Okay. Huge wall of replies to people...
@OneirosTheWriter, I think the political cost of a custom cruiser project should realistically be higher right now, since we literally just got done having two new cruiser projects approved in the last 2-3 years. It would be a lot easier for us to argue "we need a new explorer" or even "we need a new escort" than to argue "we need yet another new cruiser because the last two weren't good enough."
In a few years maybe the cost would damp back down, I think.
I think people might want to slow down on the "must have 4 diplomatic push" bandwagon, whilst I'm a relatively recent reader of this thread one thing that I have noted in the more recent updates are subtle warnings about the stresses expansion is placing on the Federation.
Possibly a sign that we might want to look at slowing down the headlong charge to get more affiliates and more members.
I think we need a lot of 100-or-more affiliates, and a solid core of 300-or-more affiliates. But,
yes, I think you're right-ish.
The only reason I don't fully agree is that we need to have a fairly strong and reasonably united "front" made up of the species on our present border. Something like the line Seyek-Qloath-Dawiar-Risa on the southern flank, to put a barrier between us and the Lecarre and Cardassians...
And also to integrate the Apiata and Indorions on our direct front with Cardassia. It would be good to bring in the Yrilians and the Gretarians, likewise to screen our core territory on THAT flank. We need those species to be at at least +100 with us, preferably +300 in a lot of cases, though we may want to hold off on integrating them to +500 unless they are likely to act as a stabilizing influence (like the Risans and Caldonians, or maybe the Rigelians). I'd be reluctant on the Apiata if their alliance wasn't so important to our strategic position vis a vis Cardassia.
At the same time, though, if we discover other species further out I'm going to be very reluctant to bring them in. And there are a lot of species we're currently integrating that I am content to see 'stall' at the 300 level (the Gaeni in particular) or the 100-150 level (the Yrilians, the Dawiar)
How necessary are the Excelsior resources?
Utterly necessary; we pre-committed to them by approving an ambitious construction program. However, I disagree with your priorities on the budget increase and tech team. Put together they cost so much political will that we sacrifice crew expansion. And we really,
really need more crew.
@OneirosTheWriter, is that cruiser 2mt berth really supposed to take 6 turns vs the 4 turns of the 3mt+1mt?
Since the Federation has no other berths like it, it may well take some extra time to design and debug some of the equipment.
How important is another research team? don't we risk having to deactivate them?
We have a glut of research points and that is unlikely to change unless we wind up doing something drastic like shutting down the entire Explorer Corps and its exploratory missions for years at a time.
@Erandil, on the council vote, you are neglecting diplomacy. That is likely to be problematic. If I were you I'd cut the budget increase and maybe even the starbase (since it provides no fixed Defense increase), in favor of diplomatic pushes on the potential affiliates on the Cardassian border zone.
@Briefvoice, having argued in favor of the starbase on the Cardassian border, and come to think of it having persuaded
you personally in favor of it, it would be hypocrritical of me to withhold my support. Although I do think we might be better advised to either save the political willpower for the Betazoid counselors or something else... I'm not sure about that. So as far as I'm concerned, I'm going to stick to my guns and continue voting for the starbase. Also, cancelling one Connie of the
six we start this year still does cover the costs of the repair, even if it's worse than you thought, so good job planning that.
@Nix, don't get me wrong, I like your plan, but I think we can live without that tech team for one more year. Maybe not two, but one. That said, "Base Plan Border Diplomacy" is running a close second behind Briefvoice's "Plan Rid Ourselves of the Syndicate."
[reads your second plan, resolves to compare VERRRY CAREFULLY comparing latest iterations of the plans]
@SynchronizedWritersBlock, I really wish we could afford to keep our admiral in Intelligence, but there ARE other good candidates we can appoint, we're not going to get stuck with a random idiot. And there are just plain too many other things we very much want or need.
@Artemis1992, below flag rank that's a truism- stand by your people. But flag rank officers are in positions of high command; being able to function on the political level is part of the job description. The high command
has to take responsibility, and for a major incident, that generally involves resignations and retirements. Given that it would be grossly disproportionate (and throw Starfleet into chaos) for Kahurangi herself to take the fall... that leaves zh'Rhashaan.
Her resignation or lack thereof is not the hill we want, or can afford, to die on.
@Iron Wolf, the Syndicate is an ongoing running sore within our space. The things they've done to us so far are far from the worst things they could do to us. Their existence gives external enemies access to the heart of our territory, numerous lines by which to infiltrate agents and exfiltrate technology and information. Furthermore, their existence is a major obstacle to eventual integration of the Orion Union into the Federation.
All in all, the Orion Syndicate is
de facto like having a Cardassian affiliate
already inside our territory. It is just as serious a problem as someone like the Sydraxians, and in many ways more serious than the Dawiar.
So yes, I think we have a very real strategic need to neutralize or at least greatly weaken and disrupt the threat presented by this internal enemy. Just as we have a real need to maintain a strong border defense against the Cardassians from outside.
@Muramasa, I empathize with your "screw political expedience" position. However, there is a
lot of talent available for us to choose from. Zh'Rhashaan is not the indispensable woman. Ultimately, no one person is indispensable- not Starfleet heroes like Sulu, not our PC Adimral Kahurangi, not our favored original characters like Nash ka'Sharren. The fleet keeps functioning and performing its mission, as long as we do not allow the actions or decisions of any one person to
stop the mission.
And as I said to Artemis, admirals have to be prepared to play politics. That is one of the main differences between flag-rank and field-rank officers. As a consequence, admirals have to be prepared to step out of power if political circumstances require it. I don't think that zh'Rhashaan herself would want to stay in office under these conditions. Not if the political price we pay were high enough.
Is keeping her worth giving up, say, being able to fight the Orion Syndicate effectively? Because keeping her compared to dropping her costs 30pp, about the same as the anti-Syndicate campaign. Is keeping her worth the Federation sacrificing a starbase and a mining colony? Because those options, put together, would cost LESS than 30pp. How about a refit program for a major category of dangerously obsolete Federation ships? We could start the
Miranda or
Constellation refits for about 30pp each.
Given that keeping zh'Rhashaan at her post for even a few more years requires us to give up one of those things, or something else of comparable value... I don't think we can justify doing it.
