Update 38 - A Vacation <Start of Strategic Turn 5>
[X] Just Fight Her. She is a stripling and even if she is a head taller than you? You can handle this yourself without looking as if you are hiding behind the baroness.
[X] Take a Break. You have been running yourself ragged for a year since getting this job, you also have that new yacht, take Ranca on a pleasure cruise for a week or two and let Captain Sones supervise in your absence.
[X] The Sword of Democracy. You do not want any shenanigans at all, use your flagship to ride herd on them.
You regard Lieutenant Ariah Arslan over your magnificent new desk, you give her a second or two to let what she just said sink in, then, leaning back in your chair, you nod. "Very well then, Dame Ariah. I will face you in the station's duelling court the day after next. I hope that is acceptable."
She manages a quite magnificent glare but despite her best efforts to fail to melt like an ice sculpture subjected to a blowtorch. Then she salutes, waits for your acknowledgement, turns and storms out.
…
Two days later you face her in the purpose made duelling court aboard the sector command station, the textured plasteel floor scarred from the repaired relics of hundreds of previous contests, junior officers face each other frequently. You wear your undress uniform and have your sabre in hand by the time Ariah arrives, stalking forward in her rather more formal attire, tense, a handful of other junior officers from one of the Arslan cruisers with her while you have Ranca lounging ostentatiously in the background and regarding them like a panther presented with an array of delicious kittens.
They hesitate, Ariah steps forward, raises her blade in salute, then ignites it.
Duel Round One
You:
6 + 6 + 6 + 12 Prowess = 30
Ariah
1 + 4 + 1 + 9 Prowess = 15
Ariah Durability -5/10, -5 crippled.
It takes all of a split second, she salutes, you answer, your young opponent drops into a guard with her blade extended forward and covering, you lunge and feint for her forward leg. A single smooth motion then takes you past her guard before you slice off her sword arm above the elbow and follow through to cut into her side and through a half dozen ribs. Her weapon and most of a limb falls away with a stream of blood before she screams and collapses to the floor. Blood hisses and evaporates along the edge of your sabre, she makes no move to rise and try to continue, while the bleeding is rapidly cut off by her augmentations. You look to her companions, they immediately break eye contact as the medics rush forward.
Ranca grins even wider. "Magnificent! Not that she knew what she was doing but I would have been happy to do that well myself." You are actually a little numb for your part, that was easily the best pass of arms you have ever made and you are a veteran of several duels and at least a dozen boarding actions, several of which were prolonged and close fought. After a moment though? You grin right back. This was something that the lieutenant demanded and she will probably make a full, if lengthy, recovery. "You will have to try to let me demonstrate when we take advantage of my new yacht Ranca. You do remember that your battleship is out of my chain of command, yes?"
She did not need the reminder it seems, a chuckle followed by her stepping forward, twisting your sabre out of your hand, then taking hold of your arm before marching you off. There is not in truth a great deal you can really do about this but you do not try to resist either.
…
You are responsible enough to set things up before you take your long awaited break though. Captain Sones is currently down on the surface of Illam with his family, the Endeavour's finely tuned junior officers and crew more than able to keep her in shape as she is overhauled and rearmed. You also put Captain Wisanch onto the call, as the XO of your flagship and integral to your plans.
"Captains. I know we have only just returned after that hard fought battle but I am going to take a brief time off to celebrate and will be entrusting you with additional responsibility for a time. First of all I need you, Captain Sones, to cover me when it comes to overall sector command and coordination of patrols. If you can locate the Fafnir then I would appreciate her being guided to Illam so that her damage can be assessed. You will remain here above Ilam. Captain Wisanch, I want you to take the Sword of Democracy to Imhotep where you can... Supervise the efforts of the Arslan cruisers to restore order to the surface. Do not permit them to leave and do encourage them to use their own marines while you remain in high orbit to defend against any possibility of a further NASP raid. I will be arriving about a week after you are on station. Under no circumstances let either ship leave."
Both seem to find these directions reasonable enough and only ask technical questions or a few matters regarding chain of command, Sones wishes you well, then it is finally time for a holiday.
…
The yacht you purchased as part of your general ramp of up living expenses is the 'Flame of Ticia', a five thousand ton vessel, as small as a starship can be. She is purely civilian and has a crew of only seventy along with thirty or so staff and servants, a fluted two hundred meter long spire capped with a domed observation lounge and with luxurious quarters for two dozen. Extremely luxurious quarters now that you compare, the master bedroom alone is much larger than the apartments your family lived in when you were a child. Your planned vacation has you going on a tour of the outer Illam system then on a loop through three systems past the Rana Salient to Imhotep where you will rejoin the Sword of Democracy, given the potential dangers there if anyone is literally gunning for you? You bring the Hawk along for her shakedown cruise following her refit. She is befit of senior officers and has a more than green crew but the presence of an accompanying light cruiser should ensure you are safe from casual piracy and she is serving a useful purpose in ferrying a reinforced marine company to bolster the troops aboard the Sword, as well as giving her crew some time in space.
But for over a week you actually do not need to worry about such things. You instead get to wallow in luxury as your ship lingers above particularly photogenic planets. You also get to unashemedly enjoy Ranca's company which means both a great deal of exhausting sex as well as merciless duelling practise. Apparently Ranca does not do complete relaxation, though she indulges heavily in intoxicants and hours long zero gee showers, even trips like this apparently involve six hours a day in hard training.
This does answer some questions you have had about her relative lack of ability when it comes to commanding her ship despite certainly having the ability and opportunity to learn.
Does Something Go Wrong?
6 + 3 + 3 = 12, Nope, you have a nice break.
+1 Prowess (From Duel and Ranca Training)
Thus when you finally arrive over Imhotep? You are relaxed yet tired in a different way to your normal level of mental fatigue, also with a few fresh scars rapidly healing. You are of course greeted with all formality as you disembark onto the Sword of Democracy and resume command, Ranca planning to take the Flame back to Illam so that she can get to work on the crew for her battleship now that the initial refit from non Imperial computer systems should be finishing.
…
Imhotep is a mess. Where before there were still strong Imperial forces on the ground and holdouts of the local government now there is nothing at all, the Chuang Mu battleships arrived with utterly overwhelming firepower and deployed it to destroy every military target visible from space before having a few weeks with over four thousand marines aiding the local rebels and already positioned special forces to track down the rest.
When they left to relieve their home system? They handed their prisoners over to the rebels, who murdered everyone, often quite horribly. For all purposes Imhotep is no longer an Imperial world and it is going to take a full scale occupation force to change that. The Smaug and Falkor's marines have taken control of the main starport and have been engaged in efforts to break up any attempts by the rebels to form real governments, along with evacuating small numbers of surviving people who identify themselves as Imperial citizens, but they are far too few in number to take and hold even a single city.
High level infrastructure has almost completely broken down by now and most of the urban population has dispersed into the countryside, but whilst there has been a dramatic loss in quality of life for most people over ninety percent of them do not appear to be at risk of actual starvation. Imhotep was a pastoral, food exporting planet though, with widely dispersed power production and light manufacturing.
Either way the best that your ships can manage is watch keeping, evacuation and suppression, while you wait for the Imperial Army to get a half million or so troops together. This may be an issue given that they have expressed a lack of confidence in the navy to protect them.
Regardless you do need to decide upon your deployments for the next few months. Your fleet is hugely expanded but you have an awful lot of ships who should not be seeing combat, your strike cruisers and the Endeavour suffered heavily in the attack upon Chuang Mu.
First of all what are you going to do with your patrol cutters?
[] Cutters: Full Patrol. Task every patrol cutter with policing trade, patrolling and interdicting smugglers across the sector.
[] Cutters: Fleet Escort. Task six of your cutters with scouting, screening and communicating for your heavier vessels.
[] Cutters: Fleet Support. Task three of your cutters to scouting, screening and communicating between your heavier vessels.
Then with any cruisers and corvettes tasked with general duties after some are sent into refit?
[] Fleet: Escort, Guard, Patrol. You have breathing space after your response to the last NASP incursion broke one of their richest worlds and captured their fleet, use it to keep order across the sector and try to establish some measure of peace.
[] Fleet: Raid NASP Border Worlds. You have reason to believe there are significant NASP reinforcements arriving, but they also now know you fear you. Take the Sword of Democracy and any available cruisers over the board to force them to spread out defensively and perhaps suffer further losses.
[] Fleet: Hunt Down The Pirates. You have made huge strides here but piracy is still obviously an issue, even if a reduced one. Hunt down and finish the last pirate strongholds.
[] Fleet: Fleet Exercises. Put your officers and crews through rigorous exercises, both real and virtual, forge them into a force worthy of the Imperial Navy. (Pay full active service maintenance for all ships, even those in refit). Excellent chances for Strategy, Tactics and crew level gains for everyone and every ship, rolled mostly off your Strategy ability).
Given recent events you have also been reconsidering your sources of intelligence. They are obviously inadequate.
[] Intel Funding: No Additional Funding. Your intelligence staff will have to make do with their existing resources.
[] Intel Funding: Lavish Funding. Provide your intelligence staff with massive funding, allowing them to start constructing an intelligence network with its own (non military) starships, agents, infiltration of ducal houses and across the border into NASP space. (spend 40 Wealth, 4 Wealth a turn upkeep).
[] Intel Funding: Extensive Funding. Ensure your intelligence staff has the money and resources to suborn commercial and independent freighter captains, establish agents and observe major noble houses whilst establishing networks on border NASP worlds. (Spend 20 Wealth, 2 Wealth a turn upkeep).
[] Intel Funding: Some Funding. Provide your intelligence staff with the money to begin establishing a private network of informants, adding to his existing conventional avenues of intelligence. (Spend 10 Wealth).
There is also the matter of what ships you want to deploy and where you are going to station your senior officers. Though you do not have complete freedom there. You are informed that Commander Anen Jenker (Diplomacy 9, Strategy 12, Tactics 13, Prowess 9, Subterfuge 10 Loyalty 8) has been given captaincy of the Whippet. A commoner officer, she has an exceptional service record but her career has stalled out at the corvette captain level due to lack of patronage.
More interestingly you are informed that Captain Sir Atris Moora (Diplomacy 12, Strategy 12, Tactics 11, Prowess 12, Subterfuge 10, Loyalty 9) will be assuming command of the Perun and that this assignment is not one you are allowed to have input on, he is a competent officer with an excellent record but is also a knight directly sworn to the Imperial House. This is relevant given that his second in command is Commander Princess Kathla Anen Imperial (Diplomacy 15, Strategy 5, Tactics 8, Prowess 12, Subterfuge 14) Loyalty: 12.
Twenty one year olds are not normally commanders but Kathla is the Empress' great granddaughter and apparently also only needed to attend the academy for two years due to her excellence and natural talent. Her record does not fill you with confidence in her actual competence. Her assignment here does seem to be a fairly strong sign of Imperial backing for your actions though even if it was lightly influenced by the fact the Perun was probably the only strike cruiser in the Empire without a captain assigned, it looks like this decision was made as soon as news of Wison being promoted to a battleship reached Rimward Fleet Command. Fortunately they are due to arrive with a drafting of crack enlisted crew and junior officers culled from the heavy cruiser they were originally commanding.
+20 Political Capital. Empress' direct descendant assigned to command.
Perun crew raised to Elite (+3)
Political Capital: 302
Wealth: 396
(20 Wealth Invested)
Sector Budget: 45 per quarter
Section Budget Reserve: 10
You will need to decide which ships you want to put in reserve, which will be fielded and if you want to expedite repairs or refits. Ships in active service will cost 1/10th of their Cost to field, ships in reserve 1/20th. So for example the Sword of Democracy as a battlecruiser costs 11 Wealth to field or 5.5 to reserve.
Ships in reserve will regain 25% Readiness, or 50% for a corvette.
A ship in Active service can be designated for Training instead of Operations, a ship in training will have excellent chances of improving her crew grade, improvements in officers are also possible but more likely the more ships you have Training at once.
Expedited repairs will cost 3 Wealth for a light cruiser, 5 Wealth for a heavy cruiser or 6 Wealth for a strike cruiser. This will increase Readiness by 10% without preventing a vessel from serving actively.
It is not possible to spent Wealth to gain superior crew grade on any ships, you hired everyone available last time.
Additional Marine reinforcements will cost 2 Political Capital per point on a warship, 4 Political Capital a point on a capital ship.
Many of your ships also currently lack senior officers, a vessel without senior officers can still function but if rolls are required will be captained by a Lieutenant Commander with average stats of 9 and a more junior XO with average stats of 8. Reassignment of officers (apart from the Princess and her minder) is possible but will cost Political Capital if you appoint somebody to a more junior role than their current one. The relevant hierarchy looks something like this:
Battlecruiser Captain
Battleship Captain
Strike Cruiser Captain/Flagship XO
Heavy Cruiser Captain
Light Cruiser Captain/Capital Ship XO - Minimum expected position for a Captain as opposed to a Commander
Corvette Captain/Flagship 2nd Officer/Staff Officer Position
Light Cruiser XO/Capital Ship 2nd Officer
Political Capital cost for 'demoting' somebody would be about 3 per step for commoners, 5 for nobles, 10 for Shareholders, significantly more for Baronets or Baron tier nobles. You can put Commanders into higher ranked positions but this will cost Loyalty from those they are advanced ahead of.
Sector Fleet:
1 Battlecruiser - Sector flagship, former NASP flagship
1 Heavy Cruiser (Endeavour)
2 Strike Cruisers (Huitzilopochtli and Perun) Captured advanced model enemy ships.
3 Light Cruisers (Hawk, Peregrin, Harpy)
3 Escort Corvettes (Greyhound, Whippet, Settler)
1 Fleet Corvette (Cirrus)
9 Patrol Cutters (Numerical Designations)
Flotilla Commander: Lord Commander Jeffry Asim Grigonz (Diplomacy 11, Strategy 13, Tactics 8, Prowess 10, Subterfuge 9) Loyalty: 11
Crews are Regular (0)
3 Loaned Patrol Cutters - Belonging to the Governor General and available for customs enforcement. Prize money goes to him.
Crews are Regular (0)
Other Officers:
Commander Clase Bertson (Diplomacy 9, Strategy 8, Tactics 12, Prowess 8, Subterfuge 11) Loyalty 13, unassigned.
Captain Baroness Ranca Sandra Arril (Diplomacy 10, Strategy 10, Tactics 10, Prowess 17, Subterfuge 13) Loyalty 19 – Captain of the Battleship Qiqihar, in refit.
Captain Baron Adald Clipaul Imperial (Diplomacy: 11, Strategy 11, Tactics 9, Prowess 11, Subterfuge 8) Loyalty 17 – Captain of the Battleship Hohhot, in refit.
Captain Dame Jule Sice Wison (Diplomacy: 9, Strategy 9, Tactics 14, Prowess 14, Subterfuge 9) Loyalty 15 – Captain of the Battleship Xining, in refit.
Captain Dame Thera Phardson (Diplomacy 13, Strategy 9, Tactics 12, Prowess 14, Subterfuge 14) Loyalty: 15 – Captain of the Cruiser Mianyang, in refit.
Captain Lord Andos Lezal Rownett (Diplomacy 11, Strategy 11, Tactics 10, Prowess 13, Subterfuge 12) Loyalty 10. to all actions. Captain of the Cruiser Sanming, in refit.
Assuming you do not spend all of your money somehow, you can place more into investments. For every 10 Wealth you have placed into investments a 1d6 will be rolled each quarter, on a 4, 5 or 6 you get +1 Wealth, on a 1 you get -1 Wealth.
These are diversified, Empire wide investments and should be secure short of a full scaled civil war or breakdown of society. You can alternatively place money into 'Local/Risky Investments'.
This would mean investing in the Mimir Sector, right on the border and half recently conquered. Depending upon just how heavily you invest you could essentially end up owning a continent or two on a planet, or a heavily inhabited moon. For each 10 Wealth put into Risky Investments a 1d6 will be rolled each quarter, on a 3, 4, 5 or 6 you get +1 Wealth, on a 1 you get -1 Wealth. Fifty percent higher yields on average but you will get one or a handul of systems that you need to keep safe from salted earth attacks if you want to retain your investment.
There will be a voting moratorium for eight hours given the complexity of the ship and budget allocation.
Remember that you are liable to end up 'moving' after this strategic turn, so you might want to consider putting together a small elite core of ships you want to take with you rather than really thinking about the long term. Your request there to the Governor General was your flagship, both strike cruisers and the trio of captured battleships currently undergoing refit but not under your command (if with officers you assigned to them as prize captains).
[X] Take a Break. You have been running yourself ragged for a year since getting this job, you also have that new yacht, take Ranca on a pleasure cruise for a week or two and let Captain Sones supervise in your absence.
[X] The Sword of Democracy. You do not want any shenanigans at all, use your flagship to ride herd on them.
You regard Lieutenant Ariah Arslan over your magnificent new desk, you give her a second or two to let what she just said sink in, then, leaning back in your chair, you nod. "Very well then, Dame Ariah. I will face you in the station's duelling court the day after next. I hope that is acceptable."
She manages a quite magnificent glare but despite her best efforts to fail to melt like an ice sculpture subjected to a blowtorch. Then she salutes, waits for your acknowledgement, turns and storms out.
…
Two days later you face her in the purpose made duelling court aboard the sector command station, the textured plasteel floor scarred from the repaired relics of hundreds of previous contests, junior officers face each other frequently. You wear your undress uniform and have your sabre in hand by the time Ariah arrives, stalking forward in her rather more formal attire, tense, a handful of other junior officers from one of the Arslan cruisers with her while you have Ranca lounging ostentatiously in the background and regarding them like a panther presented with an array of delicious kittens.
They hesitate, Ariah steps forward, raises her blade in salute, then ignites it.
Duel Round One
You:
6 + 6 + 6 + 12 Prowess = 30
Ariah
1 + 4 + 1 + 9 Prowess = 15
Ariah Durability -5/10, -5 crippled.
It takes all of a split second, she salutes, you answer, your young opponent drops into a guard with her blade extended forward and covering, you lunge and feint for her forward leg. A single smooth motion then takes you past her guard before you slice off her sword arm above the elbow and follow through to cut into her side and through a half dozen ribs. Her weapon and most of a limb falls away with a stream of blood before she screams and collapses to the floor. Blood hisses and evaporates along the edge of your sabre, she makes no move to rise and try to continue, while the bleeding is rapidly cut off by her augmentations. You look to her companions, they immediately break eye contact as the medics rush forward.
Ranca grins even wider. "Magnificent! Not that she knew what she was doing but I would have been happy to do that well myself." You are actually a little numb for your part, that was easily the best pass of arms you have ever made and you are a veteran of several duels and at least a dozen boarding actions, several of which were prolonged and close fought. After a moment though? You grin right back. This was something that the lieutenant demanded and she will probably make a full, if lengthy, recovery. "You will have to try to let me demonstrate when we take advantage of my new yacht Ranca. You do remember that your battleship is out of my chain of command, yes?"
She did not need the reminder it seems, a chuckle followed by her stepping forward, twisting your sabre out of your hand, then taking hold of your arm before marching you off. There is not in truth a great deal you can really do about this but you do not try to resist either.
…
You are responsible enough to set things up before you take your long awaited break though. Captain Sones is currently down on the surface of Illam with his family, the Endeavour's finely tuned junior officers and crew more than able to keep her in shape as she is overhauled and rearmed. You also put Captain Wisanch onto the call, as the XO of your flagship and integral to your plans.
"Captains. I know we have only just returned after that hard fought battle but I am going to take a brief time off to celebrate and will be entrusting you with additional responsibility for a time. First of all I need you, Captain Sones, to cover me when it comes to overall sector command and coordination of patrols. If you can locate the Fafnir then I would appreciate her being guided to Illam so that her damage can be assessed. You will remain here above Ilam. Captain Wisanch, I want you to take the Sword of Democracy to Imhotep where you can... Supervise the efforts of the Arslan cruisers to restore order to the surface. Do not permit them to leave and do encourage them to use their own marines while you remain in high orbit to defend against any possibility of a further NASP raid. I will be arriving about a week after you are on station. Under no circumstances let either ship leave."
Both seem to find these directions reasonable enough and only ask technical questions or a few matters regarding chain of command, Sones wishes you well, then it is finally time for a holiday.
…
The yacht you purchased as part of your general ramp of up living expenses is the 'Flame of Ticia', a five thousand ton vessel, as small as a starship can be. She is purely civilian and has a crew of only seventy along with thirty or so staff and servants, a fluted two hundred meter long spire capped with a domed observation lounge and with luxurious quarters for two dozen. Extremely luxurious quarters now that you compare, the master bedroom alone is much larger than the apartments your family lived in when you were a child. Your planned vacation has you going on a tour of the outer Illam system then on a loop through three systems past the Rana Salient to Imhotep where you will rejoin the Sword of Democracy, given the potential dangers there if anyone is literally gunning for you? You bring the Hawk along for her shakedown cruise following her refit. She is befit of senior officers and has a more than green crew but the presence of an accompanying light cruiser should ensure you are safe from casual piracy and she is serving a useful purpose in ferrying a reinforced marine company to bolster the troops aboard the Sword, as well as giving her crew some time in space.
But for over a week you actually do not need to worry about such things. You instead get to wallow in luxury as your ship lingers above particularly photogenic planets. You also get to unashemedly enjoy Ranca's company which means both a great deal of exhausting sex as well as merciless duelling practise. Apparently Ranca does not do complete relaxation, though she indulges heavily in intoxicants and hours long zero gee showers, even trips like this apparently involve six hours a day in hard training.
This does answer some questions you have had about her relative lack of ability when it comes to commanding her ship despite certainly having the ability and opportunity to learn.
Does Something Go Wrong?
6 + 3 + 3 = 12, Nope, you have a nice break.
+1 Prowess (From Duel and Ranca Training)
Thus when you finally arrive over Imhotep? You are relaxed yet tired in a different way to your normal level of mental fatigue, also with a few fresh scars rapidly healing. You are of course greeted with all formality as you disembark onto the Sword of Democracy and resume command, Ranca planning to take the Flame back to Illam so that she can get to work on the crew for her battleship now that the initial refit from non Imperial computer systems should be finishing.
…
Imhotep is a mess. Where before there were still strong Imperial forces on the ground and holdouts of the local government now there is nothing at all, the Chuang Mu battleships arrived with utterly overwhelming firepower and deployed it to destroy every military target visible from space before having a few weeks with over four thousand marines aiding the local rebels and already positioned special forces to track down the rest.
When they left to relieve their home system? They handed their prisoners over to the rebels, who murdered everyone, often quite horribly. For all purposes Imhotep is no longer an Imperial world and it is going to take a full scale occupation force to change that. The Smaug and Falkor's marines have taken control of the main starport and have been engaged in efforts to break up any attempts by the rebels to form real governments, along with evacuating small numbers of surviving people who identify themselves as Imperial citizens, but they are far too few in number to take and hold even a single city.
High level infrastructure has almost completely broken down by now and most of the urban population has dispersed into the countryside, but whilst there has been a dramatic loss in quality of life for most people over ninety percent of them do not appear to be at risk of actual starvation. Imhotep was a pastoral, food exporting planet though, with widely dispersed power production and light manufacturing.
Either way the best that your ships can manage is watch keeping, evacuation and suppression, while you wait for the Imperial Army to get a half million or so troops together. This may be an issue given that they have expressed a lack of confidence in the navy to protect them.
Regardless you do need to decide upon your deployments for the next few months. Your fleet is hugely expanded but you have an awful lot of ships who should not be seeing combat, your strike cruisers and the Endeavour suffered heavily in the attack upon Chuang Mu.
First of all what are you going to do with your patrol cutters?
[] Cutters: Full Patrol. Task every patrol cutter with policing trade, patrolling and interdicting smugglers across the sector.
[] Cutters: Fleet Escort. Task six of your cutters with scouting, screening and communicating for your heavier vessels.
[] Cutters: Fleet Support. Task three of your cutters to scouting, screening and communicating between your heavier vessels.
Then with any cruisers and corvettes tasked with general duties after some are sent into refit?
[] Fleet: Escort, Guard, Patrol. You have breathing space after your response to the last NASP incursion broke one of their richest worlds and captured their fleet, use it to keep order across the sector and try to establish some measure of peace.
[] Fleet: Raid NASP Border Worlds. You have reason to believe there are significant NASP reinforcements arriving, but they also now know you fear you. Take the Sword of Democracy and any available cruisers over the board to force them to spread out defensively and perhaps suffer further losses.
[] Fleet: Hunt Down The Pirates. You have made huge strides here but piracy is still obviously an issue, even if a reduced one. Hunt down and finish the last pirate strongholds.
[] Fleet: Fleet Exercises. Put your officers and crews through rigorous exercises, both real and virtual, forge them into a force worthy of the Imperial Navy. (Pay full active service maintenance for all ships, even those in refit). Excellent chances for Strategy, Tactics and crew level gains for everyone and every ship, rolled mostly off your Strategy ability).
Given recent events you have also been reconsidering your sources of intelligence. They are obviously inadequate.
[] Intel Funding: No Additional Funding. Your intelligence staff will have to make do with their existing resources.
[] Intel Funding: Lavish Funding. Provide your intelligence staff with massive funding, allowing them to start constructing an intelligence network with its own (non military) starships, agents, infiltration of ducal houses and across the border into NASP space. (spend 40 Wealth, 4 Wealth a turn upkeep).
[] Intel Funding: Extensive Funding. Ensure your intelligence staff has the money and resources to suborn commercial and independent freighter captains, establish agents and observe major noble houses whilst establishing networks on border NASP worlds. (Spend 20 Wealth, 2 Wealth a turn upkeep).
[] Intel Funding: Some Funding. Provide your intelligence staff with the money to begin establishing a private network of informants, adding to his existing conventional avenues of intelligence. (Spend 10 Wealth).
There is also the matter of what ships you want to deploy and where you are going to station your senior officers. Though you do not have complete freedom there. You are informed that Commander Anen Jenker (Diplomacy 9, Strategy 12, Tactics 13, Prowess 9, Subterfuge 10 Loyalty 8) has been given captaincy of the Whippet. A commoner officer, she has an exceptional service record but her career has stalled out at the corvette captain level due to lack of patronage.
More interestingly you are informed that Captain Sir Atris Moora (Diplomacy 12, Strategy 12, Tactics 11, Prowess 12, Subterfuge 10, Loyalty 9) will be assuming command of the Perun and that this assignment is not one you are allowed to have input on, he is a competent officer with an excellent record but is also a knight directly sworn to the Imperial House. This is relevant given that his second in command is Commander Princess Kathla Anen Imperial (Diplomacy 15, Strategy 5, Tactics 8, Prowess 12, Subterfuge 14) Loyalty: 12.
Twenty one year olds are not normally commanders but Kathla is the Empress' great granddaughter and apparently also only needed to attend the academy for two years due to her excellence and natural talent. Her record does not fill you with confidence in her actual competence. Her assignment here does seem to be a fairly strong sign of Imperial backing for your actions though even if it was lightly influenced by the fact the Perun was probably the only strike cruiser in the Empire without a captain assigned, it looks like this decision was made as soon as news of Wison being promoted to a battleship reached Rimward Fleet Command. Fortunately they are due to arrive with a drafting of crack enlisted crew and junior officers culled from the heavy cruiser they were originally commanding.
+20 Political Capital. Empress' direct descendant assigned to command.
Perun crew raised to Elite (+3)
Political Capital: 302
Wealth: 396
(20 Wealth Invested)
Sector Budget: 45 per quarter
Section Budget Reserve: 10
You will need to decide which ships you want to put in reserve, which will be fielded and if you want to expedite repairs or refits. Ships in active service will cost 1/10th of their Cost to field, ships in reserve 1/20th. So for example the Sword of Democracy as a battlecruiser costs 11 Wealth to field or 5.5 to reserve.
Ships in reserve will regain 25% Readiness, or 50% for a corvette.
A ship in Active service can be designated for Training instead of Operations, a ship in training will have excellent chances of improving her crew grade, improvements in officers are also possible but more likely the more ships you have Training at once.
Expedited repairs will cost 3 Wealth for a light cruiser, 5 Wealth for a heavy cruiser or 6 Wealth for a strike cruiser. This will increase Readiness by 10% without preventing a vessel from serving actively.
It is not possible to spent Wealth to gain superior crew grade on any ships, you hired everyone available last time.
Additional Marine reinforcements will cost 2 Political Capital per point on a warship, 4 Political Capital a point on a capital ship.
Many of your ships also currently lack senior officers, a vessel without senior officers can still function but if rolls are required will be captained by a Lieutenant Commander with average stats of 9 and a more junior XO with average stats of 8. Reassignment of officers (apart from the Princess and her minder) is possible but will cost Political Capital if you appoint somebody to a more junior role than their current one. The relevant hierarchy looks something like this:
Battlecruiser Captain
Battleship Captain
Strike Cruiser Captain/Flagship XO
Heavy Cruiser Captain
Light Cruiser Captain/Capital Ship XO - Minimum expected position for a Captain as opposed to a Commander
Corvette Captain/Flagship 2nd Officer/Staff Officer Position
Light Cruiser XO/Capital Ship 2nd Officer
Political Capital cost for 'demoting' somebody would be about 3 per step for commoners, 5 for nobles, 10 for Shareholders, significantly more for Baronets or Baron tier nobles. You can put Commanders into higher ranked positions but this will cost Loyalty from those they are advanced ahead of.
Sector Fleet:
1 Battlecruiser - Sector flagship, former NASP flagship
Sword class Battlecruiser
Speed: 8, Firepower 10, Durability 7, Marines 8/10
Readiness currently at 100%
Crew: Veteran (+2)
Captain: You
XO: Captain Dame Juley Mara Wisanch (Diplomacy 6, Strategy 14, Tactics 10, Prowess 12, Subterfuge 9) Loyalty: 13, +3 from Blackmail for effective 16.
2nd Officer: N/A
Marine CO: Marine Colonel Dame Manda Lexand (Diplomacy 9, Strategy 11, Tactics 9, Prowess 11, Subterfuge 11) Loyalty 13
Speed: 8, Firepower 10, Durability 7, Marines 8/10
Readiness currently at 100%
Crew: Veteran (+2)
Captain: You
XO: Captain Dame Juley Mara Wisanch (Diplomacy 6, Strategy 14, Tactics 10, Prowess 12, Subterfuge 9) Loyalty: 13, +3 from Blackmail for effective 16.
2nd Officer: N/A
Marine CO: Marine Colonel Dame Manda Lexand (Diplomacy 9, Strategy 11, Tactics 9, Prowess 11, Subterfuge 11) Loyalty 13
1 Heavy Cruiser (Endeavour)
Virtue Class Heavy Cruiser
Speed: 5, Firepower: 5, Durability: 5, Marines 3/5
Readiness currently at 46%
Crew: Elite (+3)
Captain: Captain Waltin Sones (Diplomacy 14, Strategy 13, Tactics 10, Prowess 13, Subterfuge 15) Loyalty 20
XO: N/A
Speed: 5, Firepower: 5, Durability: 5, Marines 3/5
Readiness currently at 46%
Crew: Elite (+3)
Captain: Captain Waltin Sones (Diplomacy 14, Strategy 13, Tactics 10, Prowess 13, Subterfuge 15) Loyalty 20
XO: N/A
2 Strike Cruisers (Huitzilopochtli and Perun) Captured advanced model enemy ships.
War God Class Strike Cruiser
Speed: 10, Firepower: 3, Durability: 2, Marines 2/4
Readiness currently at 35%
Crew: Regular (0)
Captain: Captain Lady Stephua Rosson Maner (Diplomacy 13, Strategy 9, Tactics 12, Prowess 9, Subterfuge 8) Loyalty: 14 - HURT, -1 to all actions
XO: Captain Baroness Kathra Ared Scolly (Diplomacy 6, Strategy 10, Tactics 7, Prowess 9, Subterfuge 15) Loyalty: 14
Speed: 10, Firepower: 3, Durability: 2, Marines 2/4
Readiness currently at 35%
Crew: Regular (0)
Captain: Captain Lady Stephua Rosson Maner (Diplomacy 13, Strategy 9, Tactics 12, Prowess 9, Subterfuge 8) Loyalty: 14 - HURT, -1 to all actions
XO: Captain Baroness Kathra Ared Scolly (Diplomacy 6, Strategy 10, Tactics 7, Prowess 9, Subterfuge 15) Loyalty: 14
War God Class Strike Cruiser
Speed: 10, Firepower: 3, Durability: 2, Marines 4/4
Readiness currently at 60%
Crew: Elite (+3)
Captain: Captain Sir Atris Moora (Diplomacy 12, Strategy 12, Tactics 11, Prowess 12, Subterfuge 10) Loyalty: 9
XO: Commander Princess Kathla Anen Imperial (Diplomacy 15, Strategy 5, Tactics 8, Prowess 12, Subterfuge 14) Loyalty: 12
Speed: 10, Firepower: 3, Durability: 2, Marines 4/4
Readiness currently at 60%
Crew: Elite (+3)
Captain: Captain Sir Atris Moora (Diplomacy 12, Strategy 12, Tactics 11, Prowess 12, Subterfuge 10) Loyalty: 9
XO: Commander Princess Kathla Anen Imperial (Diplomacy 15, Strategy 5, Tactics 8, Prowess 12, Subterfuge 14) Loyalty: 12
3 Light Cruisers (Hawk, Peregrin, Harpy)
Raptor Class Light Cruiser
Speed: 7, Firepower: 3, Durability: 2, Marines 1/3
Readiness currently at 80%
Crew: Useless (-3)
Captain: None
XO: None
Speed: 7, Firepower: 3, Durability: 2, Marines 1/3
Readiness currently at 80%
Crew: Useless (-3)
Captain: None
XO: None
Raptor Class Light Cruiser
Speed: 7, Firepower: 3, Durability: 2, Marines 1/3
Readiness currently at 50%
Crew: Green (-2)
Captain: None
XO: None
Speed: 7, Firepower: 3, Durability: 2, Marines 1/3
Readiness currently at 50%
Crew: Green (-2)
Captain: None
XO: None
Raptor Class Light Cruiser
Speed: 7, Firepower: 2, Durability: 3, Marines 1/3
Readiness currently at 80%
Crew: Useless (-3)
Captain: N/A
XO: N/A
Speed: 7, Firepower: 2, Durability: 3, Marines 1/3
Readiness currently at 80%
Crew: Useless (-3)
Captain: N/A
XO: N/A
3 Escort Corvettes (Greyhound, Whippet, Settler)
Dog Class Corvette
Speed: 5, Firepower: 2, Durability: 2, Marines 2/2
Readiness currently at 95%
Crew: Veteran (+2)
Captain: Baronet Commander Joyce Artis Rownett (Diplomacy 11, Strategy 12, Tactics 13, Prowess 12, Subterfuge 10) Loyalty: 9
Speed: 5, Firepower: 2, Durability: 2, Marines 2/2
Readiness currently at 95%
Crew: Veteran (+2)
Captain: Baronet Commander Joyce Artis Rownett (Diplomacy 11, Strategy 12, Tactics 13, Prowess 12, Subterfuge 10) Loyalty: 9
Dog Class Corvette
Speed: 5, Firepower: 2, Durability: 2, Marines 1/2
Readiness currently at 60%
Crew: Useless (-3 all rolls)
Captain: Commander Anen Jenker (Diplomacy 9, Strategy 12, Tactics 13, Prowess 9, Subterfuge 10) Loyalty: 8
Speed: 5, Firepower: 2, Durability: 2, Marines 1/2
Readiness currently at 60%
Crew: Useless (-3 all rolls)
Captain: Commander Anen Jenker (Diplomacy 9, Strategy 12, Tactics 13, Prowess 9, Subterfuge 10) Loyalty: 8
Dog Class Corvette
Speed: 5, Firepower: 2, Durability: 2, Marines 2/2
Readiness currently at 85%
Crew: Regular (No Modifiers)
Captain: Commander Lyna Ryante (Diplomacy 7, Strategy 10, Tactics 13, Prowess 11, Subterfuge 14) Loyalty: 6
Speed: 5, Firepower: 2, Durability: 2, Marines 2/2
Readiness currently at 85%
Crew: Regular (No Modifiers)
Captain: Commander Lyna Ryante (Diplomacy 7, Strategy 10, Tactics 13, Prowess 11, Subterfuge 14) Loyalty: 6
1 Fleet Corvette (Cirrus)
Weather Class Corvette
Speed: 6, Firepower: 2, Durability: 2, Marines 1/2
Readiness currently at 70%
Crew: Experienced (+1)
Captain: Commander Sir Atthell Ason Perra (Diplomacy 12, Strategy 10, Tactics 9, Prowess 10, Subterfuge 15) Loyalty: 11 - HURT, -1 to all actions.
Speed: 6, Firepower: 2, Durability: 2, Marines 1/2
Readiness currently at 70%
Crew: Experienced (+1)
Captain: Commander Sir Atthell Ason Perra (Diplomacy 12, Strategy 10, Tactics 9, Prowess 10, Subterfuge 15) Loyalty: 11 - HURT, -1 to all actions.
9 Patrol Cutters (Numerical Designations)
Flotilla Commander: Lord Commander Jeffry Asim Grigonz (Diplomacy 11, Strategy 13, Tactics 8, Prowess 10, Subterfuge 9) Loyalty: 11
Crews are Regular (0)
3 Loaned Patrol Cutters - Belonging to the Governor General and available for customs enforcement. Prize money goes to him.
Crews are Regular (0)
Other Officers:
Commander Clase Bertson (Diplomacy 9, Strategy 8, Tactics 12, Prowess 8, Subterfuge 11) Loyalty 13, unassigned.
Captain Baroness Ranca Sandra Arril (Diplomacy 10, Strategy 10, Tactics 10, Prowess 17, Subterfuge 13) Loyalty 19 – Captain of the Battleship Qiqihar, in refit.
Captain Baron Adald Clipaul Imperial (Diplomacy: 11, Strategy 11, Tactics 9, Prowess 11, Subterfuge 8) Loyalty 17 – Captain of the Battleship Hohhot, in refit.
Captain Dame Jule Sice Wison (Diplomacy: 9, Strategy 9, Tactics 14, Prowess 14, Subterfuge 9) Loyalty 15 – Captain of the Battleship Xining, in refit.
Captain Dame Thera Phardson (Diplomacy 13, Strategy 9, Tactics 12, Prowess 14, Subterfuge 14) Loyalty: 15 – Captain of the Cruiser Mianyang, in refit.
Captain Lord Andos Lezal Rownett (Diplomacy 11, Strategy 11, Tactics 10, Prowess 13, Subterfuge 12) Loyalty 10. to all actions. Captain of the Cruiser Sanming, in refit.
Assuming you do not spend all of your money somehow, you can place more into investments. For every 10 Wealth you have placed into investments a 1d6 will be rolled each quarter, on a 4, 5 or 6 you get +1 Wealth, on a 1 you get -1 Wealth.
These are diversified, Empire wide investments and should be secure short of a full scaled civil war or breakdown of society. You can alternatively place money into 'Local/Risky Investments'.
This would mean investing in the Mimir Sector, right on the border and half recently conquered. Depending upon just how heavily you invest you could essentially end up owning a continent or two on a planet, or a heavily inhabited moon. For each 10 Wealth put into Risky Investments a 1d6 will be rolled each quarter, on a 3, 4, 5 or 6 you get +1 Wealth, on a 1 you get -1 Wealth. Fifty percent higher yields on average but you will get one or a handul of systems that you need to keep safe from salted earth attacks if you want to retain your investment.
There will be a voting moratorium for eight hours given the complexity of the ship and budget allocation.
Remember that you are liable to end up 'moving' after this strategic turn, so you might want to consider putting together a small elite core of ships you want to take with you rather than really thinking about the long term. Your request there to the Governor General was your flagship, both strike cruisers and the trio of captured battleships currently undergoing refit but not under your command (if with officers you assigned to them as prize captains).
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