Solar Wind research I agree with.
But why do we need mineral surveys?
Can't our mines simply stay at full employment/capacity?
The Grand Solar Rush - Asteroid colony management quest
- Thread starter Karf
- Start date
- Original Sci-Fi
But why do we need mineral surveys?
Can't our mines simply stay at full employment/capacity?
Because our mines are the biggest source of jobs, and we still have immigration. Do you want to add unemployment to the current cauldron of discontent that is our colony?
Mining and refining are still the core of our economy and even with our newer advances will probably stay as such for a good while. Plus each new mineral we have discovered and exploited have opened up new options. Copper is what lets us have the possibility of ammunition production, silver is what allowed the nanite production, and areogel has been a treasure trove. Getting another new mineral could do a lot for us. Even just finding iron could allow us to get local steel production cutting costs on all sorts of construction.But why do we need mineral surveys?
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Wow, that was tense. Those rolls! I was on the edge of my seat.
And look where's its left us. This is why I said I'd have preferred conciliation, we could have just puttered away slowly building up, overlooked and safer. Still, great risks come with great rewards, we can definitely turn this into fabulous advantage.
We're in the great game now. Little Klondike must rise to the occasion, or perish. (Ok, maybe a little dramatic, but still, history has its eyes on us now.)
@Karf, were those negatives to DC because of thread discussion? If so, well done everyone who contributed, we would not have passed those rolls without your input.
How about 'Eureka', both for the mining associations and the research connotations?
I agree. China, and every other curious group in the solar system, are going to be poking their noses into our business for the foreseeable future.
I might be wrong, I thought things weren't 'cauldron of discontent' bad yet.
We should definitely work to avoid unemployment were we can, but it might not be an 'at all costs' priority. Lets take a look at where things stand at the end of the year.
At present, the construction and support of the research station, including physical and intrigue security, are my picks for priorities. That may or may not interfere with other plans - perhaps the superpowers will fund us with enough to get what we need done.
Lets all keep in mind we may have just made an enemy of China, and possibly New Ireland.
And look where's its left us. This is why I said I'd have preferred conciliation, we could have just puttered away slowly building up, overlooked and safer. Still, great risks come with great rewards, we can definitely turn this into fabulous advantage.
We're in the great game now. Little Klondike must rise to the occasion, or perish. (Ok, maybe a little dramatic, but still, history has its eyes on us now.)
@Karf, were those negatives to DC because of thread discussion? If so, well done everyone who contributed, we would not have passed those rolls without your input.
How about 'Eureka', both for the mining associations and the research connotations?
I agree. China, and every other curious group in the solar system, are going to be poking their noses into our business for the foreseeable future.
I might be wrong, I thought things weren't 'cauldron of discontent' bad yet.
We should definitely work to avoid unemployment were we can, but it might not be an 'at all costs' priority. Lets take a look at where things stand at the end of the year.
At present, the construction and support of the research station, including physical and intrigue security, are my picks for priorities. That may or may not interfere with other plans - perhaps the superpowers will fund us with enough to get what we need done.
Lets all keep in mind we may have just made an enemy of China, and possibly New Ireland.
Dealing with the rouge AI in Hailey also became a bigger priority. Besides the extra diplo action needed now we are caught in the middle of a new cold war that is a secret that cannot come out. The consiquences would be severe considering it's abilities and who she has acsess to.
On the AI front we also need to be careful with goldfish.Doing anything with them of questionable legality or morality went from a risk to a no go with the amount of scrutiny we will be under.
On the AI front we also need to be careful with goldfish.Doing anything with them of questionable legality or morality went from a risk to a no go with the amount of scrutiny we will be under.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Yes. Oh god, yes. Man, we have too much to do alright. We'll have to think carefully what our priorities are
Maybe not, but our people are disgruntled and I don't want to add unemployment issues to the mix.
Yeah, we were lucky we didn't do anything more with goldfish other than data crunching. At this stage our AI is not that advanced and we could argue that it's a harmless programming experiment than anything that can be unplugged at any time.
I'm rather baffled as to why mines are the only viable source of employment.
Most of the available projects will create jobs, some long-term, some short-term.
I'm assuming 'Little Klondike' is a reference to the Klondike Gold Rush?
If New Ireland were somehow involved in the research station, 'Klondalkin' maybe? (there's an Irish town called Clondalkin)
I doubt they will be though.
IRL prospectors passed through 2 ports to reach the Klondike area, 'Dyea' and 'Skagway'.
Maybe merge 'Klondike' with 'Dyea'; 'Klondyea'? (Klon-dye-ee)
The Klondike Gold Rush "ended" when gold was discovered elsewhere, at 'Atlin' (Lake) and 'Nome'.
Most of the available projects will create jobs, some long-term, some short-term.
It has 'Eur(ope)' in it, which doesn't sound very neutral in context.
I'm assuming 'Little Klondike' is a reference to the Klondike Gold Rush?
If New Ireland were somehow involved in the research station, 'Klondalkin' maybe? (there's an Irish town called Clondalkin)
I doubt they will be though.
IRL prospectors passed through 2 ports to reach the Klondike area, 'Dyea' and 'Skagway'.
Maybe merge 'Klondike' with 'Dyea'; 'Klondyea'? (Klon-dye-ee)
The Klondike Gold Rush "ended" when gold was discovered elsewhere, at 'Atlin' (Lake) and 'Nome'.
It's not that they are the only viable source, but the biggest source of jobs.
They basically act as job sinks, I think, where no matter what you could have a job in the mines. If we don't have that we start having to keep up with employment along with immigration.
That was the intent, yes. It was originally going to be BO3 against DC75; while I'd be happy with things going either way, this was definitely meant to be the less likely outcome. The other options would have been easier to achieve. I suppose that who dares, wins.
That would also be the format of "rewards" if someone wanted to write side-stories. Although just writing that feels weird, I don't expect anyone to take me up on it, and even saying that feels like I'm trying to manipulate people.
On jobs: the people under you exist in a weird hybrid state of citizen and employee. You don't have an income tax, because you'd just be taxing yourself by proxy. There's no point to a sales tax, because every sale funnels back to you regardless. The wonders of a state run economy, in some sense. Instead of a nation gaining money from citizens, you pay your people, which isn't sustainable if they don't produce some value. Either directly by making goods (mining, farming, intellectual property, so on) or indirectly by helping the goods-makers (doctors/teachers/etc).
This isn't necessarily by (writer-)design, I just didn't want to write about tax law (or figure out a system so I don't end up contradicting myself at any rate), but it does mean that anyone who you welcome should also have some purpose in your colony. One of the potential interesting times events is what you do/how you respond to a migrant crisis, but I'm not sure how to work that in without an Earthbound conflict, which you've currently staved off.
And yes, the mines have been a "job sink" for a while now. At the risk of offending someone who actually knows something about mining, in this story the work there is menial in nature: basic maintenance and transport jobs, so anyone with a healthy physique and the ability to follow manuals can do them. There are other sectors (agriculture, your military, Lena's labrats... err, assistants, various construction crews, dockhands, etc.), but the single biggest one is currently mining.
I think there's a potential to use mining as a means to create more technical oriented jobs. R&D for mining related concerns, specialized school programs for mining (material sciences, geology), etc.
This would not only allow us to move up the value chain within mining, but it will draw wide range of people to fill these new positions.
If mining is to be our bread and butter, then it should be developed horizontally and vertically.
The big issue with that is we don't have much to offer those high end experts. our QoL is at best adequate in the New Belt let alone the quality of the Earth sphere and to a lesser extent Mars. If we want to attract better people we need much more investment to get them to want to come. Better schooling to attract and retain families, higher quality living conditions for a more highly skilled workforce, more entertainment that a bar and gym ect. It is being worked on but it is a slow process.
All of what you said is the goal but to attract the sort of people needed to do so we need to have more to offer. What we can attract now is primarily the more low skill workers and so that is what we need to create opportunities for while we build up for the more high skill people.
Rather than sell sheets of Aerogel (and risk it leaving the colony, without first being patented), could we use the quarry to produce standardised building components instead?
(walls, floors, doors, windows, frames, etc)
Limit their use to Little Klondike buildings only, until Aerogel Production is researched, and patented.
No need we already did the reaserch and can incorporate it as needed. The quarry action is for if we want bulk for export.
So we've researched how to use Aerogel in structures, and have a prototype furnace with a relatively small output.
But we still can't mass produce aerogel building components though, right?
I don't know. But it is said we will incorporate it into construction where it is appropriate so I assume we have the ability to produce enough to meet local demand.
The colony is not very large and we import most of our new housing anyway why would we need mass standardized production expect for export which you stated you do not want to do yet?
I was thinking it would help with building Little Klondike's research station, which would require a lot of material.
Assuming we even can build one that is.
We might end up just buying and repurposing an already existing station. (... and transporting it... somehow?)
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well if we do build a station with actions instead of the great powers handling it may be best to see if we can outsource Deckard Station, or at least make it a joint project. They have the expertise at space construction unlike us. Plus it would get them even further into our sphere.
Turn 14.4 - 2183 - On the precipice
Winner said:
(Roll, drones, required 15: 80)
Perhaps you work better under tension, or perhaps it's the release of that tension following the talks and an orderly withdrawal of warships that lets you finally focus. Whatever the case, things just seem to slot into place, and the little bugs stop stumbling about. The end design uses an inspired gyroscopic ball design for orientation, the spinning rings looking like an exoskeleton around the camera lens. The electric shielding finally has the right balance between weight and volume to have the battery feed the rings without frying the more delicate parts of the body and the leg motors have acceptable response times. The eight feet of the drone can technically interact independently of one another, only four required for landing properly, but you can either achieve an extra push with all eight or use the other four in short, rapid jumps where pushing off means you won't be able to reorient the feet for stopping in time.
The control interface is housed in the suit helmets, using eyeball tracking to direct the machine. With the push of a button that becomes active once the drone is deployed, it'll leap to where the operator is looking. For finer movements, the button doubles as a joystick. As usual, the soldiers themselves alternate between gushing over their new toys and blaming every mistake on shoddy new tech. Pretty soon however, Amanda's reports shift from training accidents, where someone walked into a wall, to praise at people pulling off complicated shots around corners and eliminating blind spots by using the things as rearview mirrors.
(Power armor comes with a reconnaissance drone, troops more effective in enclosed spaces and urban environments.)
-.-
(Roll, luxury living space, required 30: 29)
For once, you're on call with Eva Hadid, the leader – or spokesperson – in charge of Deckard Station.
"Miss Hadid, first allow me to extend my gratitude for our several years long cooperation. I genuinely believe that our trade has enriched both of us a great deal."
The woman's expression shifts briefly into a polite smile as you continue.
"Furthermore, I think it's time we explored avenues for expansion. I'd like to work with your teams on expanding the modules, both in terms of size as well as available luxuries."
Before you can really get going on what – to your mind – is a great and generous offer, she stops you.
"I am sorry, Mr. O'Rielly, but Deckard Station is not in a position to expand at the current moment."
Her statement takes you a moment to process. Near as you can tell, they should be doing just fine.
"I hope you don't mind if I ask why? Is there a problem with your iron supply?"
"It is not related to the mines, there's still more than plenty of asteroid left. Rather, it is a matter of timing. We've suffered unfortune and unforeseeable industrial accidents this last year, and partly as a result of that, we've entered talks with Mr. Jarnstad and his parent company for further deals. I appreciate our business over the years, but such is just the nature of things. I'm sure you understand, I mean no offence to your offer."
"No, no, of course," you wave her away, although there is a sting of disappointment which you hide, "I understand that such matters take time and I appreciate your forthrightness. I hope that our present deal still stands?"
"It does at the moment. It's of vital importance to my station, so resources are allocated to meet demand, but there's only so much I have to rearrange. Again, I appreciate the offer, Mr. O'Rielly, and perhaps we can revisit it in the future, but for now I need to focus on stability."
"Is there anything I could do to help you along?" you ask out of politeness, hoping she doesn't take your words at face value. You could of course help her, but doing so for free for who's effectively a stranger would be… annoying.
"I would not impose on you," she says, but continues before you can finish your internal sigh of relief, "although if possible, we'd like to take on a bigger proportion of fuel over food supplies on the next delivery. As a one-time thing, nothing major."
Your sigh can continue, that's a simple enough matter to arrange, "Certainly, as a one-time thing."
(Your homes stay at an acceptable-for-colonial level.)
-.-
(Roll, stadium, required 20: 33)
The stadium project gets offloaded to Ken, once it's out of the concept stage. You had briefly thought about constructing a full Olympic style stadium to rival the dome and launchpad in size, but those were idle daydreams at best. Instead, the planning realistically starts with which sports you'd like to accommodate.
The problem isn't exactly age-old, but the last century has seen plenty of development in low gravity competition. It might be difficult to play baseball when the pitch never returns to be caught, nor are you sure about playing tennis by the actual rules, but there's alternatives and adaptions. Football works fine if you allow for bouncing a ball off walls and some of the aerial maneuvers are considered more impressive than earthbound events enable, even if the pace is slower what with running fast being much harder to achieve. Likewise, your own sport of choice – handball – remains quite playable. Many other things however, get more exotic.
The aforementioned tennis becomes more like a game of squash, the goal changing to two bounces on opposing walls or ceilings and floors for a point. A game of Martian rugby involves elements of basketball in addition to the contact sport, and you've no idea why it's called Martian, because near as you can tell it's never been too popular on the red planet. Athletics events are unfortunately harder to transfer over, a long jump isn't really impressive if the only limit is the size of the room. With that in mind, Ken plans out the gymnasium.
The central space is occupied by the main court. The various goals and lines can be swapped out easily enough, but it's the adjustable plexiglass walls that really make it remarkable. Sections of the panels can be removed to reduce the volume of play area while still allowing people in the stands to view any matches being played. There're also extra panels to section the biggest pitch for football, a hundred by seventy-meter field, into smaller courts. No need to build separate facilities when you can fit ten zero-g tennis courts into the same space.
Then there's the associated locker rooms, a bigger and more central resistance gym and a sports bar to round out the exercise complex. The latter proves especially popular due to the dart boards and even a single bowling alley it hosts.
You are glad to note that almost before the place is officially finished, a few teams have cropped up and a friendly rivalry is already budding. Much to your amusement and Ken's mortification, the two fiercest fighters form from the miners and the farmers: O'Rielly Rockers and Ken's Greens respectively. As soon as the banners appeared you were sold, 'can't really change the names now that they're decided upon' is your excuse if someone asks. With your tacit approval, by the end of the year the rest of the departments have followed suit. Ragnar's Rangers act as the wildcard in most situations, Amanda's Armada quickly rises to be the clear favorites, while the bottom spots are usually fought over by Hailey's Hellraisers and Lena's Lab Rats.
(General fitness opportunities created or expanded, homebrew amateur league has appeared.)
-.-
(Roll, thorough check – Ken Hiragi, required 65: 23)
The harvest festival is winding down and your little asteroid is exiting the sun's shadow, re-establishing direct contact with Earth, but you're not partaking of the festivities. Instead, you and Erikson are seated in your office, the man delivering a sparser report than either of you would like. Unfortunately, neither of you anticipate that his free time is about to grow, so the anemic document is all you'll get. Much as you might have your suspicions, now that the events of the summit have had time to reverberate on Earth and the system at large, you predict a sharp uptick of bureaucratic missives, applications in need of vetting, phishing and direct IT attacks against you. All of which fall under your department of internal affairs and it's barely helped by the already bloated system you set up a few years ago.
Much as you hate to admit, the short nature of the report in front of you is also your own fault. It might pain you, but the harsh reality is that after years of working with the man, his background check took a backseat to scrambling together info about the admirals and the respective fleets. You can't even say that you'd do anything differently: the data gathered might very well have been of vital importance. It's still annoying that this problem remains, but you'll at least go over what you've got.
"So, did anything new turn up regarding Ken?"
"Not really. The general biography remains the same, no dark secrets seem to be lurking there. No suspect activity since coming here. I dug a bit deeper into his first business venture, but there doesn't seem to be anything sinister there, although data from so far back on Troy is surprisingly spotty," he pages through his own report for reference, "I pinned its start down to the same time he first met his ex-wife. He was still doing some post-graduate work when she moved into the housing unit next to his. Apparently, they met via dating app a few weeks later, but I have a hard time seeing Ken as a master manipulator to fake a relationship just to kickstart his hydroponics business."
"Speaking of, what can you tell me about Natasha?"
"Born spacer, inherited the apartment from her grandmother. Has a bachelors in contemporary Lunar literature, no listed prior work experience, but she was a co-partner in Ken's firm, and for quite a few years it prospered, so at least she was doing something right."
"How about after they split – they did split, right?"
"Yeah, definitely officially divorced, assets divided and everything. They didn't just have a short breakup. She's mostly lived off the company at first, but without the resident green thumb it went under pretty fast. She sold the assets and used those funds for a while, supplemented by odd jobs here and there. Bookkeeping for a local charity, assistant manager of a neighborhood watch group, nothing major. Pretty sure her funds would have run out by now. Currently, we found her a spot in the bar staff, although she's not well regarded there nor suited for it. But ultimately if Ken wants, he easily has the funds to sustain her as a housewife or personal assistant."
"With how much time they've been spending together, I wouldn't be surprised if that ended up being the case. Anything interesting on their relationship?"
"The rooms don't have cams inside. Bit of a privacy concern you know. When they do go out and about, he tends to follow her lead. Anything else is between them," he sighs before standing up.
"Doesn't really seem like there's much to see, Will," he stretches. "Come on, Hailey promised to save us some cake, but that's like leaving a fox to guard the henhouse."
(Verification of what you already know is good?)
-.-
(Roll, solar wind capture, required 80: 17+10 = 27)
The concept is there, but that's about it. Solar sails exist, and for propellant free propulsion, they're great. They're also incredibly light and slow to get going, which is how they can work in the first place. What you need isn't just an upscaled and anchored version that captures free particles in addition to the photons. No, it turns out that what you need is much more complicated.
In order to have any actually useful results, the basic calculation goes something like this. The sun loses a bit less than two megatons of mass per second, but you're not building a sphere around the whole thing. For a small proof of concept, you'll need to cover about a square kilometer of area with your net. Said proof of concept will then – hopefully – get you a paltry four grams of hydrogen per day. After burning it, you'll be left with about thirty-five grams of water. Per day. From a square kilometer. You knew space was a vacuum, but this really drives home the sheer ambitiousness of the undertaking.
Clearly, you won't just build a giant wall to catch what you need. The idea is to have thin filaments or buoys which generate magnetic fields. Said fields then capture and bend the stream of charged particles to some form of collectors, which you've yet to figure out. And then you'll need to retrieve them like a moisture farmer in a dark and empty desert. This line of actions covers several staggering leaps of technology and engineering. From the construction of the thin wires to the power transfer and field generation to the collection mechanism. The first thing Lena chose to tackle was the placement of some of the more promising theoretical nets. How to create feedback loops that would ensnare the hydrogen ions and electrons into either a stationary position or at least some semblance of orbit around your asteroid.
The simulations, even aided by AI, take up most of the year. At least it means that while the numbers are being crunched, she has time to oversee the cancer ward's establishment, but that's a thin silver lining. It, and the fact that eventually, with agonizing slowness, the results show that there are stable configurations that can exist in reality. At least you've not wasted a year of computing time on a pipedream.
(Minor progress on the solar wind capture project, the mountain that remains to climb is looking steep indeed.)
-.-
Getting Ken to spend time away from Natasha is surprisingly hard. You're used to the man always finding time to unwind with you, and the begged off excuses are mildly jarring, but you don't relent, offering invites with no pressure or judgement. Eventually your stubbornness bears fruit and every few weeks the two of you meet up for a game of darts in the sports complex going up.
"How's life?" you imaginatively ask.
"Good," he coughs, "it's good."
"Do anything fun or interesting recently?"
"Same old."
"How are the parents?"
"Fine."
"Any future plans?"
"Some."
"Feeling capable of more than single word answers?"
"What?" he blinks as you punctuate your point by scoring a sixty, "Ah, sorry. Same old is two words though."
"How about you tell me about Natasha. You've never spoken of her before, at least not just in passing."
"I mean, we've… she comes off as a bit brusque but she's not always like that. She can be nice when she wants to. When I'm not being an idiot like I usually am with the social stuff. And I know she didn't really mean that you should waste your time on coming over. She knows you're busy as is."
You raise an eyebrow and your glass of beer in his direction, "Clearly. Busy as a bee. You know I have dinner with Ragnar and Hailey almost monthly."
"I still wouldn't want to trouble you."
"I think its them that will be busy soon enough. I don't know who Hailey thinks she's fooling, but she's clearly growing by the day," when Ken's expression turns incredulous, you can't help but laugh, "Right, maybe you. Don't tell her I ruined her surprise. Anyways, why'd your ex come over after all this time?"
"She was in a bit of a pinch, and she said that seeing a friendly face here helped her make the decision. She thinks we should give things a second chance."
"What about your first business?" you know, but you want to see what he thinks of it dissolving.
"Oh, it was never going to work out. I left her with far too much work and impossible plans, she told me it's a wonder she made it last as long as she did," he waves you off with a smile that doesn't reach past his lips.
"And what do you think about that?" you know that getting a personal stance out of Ken is like pulling teeth, but this is ridiculous.
For a while he's silent, lining up a throw and hitting just outside the bullseye, "It's a bit of a shame, the business was small, but it was doing good work. But I've moved on to bigger and better things since."
"I'm glad you feel that way. And what about the second chance thing?"
"It's nice of her to give me one…" he trails off, as if he was asking a question rather than answering one.
"From my perspective she came to you, you're the one giving her a second chance. Am I wrong?"
"I don't know. None of us is perfect, right? I'd be a terrible human being if I didn't at least try."
"I'd say you're not terrible either way, but it is your choice."
He sighs when you score another sixty, "Sometimes it's a bit… difficult, or unusual, but I'm making it work. She really can be quite nice when you get to know her."
"Well, I'm glad to hear that. Whatever happens, you know I've got your back, right?"
"Thanks, Will. That means a lot."
-.-
There's more than enough to discuss during the Big Meeting, capital letters included, but before you get started, Hailey drags Ragnar to the center of the room and elbows him in the stomach.
"We have something of an announcement to make," he leads slowly before Hailey can no longer contain herself.
"We're having babies!"
When she's greeted by polite – if genuine – smiles instead of shocked gasps, she deflates, "Really, all of you knew?"
Ragnar laughs, despite the indignant look Hailey shoots him, "I told you there's absolutely no chance they'd think you're just getting fat."
"Congratulations," Amanda walks over to give her a hug, "but we do know how pregnant women look like. If it weren't for the baby bump, then your glowing would clue us in."
Meanwhile, you've caught her wording, "Babies? Not a baby?"
Lena answers your question, "Twin girls. They're in perfect health."
She's not looking at you when she speaks, but Ragnar. Following her gaze, you're greeted to a gobsmacked expression on the normally unflappable face.
"You didn't tell me that…"
Hailey lets out a cackle, "Hah! Still got at least one of you."
Unfortunately, after a round of hugs and handshakes there's more serious topics to return to. Here, too, Hailey takes center stage.
"I'm sure you've marked it on your calendars, but the NI summit is proceeding as planned next month. We do have the option to leverage our embassy to speak on our behalf, but that means that we'll still be cut from local dealings. We'd just get to have a say on the grant distribution, but I remind you that it's technically a vote between the local parties, not something we dictate, and any lobbying would probably be inefficient when our leadership doesn't show up."
"I'm hearing a lot of reasons to go, what's the other side?" Amanda asks.
"The skeleton of the research station, name pending, is being shipped into place near the anomaly, but the rest of the models are still being manufactured on Earth. It's projected to be complete late next year; the superpowers are really pulling all the stops to rush this through. However, we could make use of the Tsargo and Excelsior to start work now. It'd give us a little head start, but it'd be a complicated logistical challenge to overcome if it's to be effective. Your choice, boss."
You roll your shoulders as the heads of your council turn to you.
First: are you going to the summit?
[ ] [Summit] Go
This will get you a viewpoint on the ground, to rub shoulders with the local players, to hear what's new with them and to see how the newly instated US embassy is managing itself on New Ireland. The format is familiar to you from the last time you visited another station.
[ ] [Summit] Don't go
You'll have the chance to focus on the still under construction research station, granting a single free roll on potential projects there and since you'll hopefully have a better understanding of things, you can send suggestions to Earth about what you'll need to proceed, leading to marginally lower DC's in general.
Then there is the matter of the grants, which Hailey assures you remain in effect, especially now that the world is watching. Note that the other parties have their own desires, so this isn't you locking in which ones you're guaranteed to get. Likewise, if you do go to New Ireland, you'll have the opportunity to negotiate and change your vote as a bargaining chip.
[ ] [Grants] Diplomacy
[ ] [Grants] Security
[ ] [Grants] Engineering
[ ] [Grants] Internal affairs
[ ] [Grants] Research
Finally, there's the relatively unimportant matter of naming the anomaly research station. It'll be floating in empty space, and you'll be in charge of its daily operation. There's also the matter of its supply. You'll receive the fuel to keep it in proper position and further funds for other expenses, but what for the superpowers is a rounding error is a not-insignificant expense for you. One you expect you'll have to shoulder until you figure out a way to turn a profit from the whole operation. It's only fair that at least you get to pick the name.
[ ] [Station name] Dawson
[ ] [Station name] Eureka
[ ] [Station name] Atlin
[ ] [Station name] Write-in
-.-
US headlines: War averted; negotiation successful.
Eager for a shallow reprieve, the European Union has caved under pressure to hardline leadership, agreeing to finance construction of deep space lab. The station, managed by independent micronation Little Klondike (see more here), sets new precedent for third party management to prevent deadlock in the New Belt. Video interview with new delegation to neighboring satellite New Ireland at six.
EU headlines: Colonial standoff resolution sees first signs of easing tensions.
Cooler heads have prevailed in top branches of government, enabling our fleet to return home after a nearly year-long mission. The Americans were wrangled to the negotiating table by the joint efforts of admiral Patrick J. Cavendish and William O'Rielly, leader of local colony. See an interview with local EU ambassador Lisette Rousseau on page two for more info.
Chinese headlines: Several universities rebuffed for mystery research project.
Despite nearly bringing about Armageddon, the US and EU remain as arrogant as ever, blatantly rejecting Chinese researchers in supposedly fair competition with flimsy pretenses. In response, the Party rescinds offers of cooperation in the Old Belt, cuts humanitarian aid to several sympathetic Martian colonies aligned with western powers.
Lunar headlines: First small arms factory left idling after cancelled contracts.
Serenity based daring and progressive corporation left burned when Earther firm cancel orders for prototype weapon, cite breach of international treaties as cause for not covering contract breaking fines. Lunar government expected to issue bailout, take over production, potentially arm first Lunar-made company.
Martian headlines: Arabia Terra government forces lose ground.
Rebel factions have taken control of several strategically important ports, constricting supply to the whole nation. Success emboldens separatist elements in neighboring countries despite ongoing crackdown, General Wraith uncharacteristically indecisive about intervention.
Spacer headlines: Local painter achieves overnight fame.
In light of recent New Belt summit, L5-Helen based art gallery has been swamped by visitors. The gallery is hosting an exhibition of the work of the mother of new age local statesman and entrepreneur William O'Rielly. Art critics have called the newly discovered talent "hard to parse but enlightening", say "parallels to audacity and formative influence shine through".
-.-
There was a slight continuity error in chapter 13: Ken's wife was introduced as Hana, while his original bio says he was married to a Natasha. The chapter has been edited to reflect that the woman's name is in fact Natasha.
On the naming votes: would you prefer to keep them in, or would you rather I just picked a name to trim the voting?
Also as a heads-up, I expect I'll be relatively busy until at least Sunday, plus however long it'll take to generate a chapter. And I want to update the dramatis personae list, but I'm not sure if I'll do that before the next chapter or some nebulous later time.
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- Location
- Canada
- Pronouns
- He/Him
trooperist
Cinnamon Roll AI
I always get a laugh out of these conflicting stories with the US acting like the resolution was all them and the EU saying it was their idea in the first place. But I guess every nation wants to look like they got one over on the other so they look better.
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