To Boldly Go... (a Starfleet quest)

Derpmind · Dec 29, 2017

Night said:
I wouldn't worry too much about the Unbound scientifically yet. They seem...less interested in such pursuits. They do predate the Institute system after all.

For the most part, I'd agree with that, but a complete lack of ethics means that they could have unique technologies or scientific knowledge in the areas of biology and sociology. We know they heavily use (and abuse) cloning and cybernetics, and I'd guess they might also have other stuff related to trading and pirating.

Simon_Jester · Dec 29, 2017

SuperHeavy said:
So the Feds have the Cardassians & co to one side, Romulan spies, replicating drones, dark mirror Federation, and slaving mad scientists on the others. As always I suspect we lack enough ships or stations to cover 2/3s of these problems. Time to find a spunky captain with a firm friendship with their XO and stuff them into a flagship.

We've got a flagship and a spunky captain lined up, we just need a good XO.

AKuz said:
Captain's Log, Stardate 27442.1, USS Torch, Captain Nalae Veraniss

My lovely Torch is in the process of putting the finishing touches on an uneventful survey of the Yalangis-552 System.

While this is not the most strenuous of duties, it has given me the opportunity to drill the crew in matters other than military. My officers have already become refamiliarized with the intricacies of Gorn seating arrangements, Licori matters of address, Amarki military orders, and today we will be working to memorize Klingon battle rites.

Leslie:

"Ah, you gotta love the Amarki. If they didn't exist, we'd have to invent 'em."

Captain's Log, Stardate 247446.1, USS Defiant - Captain Mica zh'Halron

Something of a challenge has been sent our way, courtesy of the Caitian government. Another magnetic cosmozoan like the one discovered by Captain Taggart on stardate 26696.8 was discovered in an asteroid field near Pygmalion 337. As the first specimen discovered near Merfara proved helpful for asteroid miners, Starfleet has been asked to help relocate this one to Ferasa's own outer belt...

...Theoretically, the cosmozoan will remain dormant during the trip...

I trust this operation about as far as I can throw it, but Lt. Commander T'Lammas and the Caitian science team both say the theories are all sound and the individual parts well tested. There's a lot that can go wrong, though. Especially given the timescales involved, as the size of the rock will limit us to low warp while we keep the field in place.

...This is not exactly what I would call operating within safe margins. Maybe there's no better way to go about this, but...there have been some unforeseen fluctuations in the warp field when we.and the Melrass began acceleration...

...We tried realigning the warp fields of the two ships, and the instant the field came online the organism emerged from the far side of the asteroid and began laying into the Melrass with a natural particle beam weapon. We were forced to wound the creature with our phasers to make it release the Caitian ship, only...it proved more delicate than the xenobiologists' estimations.

We have killed an otherwise harmless life form after our attempts to exploit it without adequate knowledge fell through. Disappointed miners aside, I'm not sure I, this ship, or this crew have ever let down Starfleet or the Federation's ideals this badly.

[Lost -10 pp, Caitian swarmer damaged (2 qrtrs)]

I do so hope someone is laying into the Caitians over this too, because there is a definite element of DAMMIT CAITIANS in here. Again. Just once I'd like it to be some other species that's involved up to their eyeballs in Starfleet being made to look bad.

Our scans have also determined that most -if not all- of these Gaeni are clones, with the youngest and least modified treated as little better than slaves themselves.

We have come to the uncomfortable conclusion that our new contact are Gaeni without any ethical restraints and an explicitly ruthless survival of the fittest mentality where life is cheaper than technology.

They call themselves the Unbound and, as their ideal is a life free of the constraints of morality or good sense, I can only find it an appropriate moniker.

I am… disturbed. To put it lightly.

At the moment, however, Tarrak's impressive size and armament seems to be enough to overawe our hosts and we have established a level of respect with these Gaeni.

Leslie:

"I KNEW we weren't done having Gaeni problems. I KNEW it! Bob, time to pay up!"

Glassware · Dec 29, 2017

Simon_Jester said:
I do so hope someone is laying into the Caitians over this too, because there is a definite element of DAMMIT CAITIANS in here. Again. Just once I'd like it to be some other species that's involved up to their eyeballs in Starfleet being made to look bad.

Oh look at the time it's "purge the Caitian political establishment time"again already, Councillor N'gir already has the flamethrower out

Goat · Dec 29, 2017

For anyone trying to remember what Ruby Eye's Folly is, it's a 20sr/year mining site that a Hishmeri splinter had claimed, but couldn't handle.

Leila Hann said:
Captain's Log, Stardate 27229, USS S'Harien - Captain Demora Sulu

That changed our negotiating position for the better.

The hishmeri will be allowing any brosmen who want to join their fellow freedmen in Federation space to do so, and the profits from the next freighter's worth of mined materials will go toward restoration of damage done to the Velenian homeworld. They'll also be returning a number of plundered artifacts.

There's enough valuable rocks that we can safely set up a mining facility of our own without stepping on any more toes than we already have, and I don't think these hishmeri will be in any position to betray us. They'll have nowhere else to go if they make the Federation chase them out of this place.

[Gain SR colony option at Ruby-Eyes' Folly (20 sr/yr)]

Alastor Mobius Toth · Dec 29, 2017

Hmmm....seems like our Shipyard Spy Adventure hasn't come to conclusion yet, so...third set of logs inbound? I am still waiting for the other shoe to drop since so far we aren't doing actually too bad so...either that, or GABRIEL ON FIRE.

Loosing to Sydraxians feels weird, though kinda nice from Zen-side. Yes, pride and all that, but it's nice to see them being something else than bloodthirsty warriors.

Theunderbolt said:
I'm surprised the Trill haven't fallen under Cardassian influence considering they're so close to the Lecarre.

THAT'S WHAT THEY WANT YOU TO THINK

Glassware said:
Oh look at the time it's "purge the Caitian political establishment time"again already, Councillor N'gir already has the flamethrower out

"Meow! Nyaa-nya" - TRANSLATION: "Dear havens, look at the time!"

*purge clock meme goes here*

aledeth · Dec 29, 2017

Alastor Mobius Toth said:
Hmmm....seems like our Shipyard Spy Adventure hasn't come to conclusion yet, so...third set of logs inbound? I am still waiting for the other shoe to drop since so far we aren't doing actually too bad so...either that, or GABRIEL ON FIRE.

Loosing to Sydraxians feels weird, though kinda nice from Zen-side. Yes, pride and all that, but it's nice to see them being something else than bloodthirsty warriors.

THAT'S WHAT THEY WANT YOU TO THINK

"Meow! Nyaa-nya" - TRANSLATION: "Dear havens, look at the time!"

*purge clock meme goes here*

I think implication with the "To Be Continued" in the Shipyard Spy Adventure is that it's going to continue next quarter, not this log set.

Iron Wolf · Dec 29, 2017

I'm going to run "N'Gir retires and takes a hatchet to the Caitian political establishment" quest

Briefvoice · Dec 29, 2017

Theunderbolt said:
I'm surprised the Trill haven't fallen under Cardassian influence considering they're so close to the Lecarre.

The Lecarre aren't exactly slick diplomatic operators who give the Ashalla Pact a good name, you know? They're effective at espionage, but a pretty poor advertisement for their political union.

AKuz said:
It represents the fact that just straight up aren't going to easily affiliate with a people that have slaves

Though the Licori still have a 0/100 Slavery tag. Is that to be corrected later, or is it meant to represent that they are on the verge of abandoning their system of serfdom already and the FDS expects they could be pressured out of it with relatively little effort?

Simon_Jester · Dec 29, 2017

Halkh:

"The latter, if I have my say, though the Romulans do make some unexpectedly... cogent... points on the matter."

Theunderbolt · Dec 29, 2017

Briefvoice said:
The Lecarre aren't exactly slick diplomatic operators who give the Ashalla Pact a good name, you know? They're effective at espionage, but a pretty poor advertisement for their political union.

I mean in the sense that the Cardassians haven't approached them.

Iron Wolf · Dec 29, 2017

Briefvoice said:
The Lecarre aren't exactly slick diplomatic operators who give the Ashalla Pact a good name, you know? They're effective at espionage, but a pretty poor advertisement for their political union.

Though the Licori still have a 0/100 Slavery tag. Is that to be corrected later, or is it meant to represent that they are on the verge of abandoning their system of serfdom already and the FDS expects they could be pressured out of it with relatively little effort?

In addition to the efforts already made by the FDS, It's partly to reflect the difference in like indentured servitude/serfdom versus full on chattel slavery. Orion Union probably would have had a 0/100 slavery tag too.

Goat · Dec 29, 2017

Theunderbolt said:
I mean in the sense that the Cardassians haven't approached them.

The Lecarre are already a significant distance from the main Cardassians holdings. They might not have seen reason to push an exploration force that bit further yet. They do not have an EC equivalent after all.

The Lecarre themselves are highly paranoid and will probably only explore when pushed to do so.

Simon_Jester · Dec 29, 2017

Iron Wolf said:
In addition to the efforts already made by the FDS, It's partly to reflect the difference in like indentured servitude/serfdom versus full on chattel slavery. Orion Union probably would have had a 0/100 slavery tag too.

Or how deeply entrenched slavery is in the system. It sounds like the only House that relied really super heavily on slavery among the Licori was House Kortennon*, and we pretty well squashed them during the war. That Slavery tag might have been more like a /300 or even /500 tag prewar.

Similiarly, the Orion Union's slavery issue was very tightly tied up with their Syndicate problem, since the main anti-slavery political faction was being neutralized by the Syndicate and the Syndicate itself was heavily involved in the slave trade. And the Syndicate represented a problem on a scope too big to be covered by a mere tag...
_________________________

*(may be misspelling; I have a persistent Freudian slip about those guys)

Briefvoice · Dec 29, 2017

So we're closing in on the 2321 Snakepit... thought I'd lay out my picks, in rough order of priority.

2321 Snakepit
EOY = 286 pp.
+10 pp for 2 E-A launches
-20 for member fleet ships
-5 for 2320.Q1.M1
+10 for 2320.Q1.M2
~0 for 2320.Q1.M3

Total ~281 pp

Top Picks
Request Mining Colony Ruby-Eyes' Folly, 8pp 20 (35) sr/yr, 4 turns
Request Mining Colony Dark Shoal, 8pp 20 (35) sr/yr, 4 turns
Request new Starbase I [Licori Border Zone] 20pp, +12pp for each Starbase past the first in-sector - GBZ Invalid

The mining colonies are a no brainer, and while the Licori Starbase doesn't counter an immediate threat it does put us on track to meeting our Starfleet Ambition. Starbases also do have some mechanical benefits, like boosting response roll in their sector.

2nd Tier Picks
Request focused Diplomacy on a potential member species, 20pp (One affiliate or prospective race will undergo accelerate diplomacy) [Can be taken up to four times]
Request focused Diplomacy on a potential member species, 20pp (One affiliate or prospective race will undergo accelerate diplomacy) [Can be taken up to four times]
Request focused Diplomacy on a potential member species, 20pp (One affiliate or prospective race will undergo accelerate diplomacy) [Can be taken up to four times]
Request focused Diplomacy on a potential member species, 20pp (One affiliate or prospective race will undergo accelerate diplomacy) [Can be taken up to four times]

Leaving which species TBD for the moment, I want to see how effective our seven ship anti-Horizon Influence task force actually is, though I expect the OSA will remain on the list. With regrets, I think we should put off increasing the diplomatic cap for 60 pp this year... so many other spending priorities.

3rd Tier Picks
Reorganise a Starfleet Command from a Rear Admiral position to a Vice Admiral position. Pick one: 30pp for Personnel
Establish a MWCD task force of Member Worlds to patrol the Indoria-Rigel Backbone trade route, 50pp (Small infra/resource boosts to members in affected sectors)
Request Ambassador berth at San Francisco Fleet Yards, 47pp (6 turns, gain new 3m t berth)
Request development of Caitian Auxiliary Shipyard, 17pp (4 turns, gain 1 new 1m t berth) [Can take multiple times, +5pp per subsequent build]

Personnel or the second 3mt berth at SF aren't urgent, but they are things that we've wanted that have been hanging out forever. And it wouldn't hurt to add an extra auxiliary berth for cheap. That MWCD Backbone trade route patrol is the sort of thing that is probbaly started the sooner the better, as infrastructure income accumulates over time.

Last Tier Pick
Request Service Academy Development, 20pp (Gain +1 Enlisted throughput)

I picked this because it's worth 20pp and takes the total to 280. We won't have Thuir forever, and when he leaves our Enlisted income goes down, so it's worthwhile to keep him building Service academies. That said, if we ended up with 285 pp I might get some listening posts or something else instead. If we end up with less than 280pp, I could drop it.

Now there is an alternative if y'all are really hungry for diplo-pushes.

Request Mining Colony Ruby-Eyes' Folly, 8pp 20 (35) sr/yr, 4 turns
Request Mining Colony Dark Shoal, 8pp 20 (35) sr/yr, 4 turns
Request new Starbase I [Licori Border Zone] 20pp, +12pp for each Starbase past the first in-sector - GBZ Invalid
Support additional resources for the Federation Diplomatic Service, 60pp (Cap of pushes increases by 1)
Request focused Diplomacy on a potential member species, 20pp (One affiliate or prospective race will undergo accelerate diplomacy) [Can be taken up to four times]
Request focused Diplomacy on a potential member species, 20pp (One affiliate or prospective race will undergo accelerate diplomacy) [Can be taken up to four times]
Request focused Diplomacy on a potential member species, 20pp (One affiliate or prospective race will undergo accelerate diplomacy) [Can be taken up to four times]
Request focused Diplomacy on a potential member species, 20pp (One affiliate or prospective race will undergo accelerate diplomacy) [Can be taken up to four times]
Request focused Diplomacy on a potential member species, 20pp (One affiliate or prospective race will undergo accelerate diplomacy) [Can be taken up to five times]
Reorganise a Starfleet Command from a Rear Admiral position to a Vice Admiral position. Pick one: 30pp for Personnel
Establish a MWCD task force of Member Worlds to patrol the Indoria-Rigel Backbone trade route, 50pp (Small infra/resource boosts to members in affected sectors)

=276pp

Basically, drop the SF berth, the Service Academy, and the Aux berth for more diplomacy.

Thoughts?

ThoughtMaster · Dec 29, 2017

Let us hope the unbound are isolated in the area they inhabit, because treating them as we did the Imperial Orions might be the best solution to the issue. Slave holding societies should not, and can not be permitted the ability to travel to different worlds, for they pose one of the greatest threats to the intent behind the prime directive. The prime directive is meant to preserve the ability of less advanced civilizations to develop, while slave holding warp capable civilization have the ability and motivation to wipe out said civilizations or bind them in chains.

charysa · Dec 30, 2017

Briefvoice said:
Leaving which species TBD for the moment, I want to see how effective our seven ship anti-Horizon Influence task force actually is, though I expect the OSA will remain on the list. With regrets, I think we should put off increasing the diplomatic cap for 60 pp this year... so many other spending priorities.

Speaking of diplo-pushes, the OSA was picked for this last year, but we only got 1 push for them in Q2, it looks like. Ditto the Breen.

Were these oversights, like how the Sydraxians were nearly forgotten as well until the pushes for Q3 and Q4 were added to the rat race post?

If it's not an oversight, is it really worth just getting roll/year for 20 pp anymore given our pp income? Might as well save the 80 pp and make a big TF instead.

AKuz · Dec 30, 2017

charysa said:
Speaking of diplo-pushes, the OSA was picked for this last year, but we only got 1 push for them in Q2, it looks like. Ditto the Breen.

Were these oversights, like how the Sydraxians were nearly forgotten as well until the pushes for Q3 and Q4 were added to the rat race post?

If it's not an oversight, is it really worth just getting roll/year for 20 pp anymore given our pp income? Might as well save the 80 pp and make a big TF instead.

Only affiliates get quarterly pushes, non affiliates get just the one.

Voikirium · Dec 30, 2017

Iron Wolf said:
I'm going to run "N'Gir retires and takes a hatchet to the Caitian political establishment" quest

...I'd play it

Simon_Jester · Dec 30, 2017

Leila Hann said:
Additionally, the vaaaaaaaast majority of Trek telepaths can only read emotions and immediate surface thoughts.

Yeah, but how do you keep yourself from having surface thoughts about an important secret, somewhere a telepath can read them? It's a bit problematic, IMO.

Vehrec said:
Okay but the Bradley fighting vehicle development sequence from that movie is kiiinda a stretch. Like, ignore the stuff about 'battle taxis' that are meant to get soldiers close to the front, drop them off, and run away. They had the M-113, and they weren't happy with doing that. TOW missiles give it serious anti-tank punch, so it doesn't need to run away at the first whiff of armor. Of course it blows up when hit by an anti-tank round, there's no way it won't, and the test organizers knew it would blow up. They weren't trying to cover the fact up, they knew it was outside what the thing was designed to protect against. So they have to resort to caricature to make the project out to be a Big Fail, when the real crisis point of it's design history is it's brief cancellation in 1977, not the installation of the two-man turret with the gun and missiles. It's also skeptical of the kind of self-guided munitions that would prove so revolutionary in how the US fights it's modern wars. I don't know what that Paveway sequence is on about, but the original bomb, developed in the 60s, was pretty effective right out of the gate.

Basically, the problem is that it's easy to make fun of a procurement process that quite frankly is flawed, but it's also easy to find excuses to sneer at things once you decide to approach everything with a sneer mindset.

Like, if I want to know what a bomb will do on a direct, vertical hit because I want to know, I don't drop it from a plane, I drop it from a crane. It's a basic principle of testing under controlled conditions. This does not mean the bomb will only work if it's dropped from a crane.

If I want to know what a missile warhead does to an armored vehicle target on a hit, and I don't want to waste expensive missiles, I make the armored vehicle target very easy for the missile to hit (by adding hot plates). This does not mean the missile ONLY works when the target is all lit up.

But it's easy to distort test data, either by claiming that these controlled experiments were done in an attempt to exaggerate the effect of the weapon... Or, alternatively, by actually using the data from them to do exactly that.

charysa said:
Speaking of diplo-pushes, the OSA was picked for this last year, but we only got 1 push for them in Q2, it looks like. Ditto the Breen.

Were these oversights, like how the Sydraxians were nearly forgotten as well until the pushes for Q3 and Q4 were added to the rat race post?

If it's not an oversight, is it really worth just getting roll/year for 20 pp anymore given our pp income? Might as well save the 80 pp and make a big TF instead.

1) Making task forces also costs political will.
2) Ships working on an "improve relations" task force are not elsewhere securing other event benefits at the same time. There's an opportunity cost.
3) I'm actually not sure it's POSSIBLE to send a task force to "improve relations," as opposed to just sending them to chip away at an obstacle tag.

UberJJK · Dec 30, 2017

AKuz said:
[Slavery I: 0/100]
[Slavery II: 0/100]
[Slavery III: 0/100]
[Slavery IV: 0/100]
[Slavery V: 0/100]

Glad to see my idea of multi-stage tags in action:

UberJJK said:
Setting that little point aside however this just says to me that the Hishmeri tags need reworking. As of the last Snakepit they were:

OneirosTheWriter said:

Hishmeri Septs: 74/100
-[Eternal Empire Influence 0/100]
-[Slavery: 0/500]
-[Nomadic Raiders: 0/500]

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Setting up any sort of defensive treaty with someone who goes out and starts fights is so obviously stupid it fails the pub test. So Nomadic Raiders has to be a 0/300 Tag. If you feel that's undervaluing how hard it would be; make multistage tags. So for example:
Hishmeri Septs: 74/100
-[Eternal Empire Influence 0/100]
-[Nomadic Raiders I: 0/300]
-[Nomadic Raiders II: 0/300]
-[Slavery: 0/500]That a two part 300 Tag is harder to solve then a single 500 Tag even fits with my earlier explanation since it involves tackling a major issue fairly early on in the relationship rather then later when they've seen the benefits of agreeing with us.

It really fits quite well with the new tag system and helps us avoid all those weird narrative vs. mechanical issues from Affiliating/Allying with civilizations who hold policies that go against core Federation values.

With this new system we'll (hopefully) never run into the problem of being Allies (post 300 threshold) with slavers like we were with the Orions. For anyone who doesn't recall we were pretty damn close to 500/500 with the Orions when the whole Syndicate mess went down. That means narratively speaking we were close to ratifying a nation that still practiced slavery.

AKuz · Dec 30, 2017

UberJJK said:
Glad to see my idea of multi-stage tags in action:

It really fits quite well with the new tag system and helps us avoid all those weird narrative vs. mechanical issues from Affiliating/Allying with civilizations who hold policies that go against core Federation values.

With this new system we'll (hopefully) never run into the problem of being Allies (post 300 threshold) with slavers like we were with the Orions. For anyone who doesn't recall we were pretty damn close to 500/500 with the Orions when the whole Syndicate mess went down. That means narratively speaking we were close to ratifying a nation that still practiced slavery.

How dare u!

Indentured servants due to economic issues is a long standing part of Orion culture and a key component of the economy, to call it mere slavery is an affront to Orion traditions!

> : P

Redhead222 · Dec 30, 2017

Briefvoice said:
Now there is an alternative if y'all are really hungry for diplo-pushes.

Request Mining Colony Ruby-Eyes' Folly, 8pp 20 (35) sr/yr, 4 turns
Request Mining Colony Dark Shoal, 8pp 20 (35) sr/yr, 4 turns
Request new Starbase I [Licori Border Zone] 20pp, +12pp for each Starbase past the first in-sector - GBZ Invalid
Support additional resources for the Federation Diplomatic Service, 60pp (Cap of pushes increases by 1)
Request focused Diplomacy on a potential member species, 20pp (One affiliate or prospective race will undergo accelerate diplomacy) [Can be taken up to four times]
Request focused Diplomacy on a potential member species, 20pp (One affiliate or prospective race will undergo accelerate diplomacy) [Can be taken up to four times]
Request focused Diplomacy on a potential member species, 20pp (One affiliate or prospective race will undergo accelerate diplomacy) [Can be taken up to four times]
Request focused Diplomacy on a potential member species, 20pp (One affiliate or prospective race will undergo accelerate diplomacy) [Can be taken up to four times]
Request focused Diplomacy on a potential member species, 20pp (One affiliate or prospective race will undergo accelerate diplomacy) [Can be taken up to five times]
Reorganise a Starfleet Command from a Rear Admiral position to a Vice Admiral position. Pick one: 30pp for Personnel
Establish a MWCD task force of Member Worlds to patrol the Indoria-Rigel Backbone trade route, 50pp (Small infra/resource boosts to members in affected sectors)

=276pp

Thoughts?

i like this one more.
aldo if you drop the add res for FDC and put that into say a starbase on the klingon border i think i might like it more
also not against a extra aug yard
for the pushes thou, the felines, OSA, bolians, licori , bree to show our new boss yes we are helping

Goat · Dec 30, 2017

SR Mines are one of the most critical things we can build - those two mines are not getting dropped. Even they are the only thing we build.

I think we have a star base in the KBZ already? LBZ one of the few (only? I have lost track) border zones that lacks a star base.

Iron Wolf · Dec 30, 2017

UberJJK said:
For anyone who doesn't recall we were pretty damn close to 500/500 with the Orions when the whole Syndicate mess went down. That means narratively speaking we were close to ratifying a nation that still practiced slavery.

In my original Orion Sphere brief I gave the Union indentured servitude. Then in the later Orion Relations one I included the line "CA's dominance is based largely on fears that will recede with time, and it is possible for the TuP to make a resurgence and subsequently roll back several reforms, which in a worst-case scenario could disqualify the Union from affiliate status."

While not directly stated, in my mind those reforms that could be rolled back would be returning indentured servitude. I imagine the Syndicate still conducted slave-trading, and there might have been some forms of slavery practiced 'under the table', but I would imagine it wasn't legal.

I may have contradicted myself (or Oneiros) on that point later though, I didn't need to be as consistent back then!

MTB · Dec 30, 2017

At which point in time is the task force upkeep due?

To Boldly Go... (a Starfleet quest)

***** ***

The Flesh is Weak

"Prepare for trouble..."

Been Better

SV's Estalia Guy

Been Better

*** *