[X]Plan: Foundation buidling
-[X] Diplomacy
--[X] Laws
-[X] Security
--[X] Armor
-[X] Engineering
--[X] Mines – silver
--[X] Farms expansion: fruit
-[X] Human Resources
--[X] Audits
-[X] Research
--[X] Trauma ward
Mainly just building on the foundation of the colony, Laws and Audits for easier administration, finishing all the farms for complete food self-sufficiency and trying the silver mine again for cash. Also might as well finish the trauma ward
Next turn we need to get the refineries built, and probably the expanded power farm considering that the refineries should be the most energy consuming structure on our build list currently and whilst we did build a bit of a surplus, the large hydroponics (aeroponics?) set up we'll have built and the expanded living space (even if that was minimal compared to the other) should have consumed that. The refineries also being how we earn the money needed to afford the massive agricultural expansions needed to be the local farming colony...
[X] Diplomacy
-[X] Laws
While a 'what you say goes' policy is fine for now, you'll need to set up some standards eventually. How high is the tax rate, what to do with criminals, what about education, a jury of peers or professional judges, how (if) you'll pay your people. There's a countless amount of possible problems and an even more immeasurable amount of solutions. You and your staff won't be able to deal with everything, but that's no excuse for not making plans about anything. Begin work on a set of laws. DC 40
[X] Security
-[X] Armor
As it currently stands, you're using stock exo-suits. They're bulky and hard to move in because of internal pressurization and rigid supports. They're fine for maintenance work, but not for casual strolls or anything more action packed. However, you could get a small unit kitted out in reinforced body suits that could be comfortably worn indoors and outdoors alike. Just send in the measurements and receive the merchandise. And make damn sure that what you're getting is up to snuff. DC 30
[X] Engineering
-[X] Mines – silver
Your science officer was quite enamored with the shiny metal and so are you. The veins are a bit further away than the copper is, but a little work has never stopped you from seeing the big picture: money. An extra drill head is arriving regardless. DC 35
-[X] Farms expansion: fruit
A test run of your engineers and supply chains was successful, now it's time to branch out. Ken tells you that you should focus on variety over quantity next, both from a physiological as well as mental perspective. It does get quite dull to eat beans and rations on alternating days. Set up a second, smaller facility for a plantation of fruits: grapes, watermelon, pineapple, lemons. DC 40
[X] Human Resources
-[X] Audits
Right now you still have a good idea of how much stuff you have. But as time goes on and you hopefully continue to grow, these numbers will become muddier and muddier and the longer it's been since the last time someone checked, the harder it becomes. Better get ahead of the game and set up a system now. DC 30
[X] Research
-[X] Trauma ward
Invest in a proper medical bed, some monitors and a respirator. Set up an x-ray machine. If you're particularly lucky, attract an actual surgeon. All things that might well save your own life one day. Most of the work is done, you just need some finishing touches. DC 20
Creating a set of internally consistent and sufficiently broad set of laws from scratch would be a mammoth undertaking. Thankfully Hailey and her team gets to cheat. Instead of reinventing the wheel, they pick the core principles from various existing legal bodies, trim and reshape them to fit together, discard the bulk of them as something that doesn't apply to you yet and then mesh them together. Ultimately the creative part of the task, which falls to you, is deciding what constitutes a core principle.
"So, boss, I say we start from the top: leadership structure. Should I sign the letters with Supreme Space Sovereign O'Rielly?" Hailey flips her tab to show you an elaborate renaissance script.
"I'm pretty sure that if I went with something like that I'd be short at least two councilors tomorrow," you tap your chin. On the one hand, you lean towards the widely accepted democratic leadership model, but on the other hand, you have no intention of ever letting go of your current executive control. "How about starting with 'all people are equal under law'. Supreme sovereign or not, at the very least I'm willing to answer to the same laws as everyone else here."
"Quite magnanimous." You feign a shallow bow.
She taps a bit on her tablet, then continues, "That cuts off some of the more extreme stuff, but it does imply that someone other than you has final say as a judge."
"I've been thinking on that one. A judiciary branch could be in the cards eventually, but for now, I'll keep that power close to chest. Our council is six votes and mine is the tiebreaker. If the case concerns any of us, then it'll be five votes and majority rule."
"There's some kinks to work on, but we can do that as a base," Hailey scribbles down a few more notes, "How does the council get formed after us?"
"Appointed by me. Any appointees can be subjected to a no confidence vote by referendum, with three quarters supermajority rule."
"Does that include your own position?"
"All people are equal under law," you reiterate, "If I've screwed up badly enough for that, then I probably deserve it. I suppose in that case the remaining council will be choosing a replacement."
You go back and forth for some more time, but much of the actual decision making has to be pushed off to the next meeting.
A month later the scene is repeated; the topic this time is property law and capital ownership.
"We're agreed then," Hailey summarizes, "a separate entity of the colony itself which owns the land and receives taxes, from which the council can appropriate funds and assets as necessary. Private citizens can own capital if they buy it out from the colony, transactions approved by the council, or source their own, but the faculties and land can only be leased in perpetuity."
You're pretty sure there's smoke coming out your ears, but everything seems to be in order. Meetings like that continue throughout the year, sometimes lasting a few minutes, sometimes you need to take a break for sleep before continuing. It's not easy going and by the tail end of the progress you and Hailey are both irritable and snappish. More than once you've walked into her office when she's sitting in the dark and arguing with herself. Still, by the end of the year, you have a document.
The signing of the first constitution of Little Klondike is a quiet affair. Literally, as you've decided to hold the ceremony under open skies, borrowing the new armors for your staff. Each of you signs the physical paper, yours the final one on the page. You'd actually needed to practice your signature the night before, but the end result looks reasonably dignified. You can see people through the windows, clapping and shaking hands as food and drink is being passed around. The scene gives you a heady feeling – nearly two hundred people who call this place home, in four years you've just about doubled in size. Savoring the moment, you slowly roll up the paper. You'll probably end up framing it in your office later, but for now it's time to have some fun.
(Constitution written, greatly increasing legitimacy in diplomatic relations.)
(Roll armor, required 30: 57)
"Alright Amanda, that's ten K," you speak into your radio, keeping an eye on the homebrew dyno gauge, "get back in here before you break my instruments. Again."
"Roger," she replies, followed by a groaning as the metal springs she was pressed against push out once more.
You're testing the newly arrived armors' motors and so far things are looking good. Without a gravity well, Amanda's armored footsteps sound as light as ever as she comes back into your workshop and starts pulling off the exoskeleton. "Eighty percent of the manufacturers limit and not a single sound out of place. On my own I struggle with one kilonewton, but now I haven't even broken a sweat. One could get used to this," she shimmies her way out of the contraption for you to examine the machinery, "I think that's a good enough threshold to set the limits to, sir."
You give a noncommittal grunt as you dive into the interior with a flashlight and a magnifying camera. All the gears look perfectly new, no hairline fractures or chipped teeth – check. The custom-made pressure release valves are all intact and clean – check. None of the motors are shorting out or bent off center – check. You go through another dozen potential errors while Amanda gets into the next armor before answering, "Looks like we're clear. Eleven suits of power armor inspected, one to go. I'll get you the updated service manuals next week."
"Understood."
The suits are sleek enough to wear under baggy clothing, if one was so inclined. Made of dark carbon fiber and carefully placed tungsten ribs, you could keep moving in one even if the power supply failed. Powered up, your troops could probably lift and throw a whole freighter into orbit, given enough time. Still, the engineer in you can already see things that could be better. The battery lasts for a laughable four hours, but there's extra room along the spine to install more. Whoever designed these was still worried about weight, but reading the training reports of the QRF, they've developed acrobatic maneuvers like rolls and various spins to dissipate their momentum and the extra kilos would be helpful in getting them onto the ground faster.
Such are the problems of probing new frontiers. Most armor manufacturers produce things either for Earth gravity which are not suitable in a vacuum or full space suits that are meant to be maneuvered by thrusters in zero-g. What you need is something in between. Thankfully you've acquired a production license to be able to complete repairs. In theory the specific alloys and ceramics are still unknown to you, but you'd want to replace the stuff with something more suited to your situation anyway. The flexibility and motor configuration were of much greater interest to you and those you needed to know to service the gear, thus it's included in the sale.
Stopping your musings short, you speak to Amanda and the recorder, "Test 12 is a go, serial number LK-LA-0012, begin when ready."
(Tactical light armor for one full squad obtained, QRF mobility increased.)
(Unlocked armor improvement, heavy armor)
(Roll mines – silver, required 35: 83)
This time you will get your silver flowing in. With the small but noticeable amounts of pure metal veins you can already cut the cost of your solar panels, any transistors you'll need to make are cheaper, ceramic capacitor production will be that much closer and plenty of sensitive communications equipment will benefit from silver components. Not to mention all the things Weissmeier promised to cook up. Thus you spend much of the year out on the surface once again, your normally pale face taking on a heavy tan as you build out the conveyor tube to the half-finished shaft cap. You personally carry the twenty kilo main bore out. Not that it's necessary, you could have loaded a rover, but hauling the 600 kilo by classic gravity machinery makes for a great bonding opportunity with the new workers that arrived alongside the merchandise. Mostly from Earth, they're unused to the microgravity and little parlor tricks like this are still impressive to them.
For that reason you make sure to both supervise the new crews as well as get them as much no-atmosphere work as you can find, getting them acclimatized now to avoid accidents down the line when you're not babysitting them. Thankfully they're quick on the uptake and instead of playing the harsh taskmaster you get to blend in as one of the guys and ease their incorporation.
Thus the mines are ready for extraction a bit ahead of schedule on the harvest festival, and you make sure to keep your promise, firing up your tiny furnace to render down one of the better chunks to chemical grade purity. When the meals are served, you replace Weissmeier's food with the ingot and from the shine in her eyes you're genuinely worried that she'll try to eat it anyway.
(Silver mines completed, new work crews morale high.)
(Unlocked mines expansion: silver)
(Roll farms expansion: fruit, required 40: 39)
Meanwhile, your fellow engineer is having a bit less luck.
"I'm sorry, Will. I can't figure out why the grafts didn't take," Ken is standing behind a microscope, samples from the tiny, ill-formed fruits beneath it. "The structures are all there, but the first batch didn't activate them."
"Don't worry about it, some setbacks are bound to happen."
"It's just that this is the one thing I should be good at. What good am I if I can't even figure out why this happened, let alone how to fix it."
"Just get new seeds and try again; problem fixed," you give a mock punch to his shoulder, causing him to flinch, then shake his head.
"It's not that, they'll grow normally next harvest, but they were supposed to be ready now. I promised them this year and I failed. Cutting down the usual growth time by half should be easy for me."
You give him an incredulous look, "Let me get this right. Pineapples normally grow within two years?"
"Yes."
"And grapes take how long traditionally," you continue.
"The vines yield fruit after three years on Earth," it doesn't look like he's getting your point yet.
"Lemons?"
"It's about four months."
"From a seed…" you clarify
"Ah, no, three years for a tree to grow," for how smart the man really is, he can be quite dense at times.
"And the watermelons?"
"About three months."
"And next year you're telling me we'll have a full harvest?" you finish your line of questioning.
"Barring some other failure of mine," Ken sighs.
"So you've cut the time to grow the stuff in half, at least, for three out of four cases. Where I come from, that's a success not a failure," you tell the man with a chuckle, "Only you could look at a glass filled to the brim and say it's half empty."
The farmer still looks unsure, finally mumbling, "I promise to do better next time."
(Thanks to your head engineer's specialty, fruit farms will finish next turn.)
(Roll audits, required 30: 50)
"Alright team," Erikson is solidly within his element, "this is why I've been telling you to stack the packaging properly. Now it's child's play to scan the codes."
The section of the base you use as a warehouse has been cordoned off while the auditors take stock of all the things you're supposed to have, some of them laying dormant since you arrived here.
"If it's not a perishable good and that's more than two years old, tag it for review. We'll send it to research or engineering for checks," the normally quiet man bellows.
After the physical goods are counted, repackaged and compared to the ledgers they move to more delicate systems. Oxygen supply tanks and valves are checked, water cisterns are cycled around to inspect the insides for corrosion or leaks, stock room furnishing is controlled and replaced where necessary, power lines are measured for faults and loads and so on.
After a hectic week of activity when you could swear that there's twice as many people in the colony, everything returns to normal while Erikson returns to his office to both write up future protocols and tally the final results. That last report is being delivered to you now.
"A few things here and there are missing, but it's easily covered by human error and natural loss. I'm happy to report that we've not had any systematic pilfering take place."
"Glad to hear it," you scroll through the numbers yourself, "Any other issues?"
"We've set up a more accurate system for power draw monitoring. When the farms' watering cycle kicks in during a mine drill work shift, we're getting pretty close to peak production," he advises you, "We've also developed an excess of oxygen in tanks ten and eleven, which is a good thing, but now we're wasting some of the gas. Meanwhile, our biggest material expense is water by about twice the next two articles combined."
Taking a moment to pull up a different file, Erikson continues, "I've spoken to Lena about those last two and she said there might be a solution to both at the same time."
The picture he projects out is more concept art than technical drawing, but you trust in your science officer that it might be possible while the man explains, "As expected, we've mostly a lack of lighter elements this close to the sun. We're quite good at recycling oxygen and there's plenty of it tied to minerals as well, but hydrogen is far more sparse."
The drawing depicts a massive mesh of thin wires floating in space far above an asteroid and Erikson points to it, "Her technical report… well, you know how she gets, but the gist of it as I understood it was that we're constantly bombarded by electrons, free protons and blown off hydrogen from the sun, we just don't capture any of it – so why not change that."
"Sounds straightforward enough, I assume there's technical hurdles to cross."
"Yeah, the tech doesn't exists on an industrial scale because Earth and Mars don't need to do this."
"A big undertaking then," you muse.
"Just a thought. Over-engineered solutions to simple storage concerns are a staple of humanity everywhere."
(Auditing system introduced, you'll now be better informed of potential shortages and excesses.)
(Unlocked new research project.)
(Roll trauma ward, required 20: 47)
"Dr. Strauss, a pleasure to meet you, welcome to Little Klondike. Miss Weissmeier has spoken quite highly of you," she really hasn't but a little flattery never hurts.
"Likewise, Mr. O'Rielly, likewise, and please, call me Sebastien" the man shakes your hand, along with your elbow, shoulder and torso, his massive palm dwarfing your own hands. You're above average height, often even the tallest man in the room, but Sebastien Strauss towers over you at well over two meters tall and his forearms are about as wide as your neck. Originally hailing from a small Martian nation, the man looks nothing like you'd expect: a bulky muscled frame, pitch black skin and a mohawk dyed blue certainly don't strike you as classic surgeon features, but such is life.
"William, then. Were the facilities to your liking?" you carry on with the small talk.
"Quite so. It's clear whoever designed the ward knew what they were doing. The manufacturers are well chosen, the layout makes sense. I'll be doing a few readjustments, but that's merely my own personal preference," the only thing that meshes with your mental image of a dr. Sebastien Strauss is the man's voice, which only makes the physical qualities weirder. It's thin and reedy, high pitched and with a barely noticeable Russian accent. No matter, you're sure the man is a skilled surgeon all the same.
"Excellent. Now I believe your luggage has been delivered to your quarters. Personally I recommend taking a few days to get used to the layout of the complex and the gravity. Shall we go see the accommodations?"
"Yes. To be honest, space flight always tires me out. Quite cramped for me, you see," he gestures to himself with a grin, "However, I'll be ready for work by tomorrow. I've spoken with Lena and she told me you've not actually had a need for surgery so far."
"That's right, but I refuse to let my people die when the threat is so obvious."
"A good mentality, but not my point. It's that statistically I won't have anything to do for far too much of the time, so I'll be taking over the blood bank management from her starting as soon as she's briefed me on the operations. Free up some of her time."
"An excellent initiative. This way, please."
(Trauma ward operational, surgeon on staff.)
You wake up groggy on the morning after the festivities celebrating your signing of the constitution, your watch beeping and scrolling through your itinerary. The party started out innocently enough, but it seemed like everybody wanted to let out some steam and soon the ties were discarded and soothing elevator music switched for a dozen different styles playing in each opened up room while the hallways had extra drink served. You remember flitting about different little gatherings, laughing and chatting with people for most of the night before things get hazy. You're sure you ended up with your whole council together in the brewery, but the rest is questionable. A memory of Hailey and Ragnar dancing together seems plausible enough, but the images of Amanda and Lena of all people doing a waltz are probably just your fantasy playing tricks.
Alas, you'd stupidly planned your big important annual meeting for the day after the signing, so you drag yourself to the shower and get presentable once more.
On the way to your office, Amanda pings you to let you know that she'll be late from a patrol, but to start without her and that she won't be long. Were it an emergency you could do something about, she'd have let you know, so you call the meeting to order, the other four already present.
"Well boss, I hope you didn't lose the important paper last night, but other than that, I've got nothing for you," Hailey chirps. You check – the paper is still in the case, the case in your desk drawer.
"Filling in for Miss Carpenter, the armor acquisition is a success. Some of the relevant documents have been forwarded to R&D, but for basic needs, the suits will do just fine. Ken?" you prompt after Lena nods.
"Our food situation is nearing self-sufficiency. With the influx of new people we've less of a surplus, but there's still some. We're still buying up some fertilizers as well, but that's to be expected and we can make due without in a pinch. The mining operations are both functioning at capacity for the moment, but I believe Mr. Erikson has some more info on that."
"Indeed, my main concern is our power situation at the moment. The issue is two-fold. Firstly we're just about capped on generation. It's not at blackout levels yet, but the batteries are rarely if ever full these days. Secondly our means of production are quite vulnerable. Without a magnetosphere even a comparatively weak solar flare could fry much of the sun farm. We can't exactly shield the solar panels from solar radiation after all. I recommend at least an expansion or better yet, a diversification of assets. As I recall, we're close to a nuclear research lab, perhaps they could sell us a reactor patent. Alternatively we could improve our storage alongside production or set up a series of backup fuel based generators."
You nod along, "Our finances are looking quite strong, however a noticeable issue is our lack of access to appropriate markets. There's things we could be selling to the right buyer. This may be something for you, Hailey. Further, there's also a developing bottleneck regarding the logistics infrastructure. A single freighter simply won't cut it for much longer. Miss Weissmeier, how about you?"
"The base's medical facilities are remarkably advanced for such a young colony. As far as healthcare is concerned, my next objective in that field would be an oncology department, but I think our time is currently better spent elsewhere. Many of the projects that land on my desk are simply beyond my means to complete, not due to skill or funding, but due to lack of appropriate tools. I also still maintain that the silver nanite project could be an excellent source of high tech based revenue and a lifesaving feature in one, but proper labs would make my life that much easier, sir."
Just as you're about to get into the details, Amanda Carpenter marches in, still in her combat armor and a helmet held under one arm.
"Sir, we've found a complication."
You're halfway out of your chair already before she continues, "An ESA asteroid probe has landed on the opposite side of Little Klondike."
-.-
Hailey Maria Perez, or just Hailey, as she insists, is an energetic and empathic woman. Prone to some daydreaming and perhaps not with the most intense attention span, she nonetheless has an uncanny insight into what people are feeling around her. A masterful poker player and a great shoulder to cry on, the latter by her own words at least, she's probably best suited to face-to-face meetings and positive contacts. Also proficient in astrology. Choose 1 task to send her on.
[ ] Diplomacy
-[ ] Advertise your colony
You'll pretty much always have room and jobs for people willing to put in the effort, but you won't get all that many colonists if no one knows of you. Place ads, make unreasonable and vague promises and put up flyers, whatever works. You'll probably get people to come, but they won't be… overqualified, to put it optimistically. On the other hand, maybe a bit of grunt work is exactly what you need right now, and occasionally you might – might – find rough diamonds with the slop. DC 25
-[ ] Establish relations with…
Subtly put out feelers for a patron, someone to legitimize your claim. Nothing overt, just find out who might be interested in your little rock and see what they might offer you in return. Nothing permanent or committal of course, your first partner will always be special and just the act of choosing will make you enemies as well as allies, even if they won't show it. Geez, this is like high school all over again, except now you need to worry about nuclear warheads instead of hurt feelings. DC 25
-[ ] Seek corporate deals
You can sell your output on the open market as it gets launched out, but the prices will fluctuate and rarely in your favor. Likewise for supplies of food, air and water, all of which can be scarce this close to the sun. After all, you can't very well not buy the food if deliveries come by once a year. Instead, you could find one of the many middle-man businesses that exist just to prevent that from happening. See what they'll offer you and make sure you can fulfill your part of the deal. DC 25
-[ ] Send a probe to New Ireland
New Ireland is mainly a refueling station, located on a chunk of ice from the rogue planet Lucifer. They process the ice into hydrogen and oxygen, selling the products as fuel for haulers on a round trip. A simple self-destructing probe can get in radio range of them and exchange your tightbeam comms protocols. DC 15
-[ ] Send a probe to Deckard Station
Maybe you should just go through New Ireland, but you can't well be faulted for trying if no one technically told you their political situation. And who knows, maybe you can get a better deal by talking with them directly. DC 25
-[ ] Send a probe to the Children of Dreamers
People with strange beliefs are nothing new and these ones are your closest neighbors. Surely they have some needs that you could fulfill or vice versa. DC 25
-[ ] Send a probe to the Prismdust research base
A research colony is usually well supplied by their patron, but they might have interesting patents to sell you and collaborative research, while a logistical nightmare, might produce some revolutionary results. DC 20
-[ ] Send a probe to the private resort
If it's some trillionaires party house, then something as exotic as locally sourced fruits and vegetables might very well fetch a price that would be ridiculous elsewhere. And the security staff have needs too, maybe you can undercut their current supplier. DC 25
-[ ] Probe: diplomatic
The whole 'set up a colony on a random rock' thing was always something you knew would come knocking at some point. Now that you've proven your viability beyond a shadow of a doubt, it's time to properly stake your claim and see who starts to protest. DC 45
Miss Carpenter projects an air of confidence and her no nonsense attitude backs up her demeanor. Perhaps a bit headstrong and stubborn, but as long as you don't act against her she'll likely be quite competent. The slightly more militarized situation you currently face might technically be outside her expertise, but watching her conducting training exercises out on the rocks certainly assuages such doubts. Choose 1 security action to focus her on.
[ ] Security
-[ ] Armor improvement
Your troops (a single squad) are kitted out with light power armor, but there's plenty of things to improve. A better compound material for shielding, an improved power profile for increased recon range, maybe even include a full jetpack. In addition to general enhancements, you might want to start work on specializing the light armor for different purposes. DC 60
-[ ] Squads
Your colony has a surprisingly professional and well liked police force, but that might be due to the fact that every officer is on first name basis with most residents. While you probably don't need more right this instant, looking ahead can't hurt. See if more people might be interested in joining the forces. DC 35
-[ ] Vehicles
You have in your possession a single heavy hauler and two electric buggies. None of them are fast enough to qualify as a response vehicle yet your rock is big enough that various mines should be spaced out across the surface, solar farms can be built out wide enough and enemies might land on your proverbial backside. Order two single-track astrobikes to deliver your emergency responders to the scene in a reasonable amount of time. DC 40
-[ ] Ships
Buying anything better than a tugboat attached to a fuel tanker is expensive. Really, really expensive. But you need to be able to project your power beyond your immediate colony. Whether as a statement to accompany your diplomats or as strike craft against asteroids or pirates, you'll be on the market for a proper spacecraft. DC 70
-[ ] Professional army
So it might be a bit presumptuous to call half a squad of enthusiasts an army, but it's a start. Fitness, team tactics, leadership exercises, rules of engagement and the like, alongside some live fire exercises to develop team cohesion is a good early basis for an officer corps. Ultimately you have dreams both of statehood and of mercenary groups you can rent out for sweet, sweet profit. DC 40
-[ ] Weapon patents
The guns you have are still in limited supply, no one wants to arm every random space rock after all. Do some shopping and convince a manufacturer to grant you access to their design specs so that you could start producing your own ammo and weapons. DC 55
-[ ] Better armaments
Turns out you nor anyone on your immediate staff is a trained soldier, so the weapons you got were probably more flash than bang. Not that they are completely useless, just that they could be so much better. Hunker down with your sheriff and find a better set of offensive equipment for your troops. DC 40
-[ ] Heavy armor
Instead of the mobile suits you have for everyday work, you want Power armor with a capital letter, the real space marine stuff. You'll try to buy it, but most governments are unlikely to sell what basically amounts to a personal tank to people, so be prepared to start your own designs. DC 60
-[ ] The probe: assertive
The simplest approach can be the best one at times. You don't want the probe here and there's nothing to gain by keeping it intact. Send a strong message to the owners that this rock is occupied already. Blow the thing up. DC 10
You and Ken often find yourselves working together; engineering as an honest means of work is something you're both intimately familiar with. Likewise you both know that a space station's engineers are her lifeblood, so you've hit it off quite well with the man. Far from being a simple farmer, he does have a solid base in nearly all things mechanical and you shore up the electric side of things. While he's still shy, his beer is to die for. Choose 2 projects to start building.
[ ] Engineering
-[ ] Mines: copper
Your first copper mines are up and running, providing you with a steady trickle of sellable ore. Expand that operation: widen shafts, open new ones, speed up transport, and order new equipment. DC 35, can be taken with Mines: silver for DC 50, counts as 1 action
-[ ] Mines: silver
Your first silver mines are up and running, providing you with a steady trickle of sellable ore and some pure silver for local production. Expand that operation: widen shafts, open new ones, speed up transport, and order new equipment. DC 35, can be taken with Mines: copper for DC 50, counts as 1 action
-[ ] Refineries
No matter how much rock you sell off, eventually you'd have to be a fool to give up your mass when you can turn it into more valuable mass first. A proper oxygen extraction centrifuge is costly, but will serve double duty as safeguarding your own vital supply and providing fuel to arriving tankers. If they can refuel here, they can make the trip for less cost and so more of them will look your way. DC 35
-[ ] Luxury living space
The current apartments are adequate, but not luxurious. Expand the existing ones by including more floors and extra amenities. DC 40, can be taken with More living space for DC 60, counts as 1 action
-[ ] More living space
Now that actual money is rolling in and you're firmly established, more and more people will be coming. It's a good idea to stay ahead of the curve and start up a second complex of living space. DC 30, can be taken with Luxury living space for DC 60, counts as 1 action
-[ ] Docks
Your launch facilities are in a word pathetic. Refueling takes ages and is wasteful, you need to cart the supplies way too far and there's still a very real risk of something crashing directly into your domes. Set up something resembling a dock, instead of having a nice flat patch of rock some half a kilometer away serving as a launch site. DC 60
-[ ] Transportation
Moving to and from any installation on the surface is perilous. Low G walks under the blackness are scary and slow and you have almost no redundant cars. Ken pointed out that while you're small now, a robust metro network is never set up soon enough. The lack of unoccupied mining equipment is but a minor concern they assure you. DC 55
-[ ] Solar field expansion
You are producing enough for your present needs, but what about the you of tomorrow? Another expansion of the solar fields is in order. Your current network is often working at capacity without issues, duplicating the setup should be relatively easy. DC 35
-[ ] Industrial capacitor bank
A massive array of capacitors that can be used to fully charge a spaceship's batteries in a few hours. While bigger vessels have means of generating their own power, they can occasionally carry empty cells to reload and sell. Smaller ships meanwhile need a recharge almost as often as a refueling. Also, there are other possible uses for massive and sudden energy releasing, namely railguns and mass drivers. Alas, this stuff is really, really, expensive. DC 65
-[ ] Industrial battery bank
A marginally cheaper alternative to capacitors, an oversized battery bank means that even if some disaster wipes out your energy farms, you'll have a month or so to do repairs before the air cyclers stop running. And you won't be wasting energy most of the time if you have a good reservoir to pump it into. DC 60
-[ ] Communal space
How's a dictator supposed to give rousing speeches to their people without a wide plaza and a balcony. Jokes aside, the harvest festival brought to your attention the fact that people don't have a sufficiently large area for gathering. Fostering a strong sense of community is something Hailey is constantly on your case about, and a space should be set aside for it. DC 40
-[ ] Aquaculture
Ken has come to you with a rather strange idea. The water cisterns you currently have are filled with distilled, pure H2O and you regularly add mineral content to it between the tank and a tap. What if you instead switched the injectors for filters and opened up the tanks. And then, he tells you, put fish in them. Most mammals and birds fare poorly in the super-low gravity, but supposedly fish mostly do fine and the stuff humans like to drink is an ideal environment to grow them. DC 60
-[ ] Bakery
The closest thing to fresh bread you've had in years are the dry crackers from the ration packs that, rumors say, expand when you apply moisture. You now have a variety of grains, things like rye bread and rice cookies would definitely sell like hot cakes. Also, muffins, 'nuff said. DC 30
A quiet individual, it took you months to find out that one of the children in your colony was the daughter of your personnel manager. When Ragnar Erikson does contribute to the conversation, it's usually a well thought out response or an insightful comment and his action plans are clear and concise. Perhaps this is just his way of separating his occasionally thankless job and his private life, as he seems to get along with Hailey at least. Choose 1 action.
[ ] Internal Affairs
-[ ] Background checks
Sure, you've vetted everybody important on board, but can they spot the lies on their underlings' resumes? Didn't think they had any? Maybe, but now you're thinking about it. Look into the staff of your staff, maybe they let someone accidentally slip through. If you intend to maintain control of your colony you'll need all the info you can get. Sic your spymas- set human resources to finding out about the people here, see what they'll dig up. DC 25
-[ ] Port info gathering
When various ships stop by your colony, they bring more than just material goods. They also bring a wealth of info, either from back home or locally. Also they have money they might spend elsewhere if you don't give them any reason to come out of their ships. A bar or two is bound to pop up sooner or later, but if you had a hand in the game from the start, you'll have a good source of rumors under your control. DC 20
-[ ] Surveillance
As of three hours ago, nobody had left any airlocks open or stolen extra rations, but you can't be sure that's still the case. To start with, a comprehensive set of motion sensors and fire alarms, pressure indicators and air purity measurers should be installed. It'll make the job of any future police that much easier and the first steps are just common sense on a rock without atmosphere. DC 30
-[ ] Thorough check - Ken Hiragi
There's something about the nice, quiet ones. Erikson brought to your attention the barest of possibilites, but you should still follow up and reassure yourself. DC 50
-[ ] Thorough check - Lena Weissmeier
Why is she so secretive, what sinister motives could she have? Remember, it's only rude to pry if you get caught doing it. And no, this does not count as stalking or harassment, you're doing this for security reasons. DC 60
-[ ] Emergency generators
Your current power supply is awfully vulnerable to forces of nature and targeted attacks alike. Set up well hidden, well shielded and separately supplied backup generators that would at least sustain basic life support around your compound should something happen to the solar fields. DC 30
-[ ] The probe: covert
So someone wants to map out your asteroid. The thing about these finicky little drones barely the size of a small car is that they get lost or destroyed all the time. If something were to happen to this one, before it's sent back any results, or maybe if it sent back clearly nonsensical data, it'll be of no consequence to the owners and you'd get some extra time to yourself. DC 60
Miss Weissmeier is a younger, more conventionally beautiful and feminine version of Miss Carpenter. Even in zero G she wears a dark business skirt and heels, her reports are thorough and drier than a vacuum, but you can't fault her data or methods. She might be the youngest on your council, and in rare moments her lack of life experience shows, but you're quite glad to have someone with medical expertise on standby at all times. Choose 1 subject.
[ ] Research
-[ ] Mineral surveys
The general readings claim that your rock should have a good balance of light and heavy metals, silicates and oxygen rich rock, and who knows what else. You've gone over the surrounding top soil, for lack of a better term, but there's more to the asteroid both in depth as well as further out, keep looking for more minerals. DC 40
-[ ] R&D labs
As it stands, your science corps is working out of two offices and a single room with tables, chairs, a whiteboard and a projector which they'll eventually move out of when there's more kids to school. Set up a room that has proper computers, a holodeck, some centrifuges and spectrometers at least. You'll leave the specifics to Miss Weissmeier. Got to start somewhere after all. DC 35
-[ ] Communications
Right now your best bet at transmitting data is to pack some drives on a resupply shuttle and send them off. Expand your reception arrays by building more and shielding them better to reduce loss. You'll still have periods of blackout when the Sun is in the way, but bouncing your signal around just has to wait for the moment, none of the existing deep space arrays are interested in your traffic and to change that is either the work of a diplomat or you'll need to design, manufacture and launch your own mirrors. DC 35
-[ ] Medic Training
The people in your colony come from various backgrounds and educations, but lifesaving knowledge is something everyone should have. Expand the rudimentary programs currently set up and make it a mandatory part of life on this rock. It will cut into productivity a bit but it'll be worth it to literally save lives. DC 20
-[ ] Oncology ward
The next step towards a fully-fledged space hospital is a cancer ward. Cosmic radiation can be mitigated quite well these days, but ultimately the human cell is still the same as it was thousands of years ago. For most colonists, there's the option of flying back to Earth for treatment if the tumor is detected on time, but you'd like to be better than that. DC 60
-[ ] Silver nanites
Miss Weissmeier has charmed you into supporting her research on silver nanomachines for medical purposes. It'd be easier if you had proper mining set up for the silver, if your refining options were of better quality and quantity, if you actually had a lab, but she assures you that she can still start her work now, if you give her the green light. DC 70
-[ ] Solar wind capture
The lighter the element, the less likely you are to find a good supply of it around here. Unfortunately hydrogen is one of those, yet you need a constant supply of it. It's used in many, many chemical reactions and synthesizing processes, it's a prime component of rocket fuel and the only component of fusion fuel. It's also hard to keep recycling it, as the tiny gas can leak through most seals in time. Thus, try to catch some of the material that the Sun constantly bombards you with. DC 90
Colony name vote is closed, Little Klondike has crossed the finish line.
Human Resources has been renamed to Internal Affairs, because it makes more sense to me and feels like it has a wider variety of tasks to pull from.
Speaking of tasks, while I spend probably far too much time thinking about this quest, I'm hardly omniscent. If something you want to accomplish is missing from the options, speak up and I'll either gladly include it or try to drop some hints as to what prequisites you might need for it.
In other news, I've updated the people ledger on the first page yesterday. The text has mostly been featured in-story, but each character also has a picture attached now, so feel free to check it out if you haven't already.
Well, I say each character, but your own image is still missing. Hence, the next fluff vote: choosing your own image. There's four options that I like, but you can offer a write-in as well. As far as I'm concerned, they're all images of William with different art styles and different ages for your character, but only one will make it to the official bio. I'm feeling ambitious, so let's say it's first to 5 votes this time around, but also feel free to vote for however many you like. Same deal as last time, keep a plan and the image vote separate.
I'd prefer if it was an image, not an actual photograph, leaves more to the imagination for me that way. But other than that, feel free to link it and I'll bookmark the post.
[X]Plan: Anti-probe maneuvers
-[X] Diplomacy
--[X] Send a probe to the private resort
-[X] Security
--[X] The probe: assertive
-[X] Engineering
--[X] Mines – silver and copper DC:50
--[X] Refineries
-[X] Internal Affairs
--[X] Background Checks
-[X] Research
--[X] R&D labs
The probe has me worried about our security let's do some background checks on our guys and respond with force to the probe. Also it's about time we introduce ourselves to one of neighbors, the private resort seems like a good trading partner he wants locally sourced food and we're going to have lots of it. I really want to build the emergency generators but I think we can wait one more turn on that.
The problem with your plan @butchock is that we were told in the update that we're already right on the edge of losing power during normal operations. And refineries are likely to be intensely power consuming. So if you want to build refineries (which we really, really should) then we also need to take power expansion of some sort.
So have a plan for dealign with that:
[X]Plan: Fully Operational Station
-[X] Diplomacy
--[X] Probe: diplomatic
-[X] Security
--[X] Vehicles
-[X] Engineering
--[X] Solar field expansion
--[X] Refineries
-[X] Internal Affairs
--[X] Port info gathering
-[X] Research
--[X] R&D labs
The problem with your plan @butchock is that we were told in the update that we're already right on the edge of losing power during normal operations. And refineries are likely to be intensely power consuming. So if you want to build refineries (which we really, really should) then we also need to take power expansion of some sort.
So have a plan for dealign with that:
[X]Plan: Fully Operational Station
-[X] Diplomacy
--[X] Probe: diplomatic
-[X] Security
--[X] Vehicles
-[X] Engineering
--[X] Solar field expansion
--[X] Refineries
-[X] Internal Affairs
--[X] Port info gathering
-[X] Research
--[X] R&D labs
yet you voted for a refinery as well? they talked about it, but I think the mining expansion is still doable or else they would say how extremely urgent it is
[X] Diplomacy
-[X] Send a probe to New Ireland
[X] Security
-[X] Squads
[X] Engineering
-[X] Solar field expansion
-[X] Communal space
[X] Internal Affairs
-[X] Port info gathering
[X] Research
-[X] Medic Training
[X] Plan Lifeblood of Nation
-[X] Diplomacy
--[X] Seek corporate deals
-[X] Security
--[X] Squads
-[X] Engineering
--[X] Solar field expansion
--[X] Refineries
-[X] Internal Affairs
--[X] Emergency generators
-[X] Research
--[X] R&D labs
This plan focuses on issues our councelors mentioned, and should significantly lower DC on nanites. Also aguments income.
[X]Image 2
Edit: more detail on plan.
First: Energy issue: I picked both Solar field expansion AND emergency generators for reduancy - even if one option fails it should be no blackouts.
Second: Money: I took Refineries because ready metals worth more than ore and lighter - so traders should buy more for higher price. I also got corporate deals for aditional profits and reliable sales insted of semi-random traders.
Last: Silver nanites they(and many other projects) benefit from R&D and in description said refined materials would help.
[X] Responding to Crisis
-[X] Probe: diplomatic
The whole 'set up a colony on a random rock' thing was always something you knew would come knocking at some point. Now that you've proven your viability beyond a shadow of a doubt, it's time to properly stake your claim and see who starts to protest. DC 45
-[X] Better armaments
Turns out you nor anyone on your immediate staff is a trained soldier, so the weapons you got were probably more flash than bang. Not that they are completely useless, just that they could be so much better. Hunker down with your sheriff and find a better set of offensive equipment for your troops. DC 40
-[X] Refineries
No matter how much rock you sell off, eventually you'd have to be a fool to give up your mass when you can turn it into more valuable mass first. A proper oxygen extraction centrifuge is costly, but will serve double duty as safeguarding your own vital supply and providing fuel to arriving tankers. If they can refuel here, they can make the trip for less cost and so more of them will look your way. DC 35
-[X] Solar field expansion
You are producing enough for your present needs, but what about the you of tomorrow? Another expansion of the solar fields is in order. Your current network is often working at capacity without issues, duplicating the setup should be relatively easy. DC 35
-[X] Emergency generators
Your current power supply is awfully vulnerable to forces of nature and targeted attacks alike. Set up well hidden, well shielded and separately supplied backup generators that would at least sustain basic life support around your compound should something happen to the solar fields. DC 30
-[X] R&D labs
As it stands, your science corps is working out of two offices and a single room with tables, chairs, a whiteboard and a projector which they'll eventually move out of when there's more kids to school. Set up a room that has proper computers, a holodeck, some centrifuges and spectrometers at least. You'll leave the specifics to Miss Weissmeier. Got to start somewhere after all. DC 35
So this is a combo of jumping on the power and claim issues while moving our capabilities forward.
