- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
You did, and have repaired them; thus, how the 1st Raiding Fleet can in any practical sense be,
You did this from 490 to 491, as part of general salvage and reclamation.
-
Going forward, links to content from Twitter (now X) will no longer be embedded. Pre-existing links should not be affected.
Terminus Quest: A CKII Mass Effect Quest
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Hm. Okay, then we already have the thing that we'd be discussing whether or not to build, courtesy of the five-finger discount we picked up when we punched through the Sentry Omega-Attican Beta relay. Which I suppose makes the point moot.
Hm. Good to know we currently have adequate basing in Attican Beta. Those Rachni holdouts would be a pain to keep contained otherwise. We certainly don't have the army we would need to dig them out right now or in the foreseeable future. Fleet is more important.
But eventually we'll have to deal with them and I don't see any good options for that. Either we invest heavily in our army and still accept grievous losses or we get Krogan auxiliaries from the Citadel to do it for us, which would lead to having Krogan worlds on our doorstep for the next war. Neither is particularly palatable.
Maybe we should just keep the Rachni bottled up. Perhaps in a few centuries, when the rest of their race is atomized dust and their Reaper indoctrinated Queens have died off they will feel like negotiating?
But eventually we'll have to deal with them and I don't see any good options for that. Either we invest heavily in our army and still accept grievous losses or we get Krogan auxiliaries from the Citadel to do it for us, which would lead to having Krogan worlds on our doorstep for the next war. Neither is particularly palatable.
Maybe we should just keep the Rachni bottled up. Perhaps in a few centuries, when the rest of their race is atomized dust and their Reaper indoctrinated Queens have died off they will feel like negotiating?
Yes we did, in the Hercules system.
Refuelling, resupply, minor repairs, some mines, that we captured from the Rachni and managed to repair.
We established that in Turn 11, finished in Turn 12 IIRC.
Nothing on the scale of the ship basing we get by setting up Military Outposts, from what I can tell.
I get the impression we're adopting a more or less leapfrogging strategy, like Nimitz did in the Pacific.
As in, that's what Logistics II is supposed to address, a proper fleet train with supply ships and all.
We'll see I guess.
I'm not sure I agree.
On the small scale of a couple hundred people, where everyone knows everyone else, that's one thing; you can run anything from communism to anarchy. But once you start having to deal with larger numbers of people, physical realities come into play.
Nations as different as the Soviet Union and the US, India and apartheid South Africa.
They've all had parties, regardless of whether they were doing socialism, communism, capitalism, or some hybrid.
That suggests certain advantages hold true, regardless of the political system in play.
That works across four species of vastly different lifespan?
Whose psyches are similar enough to human to be familiar to us? I'm having difficulty imagining how that works.
Eclipse Phase tries to do that, but it looks very little like our society.
I mean, there are a bunch of systems that might work, or have some history of working.
They're all generally worse. For one of my favorites, take a look at Showa Japan.
Do notice that a no party system explicitly advantages Asari matrons and matriarchs, who live a thousand years, which is four times the lifespan of their closest competitor, the volus.
Asari have the time and effort to build personal networks and power bases for longer than five generations of salarians have been alive, or an entire generations of volus, without spending more than a fourth or fifth of their natural lifespan.Or those who have inherited wealth and personal networks to tap into and give them a boost.
That's how you end up with the gerontocracy of the Asari republics.
Parties are repositories of institutional memory and resources, and allow normals some chance of influence against individual powers and organized families. Promotes ideologies, not just personality cults, and offer a structure for budding politicians to get some initial experience before being thrown in at the deep end.
There's a reason we see them in almost every civilian led nation-state with pretensions to popular election of it's government, and some that are not.
It's like legs on a land dweller; not the only possible means of locomotion, but better than most of the alternatives.
I doubt that any political parties that develop will be very similar to what we recognize from Earth politics - the political and social landscape is just too different. That said, I also don't think that trying to get into the nitty-gritty of how they form is likely to be part of the quest. Maybe things like "try to make sure that they actually reflect the populace's desires", and "beat them upside the head with the metaphorical stick labeled 'war of extinction'", but that's about as fine-grained as I want to get. So can we please stop arguing about them?
Getting improved logistics would be very nice. And I imagine that the captured infrastructure, and the fact that the primary relays are all relatively close together, means that the lack of living quarters in the defense platforms isn't all that much of a hardship. Right now, priorities are to get everything repaired, fleets up to full strength, and build infrastructure so we can support our fleets, and keep building.
Getting improved logistics would be very nice. And I imagine that the captured infrastructure, and the fact that the primary relays are all relatively close together, means that the lack of living quarters in the defense platforms isn't all that much of a hardship. Right now, priorities are to get everything repaired, fleets up to full strength, and build infrastructure so we can support our fleets, and keep building.
CrimsonKnight
Lurking in a thread near you
We don't know when or how the Shadow Sea cluster was opened in canon, if it's a few hundred years from now (or later) then we'll probably be in cluster expansion mode anyway. We know that the Rachni haven't uncovered it yet based on the comm buoy ping. Worst case scenario (say, the Rachni somehow opening it in the next couple of years AND can assemble a fleet to send through it without stripping the defenses from their multiple garrison fleets), we can always just pull our units out of the Kepler Verge back to Attican Beta.
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Well, this seems to have died down. Vote closed.
[X][BASE] Now directly neighboring your space with the exploitation of Tarramir, SO 31 is valuable, not merely for the outer-system gas giants suitable for drive discharges and easily accessible to incoming craft, not merely for the low-gravity inner-system planet ideal for ground-based shipyards for anything up to and including heavy cruisers, not merely for the fact that its crust is as hard as nature makes rock and is all but impervious to orbital bombardment -- it also serves as an iron-clad anchor for the SO 28 microcluster, which Virani has begun to finally exploit.
[X][FDO] While giving the FDO total authority over full colonies would be a horrid mangling of their mission, they have proven their talent at the colonist selection process, in their own operations and in your preparations to settle the prospect in Assilia. In addition to the above, also integrate the Office into the selection process for new colonies as a matter of course.
Huh, that FDO vote was actually pretty close.
Vote Tally : Sci-Fi - Terminus Quest: A CKII Mass Effect Quest | Page 402 | Sufficient Velocity [Posts: 10030-10115]
##### NetTally 1.9.8
Task: BASE
[X][BASE] Now directly neighboring your space with the exploitation of Tarramir, SO 31 is valuable, not merely for the outer-system gas giants suitable for drive discharges and easily accessible to incoming craft, not merely for the low-gravity inner-system planet ideal for ground-based shipyards for anything up to and including heavy cruisers, not merely for the fact that its crust is as hard as nature makes rock and is all but impervious to orbital bombardment -- it also serves as an iron-clad anchor for the SO 28 microcluster, which Virani has begun to finally exploit.
No. of Votes: 31
[X][BASE] SO 13. Trailing of Tamure, SO 13 offers intriguing naval maneuver training opportunities thanks to the complex gravitational interactions seven stars around a black hole create. Furthermore, likely as a quirk of its formation, the system is very isolated from even its nearest neighbors, making it much easier to enforce security. After all, it being convenient to nothing means that the only people there are people with reason to be there. If the quarians are going to base out of your territory, they might as well keep sharp, and your own forces will benefit as well.
No. of Votes: 13
——————————————————————————————————————————————
Task: FDO
[X][FDO] While giving the FDO total authority over full colonies would be a horrid mangling of their mission, they have proven their talent at the colonist selection process, in their own operations and in your preparations to settle the prospect in Assilia. In addition to the above, also integrate the Office into the selection process for new colonies as a matter of course.
No. of Votes: 26
[X][FDO] Virani makes good points regarding research outposts, and communicating your priorities to subordinates is not a new idea. Durrahe can funnel project requests to her via Lissa.
No. of Votes: 18
[X][FDO] In addition to research outposts, you will give Virani the authority to build military outposts. The obvious basing benefits will keep her building them as often as she can.
No. of Votes: 1
Total No. of Voters: 45
##### NetTally 1.9.8
Task: BASE
[X][BASE] Now directly neighboring your space with the exploitation of Tarramir, SO 31 is valuable, not merely for the outer-system gas giants suitable for drive discharges and easily accessible to incoming craft, not merely for the low-gravity inner-system planet ideal for ground-based shipyards for anything up to and including heavy cruisers, not merely for the fact that its crust is as hard as nature makes rock and is all but impervious to orbital bombardment -- it also serves as an iron-clad anchor for the SO 28 microcluster, which Virani has begun to finally exploit.
No. of Votes: 31
uju32
ALanos
Angelform
Chronic
CrimsonKnight
ctulhuslp
Enjou
Faith
Gamefreak1ed
Goi
jacobk
Lightwhispers
LokiTheDarkGod
LunarTinker
Miner249er
Mr Tebbs
Nightlord256
NotAlwaysFanfic
Pyro Hawk
RideTheWalrus
SAGrognard
ShadowNic94
Simon_Jester
Spacegnom
sunrise
tenchifew
Tolack
Tylonius
VoidZero
weskwong2
x0Nothing0x
ALanos
Angelform
Chronic
CrimsonKnight
ctulhuslp
Enjou
Faith
Gamefreak1ed
Goi
jacobk
Lightwhispers
LokiTheDarkGod
LunarTinker
Miner249er
Mr Tebbs
Nightlord256
NotAlwaysFanfic
Pyro Hawk
RideTheWalrus
SAGrognard
ShadowNic94
Simon_Jester
Spacegnom
sunrise
tenchifew
Tolack
Tylonius
VoidZero
weskwong2
x0Nothing0x
[X][BASE] SO 13. Trailing of Tamure, SO 13 offers intriguing naval maneuver training opportunities thanks to the complex gravitational interactions seven stars around a black hole create. Furthermore, likely as a quirk of its formation, the system is very isolated from even its nearest neighbors, making it much easier to enforce security. After all, it being convenient to nothing means that the only people there are people with reason to be there. If the quarians are going to base out of your territory, they might as well keep sharp, and your own forces will benefit as well.
No. of Votes: 13
——————————————————————————————————————————————
Task: FDO
[X][FDO] While giving the FDO total authority over full colonies would be a horrid mangling of their mission, they have proven their talent at the colonist selection process, in their own operations and in your preparations to settle the prospect in Assilia. In addition to the above, also integrate the Office into the selection process for new colonies as a matter of course.
No. of Votes: 26
[X][FDO] Virani makes good points regarding research outposts, and communicating your priorities to subordinates is not a new idea. Durrahe can funnel project requests to her via Lissa.
No. of Votes: 18
[X][FDO] In addition to research outposts, you will give Virani the authority to build military outposts. The obvious basing benefits will keep her building them as often as she can.
No. of Votes: 1
Total No. of Voters: 45
[X][BASE] Now directly neighboring your space with the exploitation of Tarramir, SO 31 is valuable, not merely for the outer-system gas giants suitable for drive discharges and easily accessible to incoming craft, not merely for the low-gravity inner-system planet ideal for ground-based shipyards for anything up to and including heavy cruisers, not merely for the fact that its crust is as hard as nature makes rock and is all but impervious to orbital bombardment -- it also serves as an iron-clad anchor for the SO 28 microcluster, which Virani has begun to finally exploit.
[X][FDO] While giving the FDO total authority over full colonies would be a horrid mangling of their mission, they have proven their talent at the colonist selection process, in their own operations and in your preparations to settle the prospect in Assilia. In addition to the above, also integrate the Office into the selection process for new colonies as a matter of course.
Huh, that FDO vote was actually pretty close.
Long-Range Intelligence
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X][BASE] Now directly neighboring your space with the exploitation of Tarramir, SO 31 is valuable, not merely for the outer-system gas giants suitable for drive discharges and easily accessible to incoming craft, not merely for the low-gravity inner-system planet ideal for ground-based shipyards for anything up to and including heavy cruisers, not merely for the fact that its crust is as hard as nature makes rock and is all but impervious to orbital bombardment -- it also serves as an iron-clad anchor for the SO 28 microcluster, which Virani has begun to finally exploit.
[X][FDO] While giving the FDO total authority over full colonies would be a horrid mangling of their mission, they have proven their talent at the colonist selection process, in their own operations and in your preparations to settle the prospect in Assilia. In addition to the above, also integrate the Office into the selection process for new colonies as a matter of course.
[X][FDO] While giving the FDO total authority over full colonies would be a horrid mangling of their mission, they have proven their talent at the colonist selection process, in their own operations and in your preparations to settle the prospect in Assilia. In addition to the above, also integrate the Office into the selection process for new colonies as a matter of course.
Long-Range Intelligence
The probe has been drifting for two years, and only with a swift burn through the corona of a star has it managed to see its way free unmolested by Lystheni ships.
Perhaps understandably, it's a little bit worse for wear.
"Looks like shit," you remark, looking at the blackened and half-melted machine. "We sure it's still fine?"
"The data was pulled without incident," says Shurna, poring over her datapad as she turns away from the window of the office. "Come, come. Have a look. I've already-" gshk "-compiled a report."
You tear yourself away from the sight of the salvage crews below working over the likely-useless wreck of the probe and sit down opposite her. "Efficient as always, San."
"I take pride in my Ministry," she says. "Here."
You grab the report she passes you. "Don't suppose you have an executive summary version?"
"Of course," she says, amused. "I-" gshk "-always do. Let me explain." She glances down at her version of the report, noting the file size. "Well, maybe not. Summing up-" gshk "-then." She leans back in her chair. "While the probe's ejection burn from within the sun's corona melted all of its instruments, we still-" gshk "-have the better part of a year of data from its drift through the system prior to that point. It would seem that the Lystheni have declined to actually settle in on any of the worlds within Sikel-" gshk "-and no wonder. Gas giants, ice balls, or scorched rocks, one and all. However, it would seem that those precursors set up stations in orbit around Sikel's primary. The design is the same, even if-" gshk "-Lystheni ships now dock there. The probe was unable to determine to any degree of certainty just what those stations are meant to do, but we've confirmed their positions."
You frown, following along on your own copy of the report as Shurna skims through. "So...we've got nothing."
"We have all that we need to plan an attack, if that's what we decide to do," she says. "But no, that's not all." gshk "Whatever those stations are, they aren't shielded. The probe picked up a lot of radiation coming from them. The Lystheni-" gshk "-are running some kind of nuclear experiments. Which is odd."
You frown. "Odd? If I were them, I'd be looking into that field of science. I am." You pause. "Well, Durrahe has orders to approve funding for that kind of research more often than not, anyway."
"It's odd because, as you know, they stole our-" gshk "-frigate designs, Prime Minister. The ones with fusion drives and fusion torpedoes. All of their relevant experts should be fully-" gshk "-occupied with tearing those apart in order to figure out how to scale them up or down. And these facilities are not shipyards." gshk "No slips. The stations aren't even large enough to be conducting that kind of research without ship prototypes being involved. Furthermore, the amount of radiation being put out isn't enough for it to even be work on fusion devices. Far lower-energy. Finally-" gshk "-it's not fusion in the first place. This is fission. Different signatures."
You wrinkle your nose in distaste. "Fission? You're telling me that the Lystheni -- the hyper-exaggerated stereotype of all the Salarian Union's worst aspects -- is lowering itself to work on fission? We don't use fission. Nobody uses fission! Fission is obsolete! Even if the Lystheni really are that far behind, why keep working on fission when they have working examples of controlled fusion right at hand?"
Shurna spreads her hands. "That, I don't know. Even with our expanded signals intelligence network, we've only barely found any signs of these facilities' existences within those parts of Lystheni space to which we have access. And that's-" gshk "-despite this next bit." She taps her datapad. "Whatever they're working on, it has a large and rotating personnel requirement. The probe saw ships constantly coming and going the entire time it was there, loading and offloading people. We're talking about-" gshk "-a significant segment of their entire estimated population."
"What could they be doing?" you say, frowning.
She shrugs. "Perhaps some kind of enhancement project. Before the war, there was usually a salarian scientist of some description-" gshk "-in and out of the news, raving about the future of mechanical enhancements. It would not surprise me if the Lystheni tried something similar. But this is just speculation. We-" gshk "-don't know what they're doing; just that it involves lots of them."
You nod. "This is getting more and more worrying. Marae and Kirai have been pressuring me to raise a formal objection with the Dalatrass. The more we learn, the less inclined I am to push back on that point. What do I conclude from them looting whole ships filled with artifacts, running off to an illegal facility to do fission research, and involving huge portions of their civilian population? I don't know, but it doesn't sound promising."
"I don't disagree," says Shurna. "I'd love to have more information to help you make the decision, but-" gshk "-unfortunately, I think we're reaching the limit of what my Ministry can uncover on this topic. The Lystheni are too paranoid. I'm beginning to suspect that everybody is a member of their-" gshk "-intelligence agency. Certainly, the Dalatrass's authority is even more absolute that normal salarians. If she orders them not to speak of something..." She shrugs. "We're running up-" gshk "-against a lot of walls we can't get past. Everything is compartmentalized."
You grimace. "I'll keep that in mind, then." You sigh. "Thank you for your time, Shurna."
"Of course, Minister," she says as you stand. "This is my job."
Information gained from the Sikel probe. It is...not spectacular. Signs are becoming more and more troublesome. Furthermore, Shurna is of the opinion that the MoI is not going to encounter much success trying to push further into Lystheni society. The time is rapidly approaching where you're going to have to commit to a choice here.
Alright, next thing is for me to update the cluster map and the status screen, and I'll get down to work on the next year post! No vote on this one, folks.
- Location
- California
We should probably go for the diplomatic route here and sanction them for breaking the terms of the treaty and building in the border zone. It probably won't do anything, but it puts the ball in their court so to speak.
And who knows, they might do something stupid and declare war on us or something.
And who knows, they might do something stupid and declare war on us or something.
- Location
- The internet
Put a warrant out for the High Admiral's arrest for identity fraud.
- Location
- Austria
I half-suspect it's, you guessed it, Reapers.
I mean, I suppose they are trying to either run dumb experiments with irradiating offsprings to cause mutations (Salarians, so) or they are trying cyborgs or...
it's all weird
and yeah I am totes in favour of selling them out to SU because I am kinda lost atm
I mean, I suppose they are trying to either run dumb experiments with irradiating offsprings to cause mutations (Salarians, so) or they are trying cyborgs or...
it's all weird
and yeah I am totes in favour of selling them out to SU because I am kinda lost atm
Diomedea
A piece of the continent
- Location
- The interblag
- Pronouns
- She/Her
They are highly compartmentalized. What happens when the lynchpins are removed? Namely, the Dalatrass and the High Admiral seem to be the only ones with the full picture. If they're both removed at the same time, wouldn't their society fall apart at the seams?
- Location
- The internet
No, wait. Don't put out an arrest warrant for identity theft. Wait for him to show up again and then arrest him for identity theft, fraud and whatever other financial crimes he committed. 
@PoptartProdigy he doesn't show up under a diplomatic visa, does he?
@PoptartProdigy he doesn't show up under a diplomatic visa, does he?
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
He walks into Virmirean-operated shops on the Lystheni's capital spaceport and identifies himself in different ways, paying for transactions with credit chits registered to his persona of the moment.No, wait. Don't put out an arrest warrant for identity theft. Wait for him to show up again and then arrest him for identity theft, fraud and whatever other financial crimes he committed.
@PoptartProdigy he doesn't show up under a diplomatic visa, does he?
- Location
- Europe
The more I hear about these bastards, the more I hate them. I can't identify a single likeable characteristic about the Lystheni.
EDIT: Lystheni delenda est
The Dalatrass probably has contingencies in place given the Salarians' ridiculously short life-span.
I must object to this as the map-maker. It would be an aesthetic disaster if we don't capture the Hades Nexus and the Nubian Expanse.
EDIT: Lystheni delenda est
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- Location
- The internet
Rats, take all the fun out of it. How big are the Lystheni population wise anyway?
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Your estimates vary wildly, but no more than ten million, is your guess.
- Location
- Austria
- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Difficult to say, but come to think of it, none of your people in Lystheni space have ever mentioned seeing such a thing as a space set aside for leisure time.
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- Location
- Austria
Seeing as exhaustion and burnout are, presumably, a thing for every species: either their fission rituals rejuvenate them or setting aside leisure time and space would increase their productivity on a large time- and manpower-scale.