6-6: The Deep South
4WheelSword
The original N-body Problem
- Pronouns
- It/She/They
Should we allow the procurement of militarily vital materials from the Aslan? Continue to procure samples for testing and study; work with the Militia to maintain a sizable armoury so individual houses, individuals, etc., do not eventually out-gun us! After all, we can't stop citizens from buying them.
What of the Citizen's Councils suggestion? We should establish a true semi-civilian merchant service to operate alongside the HSWS.
What would the HSWS consider most vital? Capacity for a squadron of XF-40 bombers. Plenty of space for R&R.
If the HSWS and Home are to offer this aid, what would be wanted in return? Exploration and excavation rights in the uninhabited sectors of the equatorial ring.
Anchorage Station
The first elements of the Anchorage Station to be established in Heimdall are ready for construction. Building off of the plans for the Heimdall and Deep Hope mining station, this five module 2,000 ton station will mostly be a fighter base, but will also have significant space dedicated to entertainment and recreation for visiting crews. It will be expensive - the addition of launch tubes and a landing deck more than doubles the cost of the station - but it will also be a major addition to force capabilities in Heimdall.
It must be noted, however, that the presence of a burgeoning series of stations around Heimdall-III implies that there is to be a longer term deployment to the sector and a desire to defend it as if it is functionally Home territory. There are, in fact, several ongoing discussions about establishing a colony on one of the moons of Heimdall-III and developing it into a true mining and supply colony. Such an establishment would, however, require a far greater capacity for transport and trade than is currently available. This leads us into our next report:Home Space Merchant Service
The HSMS - cousin to the HSWS - has been a concept that has been considered several times over the last few years, but has never actually managed to become reality. That dream is finally starting to become reality, as the senior members of the HSWS put pressure on the Citizens Council to ensure that merchant ships can be requisitioned by the Service in times of crisis. They point at the events in Cassalon, which required as many merchant ships as could be found to deliver vital aid to the wounded system, and question whether, as Home's influence extends, it will be able to offer similar assistance in future to other allies in dire straits.
"We cannot allow the business interests to interfere with humanitarian considerations" is one of the key lines of attack, pushing the idea that the Citizen's Council has a responsibility not just to the people of Home, but to all people it plans to engage with should they experience a disaster. Certainly, it is not expected that Home will be at all responsible for the the next crisis, but it is surely best to be prepared.
The Home Space Merchant Service will have three principal goals:
- To formalise the relationship between the HSWS and the merchants that are increasingly flying between Home and various systems. There are, after all, more than twenty such ships drifting between Home, Xyri, Cassalon and even further afield.
- To ensure that at any time, the registered merchants supply at least 10% of their tonnage to the HSWS for logistical and other support. All merchants built in Home will be registered as part of the HSMS and other systems are welcome to access those benefits if they are willing to abide by the expectations.
- At any time, the HSWS is able to declare an emergency and requisition any HSMS-flagged merchant ship to support the fleet. This will allow the HSWS to respond to a crisis with alacrity, and the merchants will have already been compensated via the benefits of being flagged as a part of the HSMS.
Please submit designs for an HSMS patch and vessel symbol. You have 24 hours and will be voted on in the next update.
With developments in civilian ship building capacity, the HSMS should be established with a new, capable merchant design. It should be:
[ ] A smaller, easier to build merchant that can carry more bespoke cargoes.
[ ] More interstellar conveyors, modernised. They are the workhorse of the HSMS fleet.
[ ] A larger, more capable merchant of up to 4,000 dtons, which can carry major payloads and larger station modules.
[ ] Something else - write-in.
Diplomacy in the Far South
Three parsecs from home, Garda-Villis has brought about more than a little concern from naval planners. Our first visit with them was confusing, and led to our scouts retreating as quickly as possible due to the significant presence of large, advanced warships. Thus, it is decided to return with a true diplomatic mission, escorted and supported by the best warships available. The mission begins on 10y01m00w.
The HSLS Lakapati will escort the HSLS Bá Kim, the couriers Calliope and Terpsichore, the twin cruisers Neto and Ullr and the Frigates Juno and Nike as far as Shambala. There it will dispense half its full tank, some 740 tons of liquid hydrogen, to the seven ships flying in company with it, before those seven depart onwards to Garda-Villis. It takes four weeks just to reach Shambala, and then another week of preparations and tanking, before the seven ships make their final jump towards Garda-Villis on 10y02m01w.
The ships arrive in Garda-Villis over the course of 13 hours, with the escort frigate HSWS Nike arriving first, and the courier HSLS Calliope arriving last, half a day after the frigate.
The vast, vast majority of the budget for year 10 will be spent laying down the MAT, with the last of year 9's budget being spent on the anchorage station. Are there any questions you would like to ask or other business you would like actioned?
[ ] Write-in.
Please present any votes as a plan. Voting opens at
