
Base Facilities and Improvements: Warm Welcome
Landing Pod (deployed)
+Perimeter Stockade
+Machine Shop (expanded)
+3D Printers x 3 (x 2 enhanced)
+Mass Refinery
+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)
[ ] Send Dole Yudikon and the Holnists into exile while the coast is still clear. Give them a foil, enough food for a month, and limited self-defense capabilities.
[ ] Invite Dole Yudikon to join your colony. Unlike the Holnists, he has been convicted of no crime except hubris, and his credibility has hit an all-time low.
[ ] Place Dole Yudikon on trial. King's discoveries and the testimony of the Struan's settlers point to prosecutable crimes under the U.N. Charter.
[ ] Hold Dole Yudikon without trial until he can be turned over to a representative of Struan's.
Vote 2 - Stowaways
Dr. Singh advises that you begin retrieving the stowaways from cold sleep. Choose one.
[ ] Open the tube with the male in what appears to be a Carmelite military uniform. Abaddon could not explain why he would be in a Soviet-manufactured cryotube except to remind you that hibernation suites were easily sourced from Warsaw Pact countries eager to obtain hard currency. He insists that he made no such investments while King of Carmel. Could this be another prisoner of some sort?
[ ] Open the tube with the male whose body is practically written over in tattoos. Given the designs, LaCroix has identified him as "almost certainly" a member of the Soviet criminal underworld.
[ ] Open the tube with the female in a U.N. Space Force uniform. You cannot explain why she might be in a Soviet cryotube. Perhaps she was placed in cold sleep during a period when Moscow was footing the bills for the Project?
[ ] Open the tube with the female with a Comprehensive Transport (CT) bar code on her arm. At one time, CT held distribution rights to an estimated 23% of Earth's fresh water supply.
Vote 3 - Exploration
Choose one.
[ ] 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]
[ ] Complete an overland survey of the island, focusing on finding salvage. [-2 Rations]
[ ] Request that Sathieu Metrion and the Kungalooshi escort your Foils on short-salvage operations.
[ ] Attempt to negotiate with the Nautilus Pirates from a position of strength. Send a radio message inviting them to parley.
Hoo boy, that's an impressive hole we're in with Survival supplies.
So, Yudikon's colony was going down like we thought. Too many chiefs, not enough Indians. If I understand correctly, he and his guards holed up in a panic room and pushed the others out to die?
[X] Place Dole Yudikon on trial. King's discoveries and the testimony of the Struan's settlers point to prosecutable crimes under the U.N. Charter. [X] Open the tube with the female in a U.N. Space Force uniform. You cannot explain why she might be in a Soviet cryotube. Perhaps she was placed in cold sleep during a period when Moscow was footing the bills for the Project? [X] Complete an overland survey of the island, focusing on finding salvage. [-2 Rations]
This is what I'm thinking. If we genuinely believe he's committed crimes, we prosecute him. This isn't about getting him back or whatever, and we need to make sure to get that across. It seems only natural that Mr. UN Lal would release a UN member first. God only knows what the story is there. We're fixing up the Skycrane this turn, so we'd better have a place to send it. We may find stuff we can grab right there. I don't feel like negotiating with the pirates would be helpful right now. We know from the psych report that Svensgaard is obsessed with a toxic conception of strength. By fighting him once, he's going to have to take a second swing at us, to satisfy his pride and feel us out. Once we've demonstrated that this was no fluke, then we negotiate. Our position is only growing stronger with time, and the distraction of Relief Station has just been resolved. Time to get ready for round 2.
I kinda want to strike while the iron is hot and get some seaborne exploration/salvage done while the pirates are still reeling from losing 5 or 6 of their Foils, but simultaneously I know that finishing scouting the Island is guaranteed rewards, and since the Barge is still stuck next to the Skagway and the Skycrane isn't ready yet, we might not be able to bring back anything we find that isn't on the island anyway.
[X] Open the tube with the female in a U.N. Space Force uniform. You cannot explain why she might be in a Soviet cryotube. Perhaps she was placed in cold sleep during a period when Moscow was footing the bills for the Project? [X] Complete an overland survey of the island, focusing on finding salvage. [-2 Rations]
I don't have a sure opinion of what to do with Dole. Part of me wants to believe that he'd be willing to work with us. But even if that's true, would we even want the voice of a man like him on our council? Leaning towards the trial to just deal with him with some finality.
[X] Place Dole Yudikon on trial. King's discoveries and the testimony of the Struan's settlers point to prosecutable crimes under the U.N. Charter.
[X] Open the tube with the female in a U.N. Space Force uniform. You cannot explain why she might be in a Soviet cryotube. Perhaps she was placed in cold sleep during a period when Moscow was footing the bills for the Project?
[X] Complete an overland survey of the island, focusing on finding salvage. [-2 Rations]
Probably should survey our primary holdings in any case, if only to know where might be useful resources or strategic positions
[X] Place Dole Yudikon on trial. King's discoveries and the testimony of the Struan's settlers point to prosecutable crimes under the U.N. Charter.
[X] Open the tube with the female in a U.N. Space Force uniform. You cannot explain why she might be in a Soviet cryotube. Perhaps she was placed in cold sleep during a period when Moscow was footing the bills for the Project?
[X] Complete an overland survey of the island, focusing on finding salvage. [-2 Rations]
This was a home for Spartans and sailors, explorers and exiles. Some were racing long shadows still, but all seemed to be making the most of the new opportunity set before them. Each agreed that they were Peacekeepers. For some, King and Erkins among them, that meant a condition of service in which they could feel comfortable laying down their lives. For others, such as Metrion and Ro, it meant inclusion in a society that proposed to give them license in the charting of their own fates. Singh and Karimov were happy to heal the sick untroubled by distinction about who was deserving and who not. Guan Biao could feel he was working for an honest man. Abaddon Vesper and Tell Stillman, the old warhorses, told themselves there was a worthy student yet in need of their wisdom.
This. This is why I voted for the Peacekeepers. Unity died in fire and mistrust, splintering humanity in different groups across a hostile world just as focused on beating each other as they are their own survival. But the Peacekeepers reject that. Unity, both the ship and the concept may be broken on Chiron but the Peacekeepers are dedicated to rebuilding it. The flame of liberty has not yet died.
Edit: here are my votes [X] Invite Dole Yudikon to join your colony. Unlike the Holnists, he has been convicted of no crime except hubris, and his credibility has hit an all-time low.
[X] Open the tube with the female in a U.N. Space Force uniform. You cannot explain why she might be in a Soviet cryotube. Perhaps she was placed in cold sleep during a period when Moscow was footing the bills for the Project?
[X] Complete an overland survey of the island, focusing on finding salvage. [-2 Rations]
*delurks* Read through the whole thing, caught up a couple updates ago but withheld posting until a more appropriate juncture.
[X] Place Dole Yudikon on trial. King's discoveries and the testimony of the Struan's settlers point to prosecutable crimes under the U.N. Charter. [X] Open the tube with the female in a U.N. Space Force uniform. You cannot explain why she might be in a Soviet cryotube. Perhaps she was placed in cold sleep during a period when Moscow was footing the bills for the Project? [X] 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]
In order:
Dole Yudikon had more than enough chances to not make a hash of things, but repeatedly chose not to. More importantly, Peacekeeper blood was risked multiple times to take him in hand and lives were harmed by letting him go the first time (regardless of whether more were saved by doing so). I think not dealing with him ourselves at this point is irresponsible and cowardly.
UN Member first seems like the logical default, though the uniform doesn't actually mean anything. Could be another imposter, but seems like the lowest risk option.
As for the exploration...I say opting to push the pirates' weakness and map the coast is most opportune. The island itself should be relatively safe for a future action and the Peacekeepers also don't seem to be looking to expand to a second settlement yet anyway.
[X] Place Dole Yudikon on trial. King's discoveries and the testimony of the Struan's settlers point to prosecutable crimes under the U.N. Charter.
[X] Open the tube with the female in a U.N. Space Force uniform. You cannot explain why she might be in a Soviet cryotube. Perhaps she was placed in cold sleep during a period when Moscow was footing the bills for the Project?
[X] Complete an overland survey of the island, focusing on finding salvage. [-2 Rations]
[X] Place Dole Yudikon on trial. King's discoveries and the testimony of the Struan's settlers point to prosecutable crimes under the U.N. Charter.
[X] Open the tube with the female in a U.N. Space Force uniform. You cannot explain why she might be in a Soviet cryotube. Perhaps she was placed in cold sleep during a period when Moscow was footing the bills for the Project?
[X] Complete an overland survey of the island, focusing on finding salvage. [-2 Rations]
We expect to find cryopods, which is our only way of adding population right now. Should be a huge boost. We'll just need to build more residential habitation, which we've been putting off. People should be happy to get individual rooms anyway.
[X] Place Dole Yudikon on trial. King's discoveries and the testimony of the Struan's settlers point to prosecutable crimes under the U.N. Charter.
[X] Open the tube with the female in a U.N. Space Force uniform. You cannot explain why she might be in a Soviet cryotube. Perhaps she was placed in cold sleep during a period when Moscow was footing the bills for the Project?
[X] Complete an overland survey of the island, focusing on finding salvage. [-2 Rations]
Oh hey whaddaya know Yudikon was a moron incapable of running a functioning society, who could have possibly guessed? It certainly doesn't speak well of the Struan's contingent's ideology and sociology for when we run into the rest of them.
Well, I suppose we gave him enough rope to hang himself with if nothing else, this probably ended up less bloody on net than kicking off a civil war when he first stormed out. Shame the people he conned into going with him had to suffer though. We definitely can't just let him off the hook, he's a criminal who ran a little authoritarian fiefdom off our largesse, he's our mess to clean up. And let's try to make sure this doesn't happen again, yeah?
Some of the idealists on the council were giving us shit, but knowing what we know I think this was in fact the right course of action. "Don't you wish the UN had done what was right instead of what was convenient" is a pretty stupid way to try and justify propping up an authoritarian who's people hate him because you're unwilling to get your hands dirty. That kind of shit is exactly why the UN failed, sometimes you just need to shoot a few assholes.
[X] Place Dole Yudikon on trial. King's discoveries and the testimony of the Struan's settlers point to prosecutable crimes under the U.N. Charter. [X] Open the tube with the female in a U.N. Space Force uniform. You cannot explain why she might be in a Soviet cryotube. Perhaps she was placed in cold sleep during a period when Moscow was footing the bills for the Project? [X] 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]
[X] Place Dole Yudikon on trial. King's discoveries and the testimony of the Struan's settlers point to prosecutable crimes under the U.N. Charter. [X] Open the tube with the female in a U.N. Space Force uniform. You cannot explain why she might be in a Soviet cryotube. Perhaps she was placed in cold sleep during a period when Moscow was footing the bills for the Project? [X] Complete an overland survey of the island, focusing on finding salvage. [-2 Rations]
[X] Place Dole Yudikon on trial. King's discoveries and the testimony of the Struan's settlers point to prosecutable crimes under the U.N. Charter.
[X] Invite Dole Yudikon to join your colony. Unlike the Holnists, he has been convicted of no crime except hubris, and his credibility has hit an all-time low.
[X] Open the tube with the female in a U.N. Space Force uniform. You cannot explain why she might be in a Soviet cryotube. Perhaps she was placed in cold sleep during a period when Moscow was footing the bills for the Project?
[X] Complete an overland survey of the island, focusing on finding salvage. [-2 Rations]
We won, not just militarily but emotionally and politically; we have clearly demonstrated the superiority of adherence to the UN Charter and the Peacekeeper ordering of society to what the charter colonies propose.
Whatever we do here, that is going to set our policy towards leadership of factions we defeat going forwards. If we put Yudikon on trial, we are setting the policy that "crimes on Earth are forgiven on Chiron; crimes on Chiron will be prosecuted by the Charter, which takes precedent over any other law on Planet." If we do not put Yudikon on trial, we are setting the policy that the Charter only applies to people who accept it as law.
So long as we're clear on the consequences, I think either course of action is justifiable -- we should be careful about turning this trial into victor's justice, though.
[X] Place Dole Yudikon on trial. King's discoveries and the testimony of the Struan's settlers point to prosecutable crimes under the U.N. Charter.
[X] Open the tube with the female in a U.N. Space Force uniform. You cannot explain why she might be in a Soviet cryotube. Perhaps she was placed in cold sleep during a period when Moscow was footing the bills for the Project?
[X] Complete an overland survey of the island, focusing on finding salvage. [-2 Rations]
Oh hey whaddaya know Yudikon was a moron incapable of running a functioning society, who could have possibly guessed? It certainly doesn't speak well of the Struan's contingent's ideology and sociology for when we run into the rest of them.
Well, I suppose we gave him enough rope to hang himself with if nothing else, this probably ended up less bloody on net than kicking off a civil war when he first stormed out. Shame the people he conned into going with him had to suffer though. We definitely can't just let him off the hook, he's a criminal who ran a little authoritarian fiefdom off our largesse, he's our mess to clean up. And let's try to make sure this doesn't happen again, yeah?
Some of the idealists on the council were giving us shit, but knowing what we know I think this was in fact the right course of action. "Don't you wish the UN had done what was right instead of what was convenient" is a pretty stupid way to try and justify propping up an authoritarian who's people hate him because you're unwilling to get your hands dirty. That kind of shit is exactly why the UN failed, sometimes you just need to shoot a few assholes.
[X] Place Dole Yudikon on trial. King's discoveries and the testimony of the Struan's settlers point to prosecutable crimes under the U.N. Charter. [X] Open the tube with the female in a U.N. Space Force uniform. You cannot explain why she might be in a Soviet cryotube. Perhaps she was placed in cold sleep during a period when Moscow was footing the bills for the Project? [X] 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]
Changed my mind. The land isn't going anywhere, but the pirates will be back soon.
Are we just locating salvage or actually picking it up with these actions?
[X] Place Dole Yudikon on trial. King's discoveries and the testimony of the Struan's settlers point to prosecutable crimes under the U.N. Charter. [X] Open the tube with the female in a U.N. Space Force uniform. You cannot explain why she might be in a Soviet cryotube. Perhaps she was placed in cold sleep during a period when Moscow was footing the bills for the Project? [X] 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]
Changed my mind. The land isn't going anywhere, but the pirates will be back soon.
Are we just locating salvage or actually picking it up with these actions?
Well Yudikon was doing worse than I expected. I expected that he would set up a functional colony that couldn't do anything more than to survive due to lack of population and sit tight until the rest of Struan's found them. Instead, he alienated his loyal followers and picked a fight with the more powerful pirates. A silver tongue doesn't translate to good governing skills.
We suffered minimal losses in the fight but even those losses are painful considering our numbers and our current inability to replace them but we probably came ahead in terms of losses for our people and Struan's compared to starting a civil war in Warm Welcome between the Peacekeepers and Struan's or letting the pirates slaughter the people at Relief Station. The pirates suffered heavy losses and wasted who knows how much war material shelling Relief Station. I am glad we did not try to arrest Skinner then. Still, the pirates probably have many more foils and war materials to throw at us. I do not feel safe sending out patrols and the locator beacons suggest there is not much to find in the nearby seas anyway. "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" was the line from the last update.
Placing Yudikon on trial is a somewhat risky thing. He still has that silver tongue of his even if he seems a discredited broken shell of a man. He might be able to beat the charges or cast doubt on the legitimacy of the trial. I share concerns about victor's justice. But I still think placing him on trial is the best course of action. Exile would be likely be a delayed death sentence and cost us a foil. I do not want to detain him without trial because who knows if the rest of Struan's will ever arrive to claim Yudikon or if they are even still alive at this point. I do not want Yudikon to join our colony. We already have a morally dubious social gadfly in Abaddon on our council and at least Abaddon seems genuinely interested in the well being of our colony when we cannot say the same for Yudikon. Additionally, a good portion of the Peacekeepers and former Struan's colonists want to tear Yudikon limb from limb for what he has done and would be very upset if let him live normally in Warm Welcome.
We have a large looming energy problem. We might have to shut off some things to save power in the near future. Once the current build orders are done, we need to build more energy production structures. We also to produce more war stores to replace what was used in the fighting.
@Trenacker Did Yudikon's colony lose any lives in the shelling of Relief Station and how many lives were lost if any were?
[X] Place Dole Yudikon on trial. King's discoveries and the testimony of the Struan's settlers point to prosecutable crimes under the U.N. Charter.
[X] Open the tube with the female in a U.N. Space Force uniform. You cannot explain why she might be in a Soviet cryotube. Perhaps she was placed in cold sleep during a period when Moscow was footing the bills for the Project?
[X] Complete an overland survey of the island, focusing on finding salvage. [-2 Rations]
Well Yudikon was doing worse than I expected. I expected that he would set up a functional colony that couldn't do anything more than to survive due to lack of population and sit tight until the rest of Struan's found them. Instead, he alienated his loyal followers and picked a fight with the more powerful pirates. A silver tongue doesn't translate to good governing skills.
Bear in mind that Yudikon was in an objectively bad situation. Outnumbered and outgunned, his choice was fight or be fleeced. He chose to fight and inflicted probably the maximum amount of possible damage on his enemy.
The shelling was mostly a threat to the colony's above-ground structures. Yudikon's colonists suffered negligible losses inflicted mostly after they were ordered to try to flee with whatever they could carry. You gained the full 0.5 Overseer POP from re-absorption of Yudikon's colony.
From the perspective of trying to keep what few supplies they had intact, the plan was a decent one. Yudikon's mistake was in deciding that he should not lead by example.
We suffered minimal losses in the fight but even those losses are painful considering our numbers and our current inability to replace them but we probably came ahead in terms of losses for our people and Struan's compared to starting a civil war in Warm Welcome between the Peacekeepers and Struan's or letting the pirates slaughter the people at Relief Station. The pirates suffered heavy losses and wasted who knows how much war material shelling Relief Station. I am glad we did not try to arrest Skinner then. Still, the pirates probably have many more foils and war materials to throw at us. I do not feel safe sending out patrols and the locator beacons suggest there is not much to find in the nearby seas anyway. "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" was the line from the last update.
The shelling was mostly a threat to the colony's above-ground structures. Yudikon's colonists suffered negligible losses inflicted mostly after they were ordered to try to flee with whatever they could carry. You gained the full 0.5 Overseer POP from re-absorption of Yudikon's colony.
From the perspective of trying to keep what few supplies they had intact, the plan was a decent one. Yudikon's mistake was in deciding that he should not lead by example.
Well then there is good news. I think that we can integrate most of the overseers into our colony now that they have learned their lesson although we probably not place them in positions of authority for a while if ever. They will have to work with the rest of the colonists and not over them.
Good to know. I still think it is too dangerous to send out the barge to recover underwater salvage with the pirates still out there. Let us stick to land and the skies for now.
