The option has been available for a couple turns now:
Turn 15 said:
[ ] Expand the FDO: With a couple of success stories under her belt, and proof that she's willing to play ball with your objectives as well as hers sitting in orbit over the colony prospect in Assilia, Director Virani feels confident enough to request that you allocate her office additional resources. She's asking for you to double her budget, in fact, citing the immense pressures of the military expansion, the colony effort, and the ongoing medical effort as her reason for why she needs the resources to pick up the rate on your expansion. She has a point; you've been losing credits every year, and you're losing out on actual income at this stage to make good the losses.Furthermore, she's also petitioning for the responsibility of setting up research outposts, citing her current good record and the key strategic locations of certain research systems relevant to colonization prospects as reasons why her mandate should include them. Time: 1 year. Chance of Success: 90%. Cost: -35,000 yearly income. Effect: Authorize a budget expansion for the FDO, allowing them to do more, faster. Rule on whether or not the FDO should have research outposts under their purview.
We just didn't have the free slots or cash to make it a thing.
We do now, with our cash buffer at 350k and our stewardship action slots free.
Initially, it cost ~25,000 to set up a mine; possibly less now that we have all that infrastructure running.
After the Free Movement upgrade gave us a 50% boost to mining income, a normal mine yields 15k/turn, a high yield mine produces 22.5k/yr, and a top-tier mine yields 30k/turn. And establishing research outposts costs between 12.5k and 50k for the cheapest and most expensive respectiively.
Increasing the FDO's allocation to 70k/year means
2x normal mines + 1 cheap research outpost/turn (+30k income/turn)OR
2x high yield mines (+44.5k income/turn) OR
1x expensive research outpost + infrastructure improvements.
[X][LINE] Oh, no. Oh, hell no. You recognize the opportunity? So will the Rachni! There's still that huge fleet that came jumping to Hades Gamma out there, floating around free and uncommitted! You're one jump away from what must be a massive fleet base in the Caleston Rift! And those Rachni forces in the Hades Nexus? Where are they going to retreat if they decide that they can't hold their system, hm? Through here. And who's in the way of all those fleets? And all that's not even to mention how vulnerable Attican Beta is at the moment. No. The Terminus Alliance will just have to wait. You cannot hold this system.
[x][TOW] Comb the wreckage thoroughly to remove everything you can tow or scoop out of space from the field of battle.
-[x] But prioritize towing damaged and salvageable ships along with life pods so that
I'm pretty sure that this is not a 'combat' roll. Those are D50's.
This might just have been a "How many ships could you salvage?" or "How much time did we have until the Rachni showed up?"-roll. Mira's martial bonus might not even apply here.
This might just have been a "How many ships could you salvage?" or "How much time did we have until the Rachni showed up?"-roll. Mira's martial bonus might not even apply here.
[X][TOW] Comb the wreckage thoroughly to remove everything you can tow or scoop out of space from the field of battle.
[X][LINE] Oh, no. Oh, hell no. You recognize the opportunity? So will the Rachni! There's still that huge fleet that came jumping to Hades Gamma out there, floating around free and uncommitted! You're one jump away from what must be a massive fleet base in the Caleston Rift! And those Rachni forces in the Hades Nexus? Where are they going to retreat if they decide that they can't hold their system, hm? Through here. And who's in the way of all those fleets? And all that's not even to mention how vulnerable Attican Beta is at the moment. No. The Terminus Alliance will just have to wait. You cannot hold this system.
Out In the Middle
As Malan's fleet limps away to and through the relay, your ships get to work, cruising around the debris field strung out through the middle of the system in an effort to clear away as much as you can. While a small detachment bombards Rachni stations from several light hours away, the rest of your ships start tugging destroyed vessels into an orderly line. You prioritize those vessels that are disabled but still contain living crew and those few that have been hulked, with survivors remaining aboard; if at all possible, you want to get the quarians' sailors out of here first.
Time To Work: 23.
But despite that, you haven't even finished with that when the relay to Caleston Rift opens.
* * *
"Prime Minister!"
You snap your head up, looking at Admiral Namal. "What is it?"
"Our picket force at the NE-CR relay just made contact. The fleet Beshkar reported jumping into Hades Gamma just cleared the relay, all vessels accounted for."
You feel blood drain from your face. That fleet has ten dreadnoughts and is more numerous than your entire combined fleet and the 3rd RWF. That fleet could squash you without much effort.
And you haven't even rescued all of the survivors from Malan's vessels, let alone cleared out all of the sensitive debris.
"The picket force has pulled back from engagement range and is presently observing the fleet as it vents heat, ma'am," says Namal. "They're awaiting orders now."
You look at the tactical screen, newly-updated with the reports from the picket force. You swallow.
You have taken the disabled dreadnought, the disabled heavy cruisers, and a third of the disabled light cruisers under tow. You have not secured any of the disabled screening vessels. You have not touched any of the hulked warships. You have not attended to any of the floating debris. There remain approximately 56,000 quarian sailors remaining trapped aboard disabled or hulked vessels or otherwise loose in space wearing voidsuits.
Your picket force at the relay, comprised of two scouting task forces (eight corvettes flying wing to four frigates, with a light cruiser flagship), is unengaged with the Rachni fleet and continues to stream live data to you. Presently, the Rachni fleet is taking the time to vent heat from their jump in advance of advancing further into the system, giving you time to respond.
What are your orders, Prime Minister?
[ ][SALVAGE] Game's up. To tarry risks both of our fleets. It's time to cut and run. Fall back to the relay, we're going home. Will retreat uncontested.
[ ][SALVAGE] Hammer down. You do not have the time to get those sailors clear. They're dead already. Make it quick and deny the Rachni that tech. Will need some degree of delay to avoid an engagement with the Rachni fleet.
[ ][SALVAGE] No soldier left behind. You can't do everything for which you'd planned, but you can rush to get as many quarians out as possible. Past that, you can't responsibly risk it. Will need a moderate degree of delay.
[ ][SALVAGE] Smash and grab. Get the sailors out, and then launch torpedoes. Bombard everything. Take the time to destroy anything without life signs attached. Will need a significant delay.
[ ][SALVAGE] Mission unchanged. Continue as you have. Go all-in on delaying the rachni or else you're fighting another fleet action today.
[ ][SCREEN] All scouting and screening forces are to immediately retreat to the NE-AB relay. Buys no time.
[ ][SCREEN] The picket force at the NE-CR relay is to place itself to foul the Rachni fleet's jump solutions to your fleet or your relay. Force the Rachni to either engage or jump around, buying a little time either way if successful.
[ ][SCREEN] Picket forces from all in-system relays are to jump into position to foul multiple FTL approach corridors for the Rachni fleet, buying a moderate amount of time if successful.
[ ][SCREEN] In addition to the above, you will disperse your fleet's corvettes in a pair of clouds to foul all FTL solutions within an AU of your fleet or the relay, buying a significant amount of time if successful.
[ ][SCREEN] In fact, you'll deploy your frigates too. All of the delay...if successful.
[ ][BESHKAR] Okay, you know what the Hades Gamma fleet is doing. Attican Beta is safe. Call Beshkar through to guard this end of the NE-AB relay set, just in case.
[ ][BESHKAR] The Rachni think they've caught you out here. You disagree. They've sent this fleet across their space twice in response to your movements. You'll bet they don't have another just waiting around in...the Maroon Sea, say? Let Beshkar off the leash again. It's time for another planet to die.
[ ][BESHKAR] If the Rachni can pull one fleet this size from nowhere, why not two? Who knows? You don't. Beshkar stays where he is.
[ ][HERO] Delaying actions like this fit the EC's mission statement, and finished or not, they've been activated along with everybody else just in case. Throw them at the delaying efforts. Commits Kurik's bonus to SCREEN actions.
[ ][HERO] No. The EC is still developing. If things go wrong, you could end up having to restart the whole project from scratch. Does not commit Kurik's bonus, does not risk loss of EC.
Going to hell with hand basket.
\[+]/
Obviously it's fate.
I think we should do "no soldier left behind" at most. Another pair of hands is always useful in an attrition war.
Oh come on, Id think the two degrees of success would count towards the whole operation. Which didnt feel like a two degrees of success anyway, it felt more like two degrees of successfully hauled fleet remains.
Well, strictly speaking, you hold a qualitative advantage. On the other hand, they have dreadnoughts, numbers, and no battle damage. You'd have a chance of beating them, but outside of the realm of providence, you'd take massive losses.
Oh come on, Id think the two degrees of success would count towards the whole operation. Which didnt feel like a two degrees of success anyway, it felt more like two degrees of successfully hauled fleet remains.
