I'm of the opinion that we blast the station to void then ask the dalatrass for thanks, seeing as our much smaller neighbors were unable to deal with the obvious pirate station in the border zone they had declared. Why we would be absolutely distraught at the thought of greedy souls preying on such a vulnerable nation when we all must fight for our very existence in the face of the rachini threat
I'm of the opinion that we blast the station to void then ask the dalatrass for thanks, seeing as our much smaller neighbors were unable to deal with the obvious pirate station in the border zone they had declared. Why we would be absolutely distraught at the thought of greedy souls preying on such a vulnerable nation when we all must fight for our very existence in the face of the rachini threat
I mean, I'm pretty sure we also want the chance to study that station one day, and if we destroy a Precursor station like that our entire Ministry of Science might go into open revolt.
Well then we stage our operation in a way they will detect. If they face us we demand surrender of the 'pirates' if not we board the station and 'secure' it before scuttling the station
Can we please remember that our debates actually could be considered to be running through Mira's head, and avoid going fully genocidal? The Lystheni are insultingly paranoid, and generally dickish, but we've been a bit high-handed towards them on occasion. There's no rational justification for wiping them out, and while realpolitik can be useful for thought experiments, it doesn't work well on its own. The question is, what the heck are they doing?
Fortunately, my impression of how the neutral zone works is that we can investigate based on "you shouldn't have a station there".
And yes, I am not favorably inclined towards them, but I am tired of people advocating things that will make people worry about Mira staying in power.
We should start a bioweapons division and see if we can kill the Ranchi. I think a fungus would work best. Fungi can grow in conditions like caves and places with radiation. Also less likely to affect mammals and reptiles. They can also lay dormant for centuries.
Well, to clarify: I have no problem with large-scale orbital bombardment of Rachni-held worlds, at least at the moment. We don't really have any other way of dealing with their industry, and they're pretty clearly intent on wiping us out. But the Lystheni are not an issue on the same scale, or of the same sort. And we really don't have the expertise or resources to try to do anything with bio-weapons.
You lean on the railing surrounding the galaxy map and tactical display pit. The bridge around you is empty and silent. Ordinarily this would be eerie. Honestly, it kinda is eerie. But it's understandable.
After all, this beauty hasn't yet gone out on its shakedown cruise.
The silence is broken by a pair of footsteps behind you. "We thought that we'd find you here," says Marae, stepping up to you. Kirai steps up on your other side, resting her hands on the rail.
"Not a hard guess," you say, smirking as you stand up straight. "This thing rolling out of the slips is a big day for Virmire. The first Virmirean dreadnought." You snicker, looking out across the bridge. "The mighty Republican, pride of the navy...obsolete before it hits space." You sigh. "Damn quarian shipbuilding. Just shows us how much we have left to learn. But you two didn't come here to listen to me bitch and moan about how inadequate the Perseus makes me feel. What's on your minds?"
"We wanted to discuss the Secessionist party," says Marae.
"And your handling of them," says Kirai.
You glance from the other and then turn away from the pit, strolling idly away. "You two are getting along a lot better than you did at first."
"We have a professional understanding," demurs Kirai.
"And you are evading the question," says Marae.
You sigh, back still turned to them. "Yeah. Guess I am. What's the problem?"
There's a heavy pause. You imagine the two of them trading glances.
"What is your opposition to political parties, Mira?" asks Marae, tone delicate.
You tense. "I would much prefer that they don't exist."
"Why?" asks Kirai. "Political parties are accepted political practice across the length and breadth of the galaxy. They are an effective means of organizing political power, no matter the aim. Of every polity in the galaxy, perhaps only the Rachni lack them, and even then we can't say for certain that the queens don't form power blocs."
You turn, pointing at her. "And there it is."
She blinks. "I beg your pardon?"
"Power blocs," you say. "Political parties are about power."
You do see them exchanging a glance, at that, one heavy with confusion. "...yes, they are," says Marae. "They exist to organize like-minded individuals so that they can impact the political process."
You shake your head. "Come on, Marae, we all know that that isn't true. You know what, take the Secessionist's example. Did you know that 32% percent of their membership, before I happened to them, wanted any Declaration to include a formal attempt at joining the Terminus Alliance? It's true. 32% of them. If we take the Secessionists to be typical of the people who supported the Bill, and if we take the Bill's support in the Assembly to be representative of secessionist sentiment in the population at large, that's just a little less than 23% of the population in favor of joining the Terminus, sight unseen, right now." You spread your hands. "The Secessionists asked for independence, reparations, and recognition of our territorial claims." You begin to pace. "64% of the Secessionists wanted to explicitly forbid any eventual political association with the Citadel Council, ever again, but 18% of the remainder threatened to walk immediately if that was included in their demands. Make the same assumptions, that's a bit more than 47% of our people in favor of a, 'never again,' stance." You come to a halt, arms wide. "The Secessionists asked for independence, reparations, and recognition of our territorial claims." You frown. "Maybe almost half of our populace in favor of completely severing ties, and the party they dominated didn't even whisper on the subject because it could have meant driving away supporters!" You stab your finger at the two older asari. "That is what a political party does. Idealistically motivated, brand new, and already making huge compromises on its ideals for the sake of power."
"For the sake of bringing their issue into the public consciousness!" replies Kirai, frowning back. "Listen to yourself; even on this issue they're fragmented beyond all hope. If they don't set aside those differences, how can they hope to agitate in support of their central argument?"
You scowl. "By voting. By electing representatives who will argue a Secessionist stance! Hell, if they must organize political parties, do it! But make them smaller. I am capable of noticing the appearance of seventeen different parties, all of whom want to secede from the Citadel! But that will never happen!" You shake your head, angry. "No, this party was a reaction to the issue of secession, so in response, they organized for secession. Once it became clear that there were irreconcilable differences, did they go their separate ways? No! They kept on justifying their sunk cost in forming the party to begin with, and kept on cutting out things most of them wanted but some of them hated. There are a huge number of people who want to never speak with the Council again, and thanks to how this party formed, they get no voice. They started with some; they started with lots! Many of the members of the party are Assembly Delegates, and roughly proportional to the membership's views. Now none of them will say a word in favor of no contact." You turn away. "If I wanted to be a dictator for life, I would have purged the people planning the Corporate Congress, not started my own. When this war is over, I'll gladly give the Assembly real power. I love the idea of democracy. And I hate what parties do to it."
"It's not always-" says Marae, before stopping. You hear a quiet noise from Kirai, and wait for her to begin.
"You are not wrong," she says, and there you hear the voice of experience; the voice a matriarch gives when they're being a matriarch. Millennia of refined cultural conditioning bids you to turn your head and listen.
But you are still you, and you have your own remarks. "Then why are you here objecting to how I handle them?"
"Because parties are inevitable," she says, stepping closer to you, circling until she can face you head-on. "They are not a product of democracy. They are a product of pack-forming creatures gaining sapience. They are tribes, plain and simple, with a lot of cultural baggage attached." Her voice is clinical and cold as she continues, "Politics is the affair of deciding the course of nations, and all of us have instinct bred over hundreds of millennia screaming at us that those who stand alone against such stakes don't survive. When one opposes a chorus, one does not simply trust that rightness will overwhelm numbers. We are drawn to consensus, and the foundation of galactic diplomacy is that every race feels that draw. So. If there is a queen, who holds all authority and whom one must personally convince...bring numbers. Oh, she will come up with reasons to justify folding -- avoiding a revolt, gaining the public's eager willingness to comply with her decisions -- but the numbers will tell whether she likes their stance or not. If there is a Council, the same applies. Again, they will justify their reaction. They are, 'beholden to their constituents,' even though the Councillors are in all actuality appointees of their heads of state." She chuckles. "Precious."
You stare, unnerved at this side of her. "You are...not convincing me that I should just let these things happen."
She smirks at you. "No. I am not. And I am not trying. I am telling you that you have no choice." She begins pacing herself. "Now, let us take our present republic. Elected representatives vote on issues, and the pretense is that you will in any way allow yourself to be bound by the results, unless they are disastrous. Forming a party seems obvious, in this climate. But...why, when one thinks about it? Does joining a party make one's vote count twice? No. Does it make the head of state think one's point of view is more worthy? Transparently, no." She laughs, gesturing to you. "But it is a group. And to pack creatures, as all races on the galactic stage are...groups are magnetic. People will convince themselves, 'I must join if I am to have any influence,' and once they join, well...how much of what they want will they receive, if it clashes with the consensus of millions? And just like that, they have no voice of their own; merely more weight to the party. Even though the only thing people must do to render a party impotent is to simply not join it...they can't quite bring themselves to stand alone, outside the tribe." Kirai turns to you and leans in. "You will never. Ever. Stop that from happening."
And...
...you smile. "And who said that I want to stop them?"
Kirai blinks. "I beg your pardon, what?"
"I want to be a check on political parties," you say. "I'm not blind to how ever-present they are. But I want them to be checked. Imagine the Secessionist party in seventy years. Say independence was declared. Maybe they call themselves something different -- maybe the Protectionists -- but do you imagine that the party leadership is going to simply let go of such a useful tool as a political party? Much less one that achieved its aims? I think not. Over time, established political parties stop caring about their issues and become more about sustaining themselves and grabbing as much power as they can take. It is inevitable, and I do not call that democracy. But..." You smirk. "The Secessionists formed. They presented their viewpoints. And then I came in, ripped them apart, and left them bleeding. They barely exist anymore, and will vanish as soon as I give them what they want." You hold out your hands. "Appear. Present. Achieve. Disperse." You grin. "Now, I don't know about you...but I like this story."
You step past Kirai and to the door of the bridge. You call, over your shoulder, "And I think I'd like to see it again!"
* * *
Credit Reserves: 398,000 credits.
Yearly Income: 298,000 credits.
Martial: "I foresee you hearing this a lot from the others as well, but with the crisis handled, I want to really push these next few years. The NID recommended a push, and I concur. I strongly recommend that we work to get Beshkar's reforms integrated into our command and production facilities. Beyond that, the brief you sent me regarding the Lystheni makes me nervous. I have a project lined up."
Choose 2.
[ ] Marine Expansion: You have committed to an expansion of the role of your marines to allow them to conduct voidborne operations and support roles in planetary assaults. Time to send Tannuvael his funding and let him at the problem. After the disaster that occurred during the Attican Beta offensive, this has become something of a bigger project, as you're dealing with the loss of institutional veterancy as well and taking lessons learned on board. Time: 2 years. Cost: 30,000 credits. Chance of Success: 70%. Effect: Authorize the agreed-upon expansion of your marine forces into a force capable of offensive operations; marines expand. Replace losses and integrate lessons learned in doctrine and equipment.
[ ] Integrating Reforms: You have researched your new naval reforms, you have purchased the equipment it will take to build the fleet you want, you have improved your logistics network to support all of this (barely), and you will probably be fixing your marines at some point. All that now remains is to comb through your entire navy to apply this comprehensive re-working of your entire void military. Time: 3 years. Cost: -50,000 yearly income (permanently, and applied from start of option). Chance of Success: 60% Effect: Beyond restructuring your fleets, actually go through and ensure that your navy is up to date on the new tactics and that your naval academy is teaching it as required. Gain the benefits of Beshkarian doctrine.
[ ] Logistics II: There is never enough. Time: 3 years. Cost: 57,000 credits. Chance of Success: 80%. Effect: Integrating the various lessons you've learned at varying points of your logistics development, improve your logistics network once more so that you can reliably sustain and supply a multi-cluster offensive.
[ ] Backsplash: The situation with the Lystheni threatens to boil over, but unlike in previous years, you now have the military slack to bring your superior strength to bear on them. Whatever you do is likely to make them react strongly, and they have a navy. Ask Malan to shift a few patrol patterns. Time: 1 year. Cost: 30,000 credits. Chance of Success: 70%. Effect: Have the 3rd RWF deploy to active status along the border with Lystheni space. Highly provocative. Don't do this unless you do something that you think will piss them off to the point of possible violence. Mutually exclusive with the below option.
[ ] Backstab: The Lystheni have committed countless transgressions against you. Off the top of your head, unrepentant and systematic spying, theft and use of military designs, production of a secret navy during a time of existential war, and to cap it all off, the violation of a signed treaty regarding borders, one to which you initially agreed as a concession to them. The 3rd could deploy to backstop any backlash from you yelling at the Lystheni; they could also just cut out the middleman. Time: 1 year. Cost: 45,000 credits. Chance of Success: 60%. Effect: Describe the situation to Malan, and have him be your arm in your war with the Lystheni. Failure means either failure to convince him to declare war on behalf of the Republic of Rannoch and having to shift him to cover the 1st Raiding's patrols so they can do it, or more conventional military failures. Does not strictly require use of the, "Casus Belli," option.
Diplomacy: "We have the data, and with it, precious little reason not to commit to a decisive course of action regarding the Lystheni. If we wish, we will have no difficulties selling a declaration of war to the people. By the same token, we have all of the leverage we could ever want to force negotiations to get those artifacts without a conflict..."
Choose 2.
[ ] Lystheni (Making Demands): The Lystheni have transgressed against you time and again, and fresh offenses keep piling up. You could easily turn the courts of public opinion against the Lystheni. Do so, and open negotiations with them in a position of calamitous weakness. Time: 1 year. Chance of Success: 60%. Cost: 20,000 credits. Effect: Force negotiations with the Lystheni under the implied threat of war, and bargain against that threat to force demands on them.
[ ] Lystheni (Casus Belli): While no one thing the Lystheni have done constitutes an ironclad cause for war, taken together, considering the history of continued provocations, they are a damning case. Inform the Lystheni Ambassador of your opinion of such actions, inform the Assembly of the change in your diplomatic relations, and then send the Ambassador and his people home. This war won't drag on for decades. Time: 1 year. Chance of Success: 100%. Cost: Free. Effect: Declare war on the Lystheni state. If you do not take, "Backstab," with this, then you will make no organized offensive. If you do not take, "Trade Sanctions," you will conduct no organized withdrawal of your people from Lystheni space in advance of the declaration. Declaring war against a trading partner when most of your forces are already otherwise committed is complicated.
[ ] Lystheni (Trade Sanctions): You no longer trust the Lystheni to host your people, and you no longer care to provide them the materials they've used to keep their projects going. For the safety of your merchants and to choke off the flow of supplies, you are closing down all trade with the Lystheni, and making an organized withdrawal of your people effective immediately. Time: 1 year. Chance of Success: 70%. Cost 20,000 credits, trade income (-40,000 yearly income). Effect: Halt all trade with the Lystheni, get your people out of there, and close the borders to free travel. The Lystheni, being possessed of non-zero intelligence quotients, will know that something is up. That said, re-opening trade would in and of itself be a potent bargaining chip in any eventual negotiations.
[ ] Knowledge Exchange: Having hacked into the quarians' ship computers, you now have all the data you'll need. However, if you can't find a public reason to have it, you'll need to be careful in how you're seen to use it unless you want to cause an incident. So, you still have reason to, "request," that information. The issue is convincing Admiral Malan -- all of those things are definitely classified, and sharing them will weigh against him back home when you contact the Republic. Time: 1 year. Chance of Success: 35%. Cost: 35,000 credits. Effect: Gain public reason to have access to quarian techniques without obscuring how you came by it. Problems for Malan later down the line.
[ ] Start My Own: You disapproved of the Bill of Declaration for many reasons, and chief among them was the lack of official input you would have had regarding the final product. You are not opposed to independence; just to independence on the terms as presented. Time: 1 year. Chance of Success: Variable depending on sub-options chosen. Cost: 23,000 credits. Effect: Introduce to the Assembly your version of a Declaration of Independence, and in a sub-vote, determine what that version shall be. For everybody who really wanted to write in, "Pass, but only if-" for the Bill, this is your chance.
Stewardship: "Alright. The short-term issues are managed, and it's time to get down to some of the other stuff. Here are my proposals; I strongly recommend we get moving on the Assilia colony again. We're going to start seeing colonists pulling out if we delay on this much longer. That said...we're starting to see other troubles. The economy isn't expanding quickly enough."
Choose 2.
[ ] Colony Equipment: Assilia is as primed as it's going to be, which about means that you won't have to install orbital infrastructure yourself. Unfortunately, that's only one part of building a colony. You need to purchase the first wave of colonists' equipment -- everything needed to start constructing several small cities across the entire planet, and supply the fledgling colony in the years following its founding. Now that you're all ready to go otherwise, you'll want to take this soon. Time: 2 years. Chance of Success: 75%. Cost: 75,000 credits, -30,000 yearly income (income hit imposed at conclusion of option, persisting until Assilia Prime achieves self-sufficiency, a span of time you have no way of reliably estimating).
[ ] Economic Review: There is so much that needs doing. Your economy is still laboring under the scars of the MoF's cleansed rot. You find it difficult to reach the greatest concentrations of resources in Sentry Omega thanks to your lacking ship infrastructure, a critical issue given your present need to expand your economy to keep it afloat. In general, there are obstacles to Virmire's development you haven't addressed yet, and they limit your options. You can't fix them all in one fell swoop, but authorizing an investigation could help you better target your efforts to get things back up and running in healthy manner. Time: 3 years. Chance of Success: 60%. Cost: 55,000 credits. Effect: Launch a general program aimed at identifying key bottlenecks in Virmire's war economy, allowing you to better target your reforms (also boosts FDO passive infrastructure construction).
[ ] New Cities: Virmire's population has been expanding swiftly. This is as intended -- more warm bodies is all to the good, with the war on. You can only imagine you'll need all that you can grab, when the war gets down to ground fighting. However, you've gained over a billion people in a decade, and it's been five years since the last census. The planned colonial exodus of 100 million, large as that is...doesn't really dent that much. The cities are becoming crowded. With the war eating up so much of the civilian economy, construction is having difficulty keeping pace. Authorize some new city sites to relieve the pressure, and get the crews to work. Time: 4 years. Chance of Success: 75%. Cost: -40,000 yearly income until option concludes. Effect: Send crews to identify municipalities that could be easily and productively turned into cities, relieving your mounting population pressure.
[ ] Impending Crisis: The civilian populace has labored for decades under the lash of total war. Willingly, eagerly...but decades, nonetheless. No salarian now lives who remembers the galaxy before the Rachni. Entire generations have been born to the war. And each generation has had a little less, seen a bit more of the economy sustaining them cut away for the sake of the military. In recent years, you've attempted to expand the economy in order to support your burgeoning military spending and projects elsewhere, but you have a lot more people now than you did a decade ago. The economy has not expanded fast enough to support those people, and you keep on having other things to do than to clear the projects that you have to finish before you can even consider expanding the Army and sucking up some of that excess population. It seems...farcical...that a nation at total war could possibly be facing down an unemployment crisis, but that seems to be the reality. Time: 2 years. Chance of Success: 55%. Cost: 36,000 credits. Effect: Set a team to analyzing the problem of your looming unemployment crisis and determining what your options are.
[ ] Administrative Overclocking: Lissa has grown accustomed to running her administration on the knife's edge during her time in your government. However, in recent years your budget has ballooned until time is more of a limiting factor than resources, and Lissa finds herself staring at the leftover fat in the budget with considerable hunger. She has some ideas about how to make use of an excess of black in the budget like this. She'd like to take some time to look into the possibility, but understands if it's not a huge priority for now. Time: 1 year. Chance of Success: 70%. Cost: 42,000. Effect: Lissa gains a trait, Double Down feature unlocked.
Intrigue: "I doubt my people's ability to further penetrate Lystheni space, but it occurs that we have several members of their intelligence-" gshk "-under constant watch right here at home. It will kick our intelligence war up a notch and let the Lystheni know that they've been rumbled, but if you command it, we can roll those agents-" gshk "-and their network up, and see what they know. If nothing else, it'll be even more evidence for the court of public opinion. We need-" gshk "-to commit to an open response soon, though. We have more cause for war than even some elcor might require. Evidence of truly comprehensive-" gshk "-poor faith, and an implicit dagger twisted towards our backs. Open theft of our warship designs...at this point we're starting to risk exposure unnecessarily."
Choose 2.
[ ] Bugs On Bugs: It's an unfortunate reality that the Marines attached to your fleet regularly have to fight counter-boarding actions against the Rachni. It's a horrible prospect, but it does present a somewhat...mostly...completely insane opportunity. San wants to secretly attach Intelligence Division agents to some of your vessels and task them with getting tracker beacons, listening devices, and hidden cameras onto Rachni soldiers and workers, in the hopes that some will make it back to their ships and transmit valuable data. It's...a long shot, she admits. But when you think of what a success could mean, your knees go weak. With the establishment of the EC, Shurna has re-flagged this as an EC-only operation. As a result, she fancies the odds better -- she's even optimistic that it might enable somewhat normal casualties -- but still recommends you hold on the Void Marine Corps reformation. Time: 1 year. Chance of Success: 30%. Cost: 30,000 credits. Effect: Gain first-hand data on Rachni and their vessels. Kurik has double the normal odds of landing on this action due to EC-only status.
[ ] Looking for Sponsors: It's impossible to build a state without like-minded individuals, and Virmirean politicians have been producing a lot of noise in debates within the Assembly of late. While the Secessionists are your first political party, there will be others, and somebody will be the motive force behind them. Time: 1 year. Chance of Success: 61%. Cost: 33,000 credits. Effect: Find out who's orchestrating what in your government.
[ ] The Best Way To Deal With Pickpockets...: ...is to cut off their fucking fingers. Whether you're taking this conflict with them loud or not, you want to deal with their network now. You know exactly where it all is. If a part of that network extends past the Lystheni Embassy, rip it out. Anybody outside the embassy walls is fair game. Any equipment out in the open now belongs to you. Time: 1 year. Chance of Success: 85%. Cost: 25,000 credits. Effect: Inform the Lystheni that you see their intercept devices -- and that their presence does not well please you -- by way of removing it and any of its operators by force. Afterwards, pump them for everything they know or contain.
[ ] Board of Shareholders: Kirai has reported an undercurrent of unrest in the high-society meetings (once parties, before wartime spending choked the luxuries industry to death) to which she is still frequently invited. The corporate types that tend to attend have been in a state of near-existential restrained terror since your purge of the Ministry of Finance, but with your recent moves, they've slowly begun to relax. Now, suddenly they're back to grimness. Paranoia and tension are the renewed orders of the day. Something has happened to rattle them, and it wasn't you. Find out what. Time: 1 year. Chance of Success: 65%. Cost: 35,000 credits. Effect: Dispatch CI-Division agents to find out who think they can scare the piss out of your favorite victims citizens without notifying you.
[ ] Piercing the Veil: The MoI, to be frank, is completely obscure to you. It came with the job, as a condition of the job, and you get the impression that Shurna was never much more open with Kerak than she is with you. That said, you think you've earned her respect, and a modicum of loyalty. Certainly, the two of you have a good working relationship. Maybe if you ask real nice, she'll open up to you about how her Ministry actually works. Honestly, she'd better, because you have no idea how you'd go about circumventing that were she disinclined to tell you. Time: 1 year. Chance of Success ? (Rolled with Mira's Intrigue score alone, no hero or minister bonuses applicable). Cost: Free. Effect: Ask Shurna to pretty please tell you how your intelligence ministry works.
Learning: "Failure stings, ma'am, but I can't honestly say that I'm shocked. I only wish that we could have done something more. As for the future, there's much to do. Admiral Malan took the time to set up a meeting with me. He appreciates our continued willingness to diversify his people's diet, but reassures me that it won't become pressingly urgent for at least a year. So, while that remains an option, we have other choices. And what choices!"
"The Tessavar outpost has finally made a breakthrough! According to them, one of their asari researchers was on the surface, gathering readings -- why, I have no idea -- when she was predictably struck by the ever-present lightning. She's fine. Now. Anyway, once they got her speaking complete sentences again, she had the most remarkable stories to share about the way her biotics interacted with the planet's element zero field under the influence of the lightning. It's all quite technical, but they passed her onto me with a research proposal, and she claims that she might be able to figure out the principles behind infantry-scale kinetic barriers! Our marines could benefit immensely, and just imagine the boon it could be to our army once they get into the fight! So exciting! Now, as for the Prothean team, I see here that they-
"...they are requesting the services of the 1st Oceanic Infantry Division, Army Group 3's 5th Armored Division, a ground support wing from the air force, and the 1st Surface Fleet's Dreadnought Division 2, with escorting vessels. 'For shore bombardment,' apparently.
"...what the hell did they find? They told me they were dealing with a security system, not battling an army! Prime Minister, I'm going to need to pay a visit to this dig site before I authorize anything of this scale. This is far more trouble than I thought they would have. Something must be wrong if they need firepower on this scale."
Choose 2.
[ ] Dietary Supplements: The quarians are eating, and content for now, but that won't last forever. While only a bare fraction of your yearly yields have everything a quarian needs to survive, a lot of the foods Virmire produces are simply inert to quarians, or contain some but not all of the things they need. Feed them that, and then produce the dietary supplements that will make that stuff nutritionally-complete. Time: 1 year. Chance of Success: 70% Cost: 40,000 credits. Effect: Produce, with the quarian medics' aid, dietary supplements to turn the varieties of food the quarians can safely eat into actual meals, giving them some variety in their diet.
[ ] Barrier Miniaturization: One of the Tessavar Outpost's research team had a...breakthrough, let's say...investigating eezo principles. Upshot is, she thinks she can make personal kinetic barriers. Throw funding at this mad scientist. Time: (Repeats until the combined results of all rolls taken towards this option equal or exceed 100.) Chance of Success: (As before; nat-1's cost the amount rolled instead of gaining it as something Goes Horribly WrongTM.) Cost: -35,000 yearly income until option completes. Effect: Develop practical infantry-scale kinetic barriers.
[ ] Prothean Examination: The research team in Amalinya, after years of, "pushed a little, no progress gained," abruptly requested nigh-apocalyptic levels of firepower from your army in dealing with the security system. Something is not right down there. Durrahe plans to go and investigate personally. Time: 1 year. Chance of Success: ? (Personal attention may not be applied; see Personal options below.) Cost: 10,000 credits. Effect: Dispatch Durrahe to figure out what the hell is going on down there.
[ ] Quarian Tech Adoption: You have sliced a huge amount of data from the 3rd's databanks. Now it's time to go through it and see what's there. Figuring out how to use it without making it blatantly obvious that you stole from the Republic is another matter, but let's...just...leave that for when you actually have all of these lessons learned, shall we? Time: 3 years. Chance of Success: 90%. Cost: 35,000 credits. Effect: Run through the mass of data you acquired and sort out what you already know, what you can use, and what's out of your reach, and how you'd go about applying all three.
[ ] The Road Less Traveled: The Explorer Corps's mission statement is to boldly go into the unknown and peel back the darkness. Sentry Omega's secondary relay is as-yet inactive. If you open it up, there's a possibility that it could lead to another relay, to another relay, to another, and another, and so on...until you find yourself dropping out into the Phoenix Massing, in Terminus-held space. It would be a careful and dangerous mission, filled with potential hazards -- if nothing else, this war has taught you of the risk of opening relays blind. But if the mission succeeds, it will see you back, finally, into regular contact with the wider galaxy, if somewhat circuitous contact. Time: ?, but locked only for 1 year. Cost: 15,000 up-front, ? when/if dedicated vessels return. Chance of Success: ? Effect: On success, open a secure route to Terminus Space, and thereby the rest of the galaxy. On failure...who knows?
Personal: "The trouble never seems to end with you, does it? There's always something. We have a lot to do this year, Prime Minister. Let's get to work, shall we?"
Choose 3.
[ ] Personal Attention: Sometimes, a project needs all hands on deck, including yours. Time: 1 year. Chance of Success: Automatic. Cost: Free. Effect: Oversee one of your chosen actions personally, adding your full stat in the relevant category (i.e., Martial for Martial actions) to the success roll. You may not apply this to a given action more than once.
[ ] Speak To the People: You have the support of the people, and should never take it for granted. Time: 1 year. Chance of Success: 50%. Cost: 1,000 credits. Effect: Run a series of public broadcasts. Raise popularity with the populace by justifying administration decisions and being a visible and accessible public presence. A happier populace allows a deeper recruiting pool, for when you need it, as well as being just generally better. It would be advisable to spend some time on this or a similar option whenever re-election is near.
[ ] Take a Break: You've been years at this job. It's not easy to find time off, but you know the value of it. If you clear your schedule, you can get a week set aside. Ilena's been after you about this place that does elcor food. Apparently it's pretty good, even if no elcor's ever been anywhere near it. Time: 1 year. Chance of Success: 50%. Cost: Free. Effect: Take a step back from work, clear your schedule, and take a Goddess-damned vacation. Possible stat or trait gain; possible relationship gain with advisers or people of importance.
[ ] Commit Hero Unit (Name, Option): Heroes are potent, but somewhat unreliable. By ordering a Minister to get the best people you have on deck, you can nail them down and ensure that they'll commit to a project, if at the cost of preventing them from affecting any others. Time: 1 year. Chance of Success: Automatic. Cost: Free. Effect: Commit the selected hero unit to the option of your choice rather than risk the luck of the dice, as long as it's within their specialty. Their characteristic bonus will be added to your roll for that option, but the hero unit will not be able to affect any other options for the year. May only be chosen once per hero unit. Write in hero name and applied option in their respective fields.
[ ] The Prime Minister Is Coming Here?: Something is up with the Amalinya prothean dig site. Whether or not you're letting Durrahe head over, you want to make sure that failures of communication like this never recur. Head on over there, put the fear of you into them, and get this project back on schedule. Time: 1 year. Chance of Success: ? Cost: 10,000 credits. Effect: Attend to this personally. Visit the Amalinya site and figure out what's going on there.
TWELVE-HOUR MORATORIUM FOR DISCUSSION AND WRITE-IN PROPOSALS. THIS VOTE IS NOW CLOSED.
So, folks, you do remember that most of the ruins in this cluster aren't Prothean, right? The ruins in Amalinya are Prothean, and the depot Virani touched up in Kerchak is Prothean, but everything else is that yet-unstudied race whose traces you first uncovered way back when.
Anyway! Take a look at all the options; I've updated many of them.
I quite enjoyed writing this update. Mostly because I love mad scientist stories, while also being a massive technophile. Thus, research is both a practical and intelligent course of action, and has no inherent downsides like horror-sci fi would have you believe. On the other hand, your MotS's Research Council is essentially a gigantic bubbling pot of madness, on which Durrahe just barely keep a lid. And then the research proposals and the results of botched passive rolls come in and you realize what madfolk you employ. Let me know if you can figure out which is which
I am...90% certain that I'm forgetting something, but it quite eludes me if that's the case. Time- OH!
As a general reminder: Who are my characters?
That's right! Not me. So the big ol' debate between Mira and Kirai up top is between Mira and Kirai, and nobody else.
Final note: I completely checked out of the thread while writing this, because I just would have gotten nowhere if I kept stopping to answer questions. If you asked me something, I missed it and I'm not going back to find it. Ask again if it's important.
Wait, did we just literally have a breakthrough due to one of our researchers getting randomly struck by a bolt of lightning and (presumably) temporarily gaining (extra) super powers?
Barrier option looks nice but we have two big projects to take the colony and finally getting the military reforms. Also I think we should do the dietary supplement and send our advisor out.
Wait, did we just literally have a breakthrough due to one of our researchers getting randomly struck by a bolt of lightning and (presumably) temporarily gaining (extra) super powers?
Basically. :lol Mind, the breakthrough was, "because," of the lightning strike in the same way that Newton had his gravity breakthrough, "because," of an apple falling on his head (after years of work and preparatory research, filled with theorizing and the context needed to form that connection). Yes, something apparently absurd triggered it, but it's doubtful anybody would have made the relevant connection absent the literal years of research backing up that final leap. (Yes, I know the apple thing is apocryphal. Still a good analogy.)
I think we can delay barriers for a bit, since we still haven't even rebuilt our marines yet and I expect the option to require at least more actions before we can actually field them in any meaningful numbers. Also, it looks like we're going for independence this turn unless we're prepared to threaten war with the Lystheni.
As annoying as I find the Lystheni, is there any actual benefit to us in going to war against them? We have so many options we want to take.
Military: Integrating Reforms is an option that we need if we want to keep the pressure on. Logistics II is something we want soonish so we have a hope in hell of reestablishing contact with the outside galaxy. We can't take both if we want to also go to war. On the other hand, if we do take both then our military choices are locked for three years.
Diplomacy: Going to war eats both our actions if we don't want it to be complete clusterfuck. That means we can't do our declaration of independence before we declare war on the Lystheni (awkward).
Stewardship: Four options we really want that all take multiple years to complete. I think we have to take the colony option. Other than that I'm torn.
Intrigue and Learning are at least neat and tidy one year options.
Overall I'm inclined to yank our traders and make demands of the Lystheni. The problem is that the action commitment for yelling at them is basically the same as the action commitment for going to war (only difference being backsplash vs backstab).
"The Secessionists formed. They presented their viewpoints. And then I came in, ripped them apart, and left them bleeding. They barely exist anymore, and will vanish as soon as I give them what they want." You hold out your hands. "Appear. Present. Achieve. Disperse." You grin. "Now, I don't know about you...but I like this story."
You step past Kirai and to the door of the bridge. You call, over your shoulder, "And I think I'd like to see it again!"
I think we can delay barriers for a bit, since we still haven't even rebuilt our marines yet and I expect the option to require at least more actions before we can actually field them in any meaningful numbers. Also, it looks like we're going for independence this turn unless we're prepared to threaten war with the Lystheni.
I'm generally inclined to agree that we could put off infantry sized barriers until we reform our Marine Corps, but on the other hand they would make for one hell of a bargaining chip and export product with the rest of the galaxy. I'd actually be willing to bet that we could get significant buy-in from the Citadel to help clear Attican Beta and the Kepler Verge of Rachni planetary holdings if we agreed to give them the basics of the tech.
SO and PM both have secondary relays, and are fairly close to each other galactically speaking. Therefore, it's incredibly likely that we can link up directly to the Phoenix Massing, without having to take multiple clusters just to link up with the Terminus.
I also like the idea of going with making demands first for PR purposes. While the Lystheni have done enough to piss us off that we could reasonably declare war, it makes sense to try talking before launching an offensive war. Especially when this is part of the first impression our Quarian guests are getting of how we do things.
Well... speaking politically, going to war sets a precedent with the Lystheni as well as with Malan and, therefore, the Republic of Rannoch. It draws a line in the sand that Virmire has the political will to act on repeated abuses of it's trust and good will. Basically it shows that we can be pushed only so far before we push back.
It also stands a good job of 'fixing' the problem for at least another decade or two before it gets worse. Given that the Lystheni are building a covert navy and enacting some serious mad science on a significant portion of their population, it's probably best to do something before they build to the point where it will take a more significant military involvement to fix the issue (temporarily) what with the Rachni and all. Potential two-front war bad.
Materialistically, a victory means we can demand reparations, confiscate their research into the alien civilization, force them to politically integrate into the Republic... basically lay the groundwork for a more permanent fix... potentially, at least. In theory, we could even force them to suck on a treaty that either forbids the building of military vessels or demands a 'tithe' of war vessels they have to commit to the Rachni front (in some fashion).
I also like the idea of going with making demands first for PR purposes. While the Lystheni have done enough to piss us off that we could reasonably declare war, it makes sense to try talking before launching an offensive war. Especially when this is part of the first impression our Quarian guests are getting of how we do things.
