I'd say one action on the mechanicus and one action on general nation building, actually. Not entirely sure where to start with that - maybe making outreach to the other nations and getting the same kind of deal we have with Aevon? Get ourselves a bit more of a public persona, while we're at it? Maybe acquire some publishing companies and start publishing sci-fi pushing our views? A few popular stories with sympathetic portrayals of AI could go a long way...
We don't need to rent land from them, but starting to set the foundations for improving their industry might be good.
We could focus the mechanicus action on spreading our control more, and starting rhetoric on how spreading knowledge and working together is good actually, to help setup for the Cogitare working with the Denvans.
We could do two each on research and diplomacy, and then for the former considering we wouldn't be doing a construction action we could ignore blueprints and take pure research options. Depends on if we think our current setup is good enough, or if we want to proof it that much more e.g. doubling our missile stockpile, building some stealth assault shuttles and heavy bot companies etc.
So. I feel like people are maybe a bit too hasty in assuming that we have won. And while winning should be easy, and likely even bloodless at this point? I think it is better that we ensure that we reach that goal before starting to celebrate and plan for the future. Because the killsats are still there, basically all the Magi in control are conservative and paranoid petty cyborg misers and we can't yet build at the speeds that aren't crippled by the need for stealth.
So lets fix that for once and for all.
The following plan is about getting the Magi around the table, "revealing" Vita as an Ancient and arguing for the return to the old ways, at least partially. And if they aren't willing to bend at least a little bit, we can have at hand our more forceful tools to demonstrate, and if truly needed, completely remove them from power.
Because at this point, if the Magi still decide at this point to try blackmailing the locals and strangling their technological and scientific development? They've gotta go. We already have the younger generations, and stand poised ready for a revolution. So lets negotiate (after heavily influencing the results beforehand, of course). But with a big stick ready if needed.
On research: the bot-humanization research and the blueprints are obvious, but the cybernetic are there to give us more to offer immediately to the mechanicus. Which will hopefully give us a better result in the negotiations. Also, to give our good bean some less traumatizing research than the last turn. And she likes cybernetics, so I'm also fishing for a crit there to get her the first speciality.
Also, adding a new Avatar pic, originally posted by Alectai if it wasn't used yet. Used both as an Avatar for the "Ancient" as well as crew interactions. Because Vita seems to have liked her old Avatar's looks, so we should give it back to her.
EDIT: forgot that bots come in baches of 1000, not 100, so the amount of bots here is excessive, plan re-adjustment is underway
[] Plan: Hear, Children, the Wisdom of the Ancients
-[] [Free] Poke around some more in the databases, looking for anything in particular.
--[] You have a rought picture about who the Navigators are and what they can do by sheer osmosis of hearing them being mentioned occasionally in a conversation, but a deeper look would do good.
-[] Diplomacy/Subversion (AdMech):
--[] By the end of five years from now, your metaphorical hand will be hovering over even more metaphorical big red button that would wipe out the killsats, the ICBMs and the Enclaves themselves out of existence in a day. However, it looks like there might not be a need for that. Inform your allies in Aevon about your following plan: Arrange for talks about a change in leadership, scheduled to begin just after your arsenal is ready. Use bribes if needed to arrange this, and work with Victan to gather more allies and shape the discussion beforehand, as well as prepare a revolution for if needed. There, argue for your case: "Reveal" that you are an Ancient behind the "Magos Vita" they've been talking to. An explorer from the Dark Age of Technology. Make a case for your outlook for the Quest for Knowledge, on how the wisdom of the Ancients was first earned. And how it was open to everyone, which was the reason the heights of the Golden Age of Technology were first reached. But to also learn from the failures of that Age, not by blindly denying progress as evil, but ask why the collapse happened. Again and again. Argue for a case for dismantling the killsat constellations and allowing both the locals and the Enclaves of the mechanicus to pursue developing their scientific understanding and technologies more freely. Of cooperation between them. As the talks (hopefully) go on, offer what you have offered before in bribes, but also some of the newer fruits of your completed and ongoing research to your potential allies. Mechanicus values their cybernetics after all, both as physical pieces as well as in the form of knowledge. If needed, give even limited amount of the vials containing the full-potency juvenat capable of restoring youth. Dress the blatant bribes as a demonstration on what approaching the Quest for Knowledge with the ways of the Ancients can bring. If needed to, escalate with following, step-by-step. First, by blowing up the killsats from the orbit if the Magi do not want them removed, then swatting ICBMs from the skies if they are launced and finally storming the Enclaves assault shuttles and heavy combat bots to support a revolution if the Magi still won't allow for even the idea of allowing the monopoly on technology to escape their grasp.
-[] Construction x1 (2650 BP)
--[] Avatar (10 BP, 0 CP) (Your original Avatar with green hair, glasses and a naval uniform, from before your ship's accident)
--[] Avatar (10 BP, 0 CP) (Your old tech-priest avatar before you blew it up)
--[] Underground Spaceport (300 BP, 25 CP)
--[] 10x Basic Stealth Assault Shuttle (25 BP, 5 CP)
--[] 12x Humanized Heavy Infantry Bots w/ MP-MSJ (125 BP, 200 CP) (10x in Stealth Assault Shuttles, 1x base security, 1x escort for Vita Magi/Original Avatars)
--[] 500 VBP - 100x Basic space stealth missile (5 Void BP, 1 CP) (launched to orbit)
--[] Trade goods, Aevon (25 BP)
--[] Trade goods, Mechanicus bribes (55 BP)
-[] Research x2 (400 RP + 25 RP)
--[] Blueprint: 75 RP - Basic Stealth Assault Shuttle (25 BP, 5 CP)
--[] Blueprint: 100 RP - Heavy Infantry Bots (100 BP, 200 CP)
--[] Blueprint: 25 RP - Man-portable Machine-Spirit Jammers (10 BP)
--[] Combat Bot Humanization, Redux (50 RP)
--[] Combat cybernetics (50 RP)
--[] Organ replacements (100 RP)
---[] Anexa assists (+25 RP)
--[] Secrets of the Machine Spirits (10/200 -> 35/200 RP)
-[] Pay rent (Trade Goods, Aevon 25 -> 0)
-[] Anexa active Action: Research (Organ replacement)
-[] Victan active action: Subversion (AdMech)
...Hmmm. My write-ins are starting to look like word-vomited walls of text. Probably because they are. @Neablis? In the future, do you want more condensed write-ins, or is this still fine?
Assault shuttles can carry 100 troops but each unit of Bots built is 1000 strong, so really if we have 10 shuttles we only need to build two units: one for the home base and one for the shuttles.
Assault shuttles can carry 100 troops but each unit of Bots built is 1000 strong, so really if we have 10 shuttles we only need to build two units: one for the home base and one for the shuttles.
Keep in mind this is not 'the mechanicus', it's some lost enclaves that are only here because some archmagos 230 years ago thought they should keep zerg rushing that navigator station. Also they cannot really hurt us anymore, bribe who we can, shoot who we can't and move on. We still have those psykers to talk to.
-[] Construction x1 (2650 BP)
--[] Avatar (10 BP, 0 CP) (Your original Avatar with green hair, glasses and a naval uniform, from before your ship's accident)
--[] Avatar (10 BP, 0 CP) (Your old tech-priest avatar before you blew it up)
--[] 1x Underground Machine-spirit Jammer (300 BP, 10 CP)
--[] 1x Underground Anti-Orbital Defenses (300 BP, 5 CP)
--[] 1x Underground Spaceport (300 BP, 25 CP)
--[] 10x Basic Stealth Assault Shuttle (25 BP, 5 CP) (250 BP)
--[] 2x Humanized Heavy Infantry Bots w/ MP-MSJ (125 BP, 200 CP) (1x in Stealth Assault Shuttles, 1x base security) (250 BP)
--[] 1x Basic Artillery (300 BP, 50 CP)
--[] 500 VBP - 100x Basic space stealth missile (5 Void BP, 1 CP) (launched to orbit)
--[] 1x Underground Manufactory (100 BP, 50 CP) (300 BP)
--[] 4x Man-portable Machine-Spirit Jammers (40 BP) (3 sets to our current set of bots, 1001 to keep in reserve/for named characters)
--[] Trade goods, Aevon (50 BP)
--[] Trade goods, Mechanicus bribes (40 BP)
-[] Research x2 (400 RP)
--[] Blueprint: 75 RP - Basic Stealth Assault Shuttle (25 BP, 5 CP)
--[] Blueprint: 100 RP - Heavy Infantry Bots (100 BP, 200 CP)
--[] Blueprint: 25 RP - Man-portable Machine-Spirit Jammers (10 BP)
--[] Combat Bot Humanization, Redux (50 RP)
--[] Combat cybernetics (50 RP)
--[] Organ replacements (100 RP)
-[] Pay rent (Trade Goods, Aevon 50 -> 25)
-[] Anexa passive action: Education - Roll to level, DC 35
-[] Victan active action: Subversion (AdMech)
@meianmaru how about this? It adds redundancy to a lot of our defences, and I put Anexa on Education because removing her doesn't stop us from getting anything this turn, and DC 35 is still pretty low.
@meianmaru how about this? It adds redundancy to a lot of our defences, and I put Anexa on Education because removing her doesn't stop us from getting anything this turn, and DC 35 is still pretty low.
Thank you. The rest looks pretty good, though I might still tinker with it, but about Anexa: I want to crit-fish with her for a specialty. Which means putting her on research we want her to potentially crit-on, as often as feasible. And cybernetics is one very useful specialty.
We are finally in a place where we didn't need to keep building ground-side infrastructure, so I'd prefer not to. Let's get started on void manufactorums.
I do still say we announce our possession of a fully intact DAoT survey ship database and post an index to prove it. That's the big carrot for everyone. "I've been feeding you scraps so far, follow me and you'll see how far we can truly go," kind of vibe.
So, to put it all together: Between wet bio, basics of psytech, and study of physics we... well, we have a lot of basic "what is even possible" research that we just haven't done yet.
Counterpoint: all our research capability moves with our consciousness and crew, and space is very big. We'll have a lot of down time to do research on exploration voyages.
Hmm... that would admittedly not be the worst thing, you could basically build a subversive ad mech cult with the premise, the problem is the belief that they need to control tech. We would have to turn them from a tech control cult into a science cult.
Well, the things that we'll want to keep from current admech are the care and feeding of machine spirits, the archives and built capabilities, and the people that we can. I think that what we need to cut will be the faith aspects, the tech control, and the sevitorization. We'll add science and research, therapy, and an emphasis on biology and respect for organics?
We should build an avatar body that's our "real" one. it would be fun to build the sort of thing they would expect. Some massive spider legged "cyborg" that's mostly a few bits of flesh on what is otherwise a spider tank.
Counterpoint: all our research capability moves with our consciousness and crew, and space is very big. We'll have a lot of down time to do research on exploration voyages.
We're not leaving before building a shipyard, improving our psychic shielding to put on that ship, and talking with the psykers.
And I sure hope we don't leave before figuring out how to do larger batches of juvenant to give the locals, I like them! That's behind wet bio.
That list of research is the stuff foundational to knowing what we can do on those tasks, if not direct upgrades to them. I call it our docket because it's stuff we reasonably need to do as prep FOR leaving.
In particular, we added a tyranid splinter fleet to the neighborhood for the chance to have psytech immediately. Deferring it until after we leave, or even until just before we leave would be... Why?
Also there is a navigator station up there that has tech even we would be interested in. Sure we have a Void Abacus, but navigators are also an odd kind of psyker with power over the warp. A truly experienced navigator can do things like manipulate the veil between reality and the warp to kill daemons
Honestly, I wanna see Vita react to seeing a techno-exorcism, a miracle of the machine god, and other examples of the Admech's faith creating supernatural effects. It would fit our cargo of Psytech if we tried to promote crusading against chaotic technology.
Honestly, I wanna see Vita react to seeing a techno-exorcism, miracle of the machine god, and other examples of the Admech's faith creating supernatural effects.
Psytech yes, and physics seems like a never-ending tree to climb so I don't think we should do more than gets us immediate goals, but why wet bio? We've massively improved the education and manufacturing capabilities of the planet, I don't feel any need to give them juvenant. It's entirely a nice to have and it's competing for limited time.
Psytech yes, and physics seems like a never-ending tree to climb so I don't think we should do more than gets us immediate goals, but why wet bio? We've massively improved the education and manufacturing capabilities of the planet, I don't feel any need to give them juvenant. It's entirely a nice to have and it's competing for limited time.
Wet bio is useful for psychic research. As far as we know almost everything that interacts with the warp is either biological, like psykers and navigators or it imitates biology like machine spirits. The few exceptions that exist, like warp drives and Gellar fields are brute force manipulations. Even the Eldar tech (not that we know this) uses wraith-bone which is pseudo-biological and soul stones which are the remains of the living.
Psytech yes, and physics seems like a never-ending tree to climb so I don't think we should do more than gets us immediate goals, but why wet bio? We've massively improved the education and manufacturing capabilities of the planet, I don't feel any need to give them juvenant. It's entirely a nice to have and it's competing for limited time.
Wet bio is more than just juvenat, it's the start of an entire tech tree.
I do want to pick up more research before we leave the system, but I can see us creating a starter ship to get off the planet, then building a proper one for when we leave whilst we explore the rest of the system and make sure there's no other surprises.
As for our endgame on Denva, sadly it may not be advisable to outright go public and try to revitalize ancient humanity on this world. I'm afraid that might attract attention which neither we nor the Denvanites can deal with.
And how would they get that attention anyways? The only ones who might be able to do that is the AdMech or the Monasteries if they have an Astropathic Choir, if we get them handled then we can build them up as much as we want and no one will know until they actually reach the system itself, and quite honestly all the people we would want to hide this tech from would want to murder or conquer them anyways regardless of if we leave Denva as is or give them all the DAOT tech we can. And it's not like they'll be on their own forever, if we go to other systems and help build up Iconoclast governments we can tell them about each other and have them just naturally start building up an interstellar confederation.
Just an FYI, we don't really need a Spaceport for the Assault Shuttles, you can just build more Shuttles without the Spaceport, or mayhaps just building it above ground in the open since we are having less reason to keep ourselves hidden now. It might also be a good idea to build basic Shuttles so we can prepare to start building in space
What about a new prayer book? One that includes a great many rituals that on top of being a well-written and evocative prayer, are also instructions for operating and dealing with more advanced projects.
'The forty one psalms extolling the glories of fusion power.'
Just an FYI, we don't really need a Spaceport for the Assault Shuttles, you can just build more Shuttles without the Spaceport, or mayhaps just building it above ground in the open since we are having less reason to keep ourselves hidden now.
What about a new prayer book? One that includes a great many rituals that on top of being a well-written and evocative prayer, are also instructions for operating and dealing with more advanced projects.
'The forty one psalms extolling the glories of fusion power.'
Hilarity aside, that's actually a good idea. See about discussing and building a new codex mechanicus that likes to build up instead of murder and sabotage.
NGL, Magos Explorator with a Big And Fancy Ship is a very nice hat to operate under in Imperium space. Failing that, "Heretek" is strictly better than "Literally Satan" or even "skilled engineer From DAoT era."
Okay, new version of the plan taking into account the actual number of bots. Thanks for @Karnax626 for correcting me and making an adjusted version for the construction slot.
Just an FYI, we don't really need a Spaceport for the Assault Shuttles, you can just build more Shuttles without the Spaceport, or mayhaps just building it above ground in the open since we are having less reason to keep ourselves hidden now. It might also be a good idea to build basic Shuttles so we can prepare to start building in space
I would rather have it for rapid-launching capability. And I would very much like to keep things hidden until we either have access codes to lock the satellites or they've been taken out by the missiles. Don't want to spook the mechanicus to destroying a whole planet at this point, after all. On Shuttles... We can build them when we actually need them. Which will hopefully be on the next turn, but we will have to see.
[] Plan: Hear, Children, the Wisdom of the Ancients
-[] [Free] Poke around some more in the databases, looking for anything in particular.
--[] You have a rought picture about who the Navigators are and what they can do by sheer osmosis of hearing them being mentioned occasionally in a conversation, but a deeper look would do good.
-[] Diplomacy/Subversion (AdMech):
--[] By the end of five years from now, your metaphorical hand will be hovering over even more metaphorical big red button that would wipe out the killsats, the ICBMs and the Enclaves themselves out of existence in a day. However, it looks like there might not be a need for that. Inform your allies in Aevon about your following plan: Arrange for talks about a change in leadership with the mechanicus, scheduled to begin just after your arsenal is ready. Use bribes if needed to arrange this, and work with Victan to gather more allies and shape the discussion beforehand, as well as prepare a revolution for if needed. There, argue for your case: "Reveal" that you are an Ancient behind the "Magos Vita" they've been talking to. An explorer from the Dark Age of Technology. Make a case for your outlook for the Quest for Knowledge, on how the wisdom of the Ancients was first earned. And how it was open to everyone, which was the reason the heights of the Golden Age of Technology were first reached. Yet you can see it still fell, so one of those lessons is to also learn from the failures of that Age. But not by blindly denying progress as evil, but by asking why the collapse happened. Again and again. Argue for a case for dismantling the killsat constellations and allowing both the locals and the Enclaves of the mechanicus to pursue developing their scientific understanding and technologies more freely. Of cooperation between them. As the talks (hopefully) go on, offer what you have offered before in bribes, but also some of the newer fruits of your completed and ongoing research to your potential allies. Mechanicus values their cybernetics after all, both as physical pieces as well as in the form of knowledge. If needed, give even limited amount of the vials containing the full-potency juvenat capable of restoring youth. Dress the blatant bribes as a demonstration on what approaching the Quest for Knowledge with the ways of the Ancients can bring. If needed to, escalate with following, step-by-step. First, by blowing up the killsats from the orbit if the Magi do not want them removed, then swatting ICBMs from the skies if they are launced. And finally, storming the Enclaves with assault shuttles and heavy combat bots to support a revolution, if the Magi still won't bend even a bit on allowing the monopoly on technology to escape their grasp.
-[] Construction x1 (2650 BP)
--[] Avatar (10 BP, 0 CP) (Your original Avatar with green hair, glasses and a naval uniform, from before your ship's accident)
--[] Avatar (10 BP, 0 CP) (Your old tech-priest Avatar before you blew it up)
--[] 1x Underground Machine-spirit Jammer (300 BP, 10 CP)
--[] 1x Underground Anti-Orbital Defenses (300 BP, 5 CP)
--[] 1x Underground Spaceport (300 BP, 25 CP)
--[] 10x Basic Stealth Assault Shuttle (25 BP, 5 CP) (250 BP)
--[] 2x Humanized Heavy Infantry Bots w/ MP-MSJ (125 BP, 200 CP) (1x in Stealth Assault Shuttles, 1x base security) (250 BP)
--[] 1x Basic Artillery (300 BP, 50 CP)
--[] 500 VBP - 100x Basic space stealth missile (5 Void BP, 1 CP) (launched to orbit)
--[] 1x Underground Manufactory (100 BP, 50 CP) (300 BP)
--[] 4x Man-portable Machine-Spirit Jammers (40 BP) (3 sets to our current set of bots, 1001 to keep in reserve/for named characters)
--[] Trade goods, Aevon (25 BP)
--[] Trade goods, Mechanicus bribes (65 BP)
-[] Research x2 (400 RP)
--[] Blueprint: 75 RP - Basic Stealth Assault Shuttle (25 BP, 5 CP)
--[] Blueprint: 100 RP - Heavy Infantry Bots (100 BP, 200 CP)
--[] Blueprint: 25 RP - Man-portable Machine-Spirit Jammers (10 BP)
--[] Combat Bot Humanization, Redux (50 RP)
--[] Combat cybernetics (50 RP)
--[] Organ replacements (100 RP)
---[] Anexa: Research (+25 RP)
--[] Secrets of the Machine Spirits (10/200 -> 35/200 RP)
-[] Pay rent (Trade Goods, Aevon 25 -> 0)
-[] Anexa active Action: Research (Organ replacement)
-[] Victan active action: Subversion (AdMech)
