[X] Plan Helghast Navy
-[X] Construct an Arc Cruiser Squadron: Task your surviving planet-based shipyards with constructing a squadron of three Arc Cruisers.
-[X] Research Invader Armour: Light, tough, and capable of dissipating attacks with ease through ablation, the invader's armour is at least several decades beyond your own.
-[x] Research Invader Fusion Generators: Light, smaller, and more efficient than the fusion generators you were allowed to purchase, cracking the science behind the invader's fusion reactors would allow you to free up Petrusite for use elsewhere and get you started on developing fusion drives for your cruisers.
Number of voters: 13
King50000,
chriswriter90,
Just Some Guy,
Captain.Cat,
john fox,
Night_stalker,
demonthese2211,
Faceless Goon,
StarkDemise,
CrazedGamma1721,
-Mech-,
ebolasos,
jamie96969
[X] Decontaminate the Pyrrhus City ruins.
Heeding the painful lessons learnt last year, the work crews decontaminating Pyrrhus city continue making progress cleaning up the former capital. Moving at a cautious but steady pace, the mobile factories and legion of workers involved tear down ruins and pave over craters while specialist NBCI crews deftly empty pools of Irradiated Petrusite. Within a matter of months --and to the great surprise of your more cynical advisers-- the clearance of Pyrrhus city officially reaches the halfway mark.
However, with the year drawing to a close and work-crews nearing the vast crater at the centre of the city, work on the project slows as NBCI crews have to be called in more and more often. While the foremen in charge assure you that they'll be able to clear the crater --along with the vast amount of Irradiated Petrusite that lies at the bottom--, they admit that progress will be slower unless some breakthrough in Irradiated Petrusite handling occurs.
Effect:
- Decontamination is halfway done!
[X] Research Invader Armour
Despite the best efforts of your scientists and the lavish funding you've given them, little progress is made toward replicating the armour used by the pirate invaders. While initial reports were promising and likened the material to the dispersive material used on ISA cruisers, the truth has turned out to be much more complicated.
According to the latest reports from your researchers, the invader's armour is composed of layers of several very different materials sandwiched together --each of which provides varying degrees of protection and support. The first layer is formed of a solid Titanium-Steel alloy with a unique crystalline structure; the result of which is both light and robust, but also very brittle. The second layer is a kind of ceramic, cubic Boron nitride, which combined with a web of artificial diamond fibres acts as a backstop to the first layer. These two layers rest atop a final layer of titanium alloy honeycomb structure which provides structural support and a layer of self-sealing polymer.
Of the materials involved in the construction of the armour, only the diamond fibres can be produced by Helghast industry in useful quantities as the process of making them is well known --they are, after all, used to make the artificial muscles which drive MAWLRs, and the cables for space elevators. The remaining materials, such as the cubic Boron nitride and titanium-steel alloys, can only be produced in small batches using complex and expensive chemical reactions. With further research, it may prove possible to develop more efficient methods of making these materials.
With that said, while examining the material your scientists were able to determine that existing conventional weaponry can damage this new kind of armour; though their efficacy is not as great against it is against conventional armours. While hardly the most exciting news, it did allay fears amongst your generals that the invader's mechs would utterly outclass conventional forces. Also, your researchers discovered that attacks by lighter, rapid-fire weaponry such as W.A.S.Ps were often superior to heavier, single-shot weapons such as VC9 rocket launchers due to the ablative nature of the armour.
Petrusite also proved effective at defeating the armour; with both regular and Irradiated Petrusite able to penetrate through multiple layers of armour to attack whatever lay below (as in most cases, Irradiated petrusite had the more devastating effect).
Effect:
- A basic understanding of the components of Battletech armour
[x] Research Invader Fusion Generators
In comparison to efforts toward understanding and replicating the invader's armour, research into the invader's fusion technology goes much more smoothly. While it's true that the reactors have superior power output to your own in a much smaller package, the fundamentals of fusion power are well understood by scientists and engineers across Helghan, so your efforts aren't starting from scratch as they are with the invader's armour. Within the first three months of the year, report after report from your scientists builds up a highly illuminating picture on the invader's energy systems.
To start with, the fusion reactors used in the invader's vehicles run on Protium --Hydrogen's lightweight and vastly more common isotope-- rather than the heavier Deuterium and Tritium isotopes. While not an aneutronic source such as the Helium3 used in your reactors, the fuel is incredibly easy to obtain even if it does slowly irradiate the reactor casing.
Secondly, the reactors are incredibly low maintenance according to the pirate technicians you captured; to the point where they can run for weeks without a maintenance check and can be cold-started after literal centuries without use with minimal effort.
Thirdly, your scientists determine that while many of the components --such as the radiation shielding-- are currently beyond your capacity to manufacture due to their complex chemical structures; the basic construction of the reactors can already be replicated. While the resulting copies will likely prove to be less efficient, more maintenance hungry, and more prone to catastrophic failure; they would nonetheless help free up petrusite for use elsewhere.
Effect:
- A prototype fusion reactor is constructed at the Karpathia Institute of Technology. This reactor will provide a bonus to future fusion research rolls.
- Can now build prototype reactors as a long-term project.
[X] Construct an Arc Cruiser Squadron
Three Arc Cruisers are added to the Helghast fleet --the people of Helghan breathing more easily in the knowledge that each cruiser mounts three of the fearsome Petrusite cannons that proved so effective against the Invader's dropship.
Effect:
- +2% War Support (one-time bonus)
- +3% Party Popularity
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Events and Rumors:
As a result of the money poured into both Phyyrus City's decontamination and the Helghan arms industry, the recession afflicting the planet has loosened its grip somewhat.
Recession -10% Stability -> Recession -5% Stability
Pharaoh Automated Solutions --a small robotics company in the Karpathia region-- has sprung up out of nowhere with a new product they're calling @lfred. Intended for high-end consumer markets, the @lfred is an autonomous drone designed to carry out menial tasks such as cleaning, package/grocery delivery, etc. Based on similar designs already in mass use on Vekta, the @lfred features both a proprietary anti-gravity system to manoeuvre in tight spaces without disrupting people nearby and a highly advanced artificial neural network.
Prospectors in the Maelstra region have discovered rich seams of Germanium and Petrusite running near the surface in near-parallel. The discovery of the former has prompted something of a gold rush as mineral companies and supporting industries have further invested in the region with many enjoying the resulting economic benefits. The discovery of the latter, meanwhile, offers the Helghan Republic the opportunity to enhance its Petrusite production, though the act of mining the volatile material will significantly disrupt Germanium mining efforts
Climatologists have noticed an unusually high-pressure system slowly developing near one of Helghan's more fertile regions. If the system persists throughout the region's short rainy season, it may adversely impact the year's harvest there.
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STATS UPDATED