Thinking out loud here: the Gretarian issue is a thorny one.
On one hand, the Sydraxians are much more chaotic now than the Cardassians were by the time of Bajor. In addition to the fact it was never implied that the Cardassian government fell and there was mass rioting and demonstrations as it has been with the Sydraxians, IIRC we gave them a fair amount of time to recover. Slipping under the radar might work with the Gretarians this time, and we could potentially affiliate them in one smooth move. There's not really much the Sydraxians could do about it either, since most of their shit is wrecked. Hire the Yrillians, I guess? I doubt the Cardassians will go to bat on that one either, as I suspect a bunch of Cardassian Frontier Battalions are ready to descend on Sydrax and puttanks assault skimmers in the streets.
Of course a lot of our stuff isn't looking too great these days either so maybe not worth it to fight a war over Gretaria.
On the other hand, the Blues and Reds are both kinda status quo and the Blues are in charge for now and believe in holding onto the Gretarians. They could use a Federation push as an excuse to force the members of the Red Hierarchy to cooperate with them or risk losing Gretaria, and then attempt a rally around the flag, perhaps arguing that those who follow the Gabriel Graduates will emerge from isolation in a decade to find themselves with no vassals and no hope but to join the Federation, locked in like the Orions were. The question is if Melodie Sydraxian will buy that over what the Gabriel School is selling her.
Speaking of, I would absolutely not think of the Gabriel Graduates as friends, even if they allied with the Vanguard, because history is full of popular revolts that were co-opted by militarists right at the end [with some exceptions]. Military Juntas are no fun, and this one will be even less fun to deal with when they rebuild their fleet and discover we've got them surrounded.
Overall I don't think a push on the Gretarians would lead to disaster. Worst case is, of course, we pop some Ashalla bullshit and end up at war. Most plausible worst case is we unintentionally give the Blue Hierarchy enough gas to last long enough for the Cardassians to come in and reassert control, keeping us in status quo. I'd suspect the most likely outcome is nothing happens, and if we're lucky we embolden the Vanguard.
That being said I don't view the Gretarians as high priority at all, and like @anon_user I am very curious as to what critical ship infrastructre does for us. I'm beginning to have a sneaking suspicion it might allow us to start building UP-type shipyards in another locations, and Amarkia is perfect for that, especially once the inevitable Ferasa > Alukk > Amarkia traderoute gets going.
[X] Plan Infra 2.0
[X][FACTION] Approach the Developers - Crew recruitment and training is an issue not just for Starfleet, but for all Member World fleets. Propose founding a joint Federation Space Academy based on input from Starfleet and all Member World fleet organizations with the goal of unifying starship crew training standards across the Federation, allowing Starfleet Academy and similar member world institutions to focus solely on service-specific training. (Desired mechanical effect- Improve Crew income, especially officers.)
On one hand, the Sydraxians are much more chaotic now than the Cardassians were by the time of Bajor. In addition to the fact it was never implied that the Cardassian government fell and there was mass rioting and demonstrations as it has been with the Sydraxians, IIRC we gave them a fair amount of time to recover. Slipping under the radar might work with the Gretarians this time, and we could potentially affiliate them in one smooth move. There's not really much the Sydraxians could do about it either, since most of their shit is wrecked. Hire the Yrillians, I guess? I doubt the Cardassians will go to bat on that one either, as I suspect a bunch of Cardassian Frontier Battalions are ready to descend on Sydrax and put
Of course a lot of our stuff isn't looking too great these days either so maybe not worth it to fight a war over Gretaria.
On the other hand, the Blues and Reds are both kinda status quo and the Blues are in charge for now and believe in holding onto the Gretarians. They could use a Federation push as an excuse to force the members of the Red Hierarchy to cooperate with them or risk losing Gretaria, and then attempt a rally around the flag, perhaps arguing that those who follow the Gabriel Graduates will emerge from isolation in a decade to find themselves with no vassals and no hope but to join the Federation, locked in like the Orions were. The question is if Melodie Sydraxian will buy that over what the Gabriel School is selling her.
Speaking of, I would absolutely not think of the Gabriel Graduates as friends, even if they allied with the Vanguard, because history is full of popular revolts that were co-opted by militarists right at the end [with some exceptions]. Military Juntas are no fun, and this one will be even less fun to deal with when they rebuild their fleet and discover we've got them surrounded.
Overall I don't think a push on the Gretarians would lead to disaster. Worst case is, of course, we pop some Ashalla bullshit and end up at war. Most plausible worst case is we unintentionally give the Blue Hierarchy enough gas to last long enough for the Cardassians to come in and reassert control, keeping us in status quo. I'd suspect the most likely outcome is nothing happens, and if we're lucky we embolden the Vanguard.
That being said I don't view the Gretarians as high priority at all, and like @anon_user I am very curious as to what critical ship infrastructre does for us. I'm beginning to have a sneaking suspicion it might allow us to start building UP-type shipyards in another locations, and Amarkia is perfect for that, especially once the inevitable Ferasa > Alukk > Amarkia traderoute gets going.
[X] Plan Infra 2.0
[X][FACTION] Approach the Developers - Crew recruitment and training is an issue not just for Starfleet, but for all Member World fleets. Propose founding a joint Federation Space Academy based on input from Starfleet and all Member World fleet organizations with the goal of unifying starship crew training standards across the Federation, allowing Starfleet Academy and similar member world institutions to focus solely on service-specific training. (Desired mechanical effect- Improve Crew income, especially officers.)
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