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 In the end, the Colonial Office seems to have been most successful making their points heard among the High Command. The colonies of the Union of Terra would begin to receive vital shipments of supplies and infrastructure once more. They had to make a key concession though, they would not be making any new settlements until those already underway had become firmly established, and were no longer dependent on Sol. To this end, Sol itself would also need to be improved. Special attention was to be paid to increasing the number of sorium refineries operating on Earth. This would allow both the resumption of colonial activity, and will also support increased naval operations. Admiral Mete Polatkan’s grand vision for the navy was to be once more delayed. As a stopgap, the navy would quickly design a new small engine, and then build around that engine a fast to produce corvette. These vessels will help match the theorized capabilities of the Kooken Navy. WHile not the battleships envisioned by Admiral Mete, they will undoubtedly help to contain the Kooken Protectorate, with whom the Union of Terra seems to be rapidly settling into a cold war. Accatran was going to become the epicenter of Terran naval activity it seemed, though it would see very little expansion of army presence. The Galaxy known to us on January 1st, 2110  January 1st, 2110 I waste no time reordering the factories on Earth, fuel refineries and construction factories will now be the new priority, followed by mines. Once a wrap up the component research for our new ships I’ll be reordering our research too.  January 14th, 2110 In a ceremony with little fanfare, Commander El Spamo was given command of the DSS Iosif Samuliovich Shkovsky. The spectre of the Maler incident hung over the Commander, the Admiralty was divided over El Spamo’s conduct, it was undecided if the Commander had caused the event, or seen it coming. As a compromise the Commander was given a new command, though would be cycled onto a warship soon, as that seemed a place more fitting.  January 19th, 2110 Commander Chase SP ordered the GEC Paul Gotz through the unexplored Jump Point in Adrastopol hoping to discover new worlds and gain career advancement. Instead, it was discovered that the JP connected to the Accatran System, and that a war in that system could now easily spill into all the holding of the Union of Terra. Maps were to be redrawn, and many sleepless nights were guaranteed in the Admiralty. Only one thing was certain, Commander Chase SP was not going to be celebrating a promotion anytime soon. The GEC Paul Gotz receives order to put into port at Earth for leave and a mechanical overhaul.  That could only have gone worse had it jumped directly into Voss. A potential war just got that much more complicated. Furthermore, progress further into that wing of the galaxy is completely cut by the Kookens.  This is truly the worst positioning possible for the JP. We must now look to developing a jump picket ship or station so we can control that jump hub. This will without a doubt become the “Checkpoint Charlie” of the border between us and the Kookens. March 7th, 2110 Mere months after their installation, the green staff of the deep space survey station on Makho’s Folly picked up an incoming vessel without a friendly transponder. It was quickly identified as a Kooken vessel, possibly a military science craft. No chances could be taken, all warship crews were placed onto high alert, and the garrison was rushed to their gun emplacements. The High Command on Earth decided to once more try the comms channels that they had once shared with the Kookens, perhaps they could be made to understand, perhaps they would back down…  We all knew this was coming, I’m just glad it only appears to be a survey craft. I cannot help but feel this is only the beginning.  I’m opening a diplomatic channel to them and asking them to leave the system in the lightest way possible. They’ll likely refuse, but at least we’ll find out a bit of their intentions. March 12th, 2110 Momentarily the Kooken vessel hovered over Makho’s Folly, the whole time an arsenal of STO weapons trained on it, and then as quickly as it arrived it took off into space outside sensor range. This was a grim wake up call for the Admiralty, there was far too little warning when the Kooken vessel appeared on Terran sensors. The sensor strength would have to be increased, or some means of monitoring the jump point would have to be devised.  Meanwhile, we make some progress in defensive tech, and we begin work on the much-requested armor improvements.  We do not hear a response from the Kookens. May 26th, 2110  May sees us complete research into the next generation size four missile design, the Macrotis Anti-Ship Missile. They are immediately put into production, though it will be some time before they can be effectively distributed to the fleet. We also complete the fire control for the Inspector Gadget, we just need the engine now. NHO is now an esteemed member of the academic order, having braved many a research project. July 28th, 2110  More research projects, we can now retool and begin producing Inspector Gadget Class Corvettes.  September 4th, 2110 In a further expansion of General Romanova’s power, the Army inaugurated their much-promoted Army Space Aviation Program. This will now see not just unarmed space-faring vessels under the control of the Army, but also armed short-ranged fighters. While not the expansion the General had advocated for, this was at least an improvement of the armies prestige.  This is the last tech from the production vote, we can now produce fighters for the Army Aviation Program.  The design undergoes a bit of an overhaul before production. I’ve vastly increased the accuracy, as well as added some MSPs to repair the gauss cannon in battle. All this without any meaningful degradation of speed or ability. I hope Kodo666 is ok with this. A dozen units are ordered as the initial production run. Also, our fuel situation, while still dire, is beginning to improve. We are now producing over 5 million litres a year. November 20th, 2110  Our smaller shipyard completes retooling for the Inspector Gadget class Corvette, I immediately lay down five hulls. I also created a small sensor outpost to stick on the jump point that connects Voss and Accatran. It’s so small it might go unnoticed entirely, and if it does get destroyed it’s no real loss. I have our fighter factories produce a single unit.  January 6th, 2111  We complete research into a new vastly superior commercial engine. It is more powerful, larger, and more efficient than our older engines. I’m going to begin refitting our fleet of cargo vessels, these venerable designs are one of the largest consumers of our limited fuel reserves. Our warships are far thirstier, but these cargo haulers are always running. The refit has vastly better range and speed.  Most of the teams from the completed research project are divided between armor and construction research projects. However, I do design and begin research on a very large and powerful military grade engine. At this time most of the task force that was deployed to Accatran has been recalled to Earth for maintenance overhauls. Fresh ships have been dispatched to take their place.  January 11th, 2111  Our listening post is dropped off 300,000 kilometres away from the Voss jump point in Accatran. We should now be able to keep tabs on what ships are coming and going. It should be essentially invisible to anything but powerful active sensors.  January 14th, 2111 – 02:32 Less than a week after their tug had dropped them off, the crew of the Accatran-Voss jump point sensor post was just settling into a basic routine. On January 14th, just as the night watch had taken over, every sensor alarm began to sound. The rest of the nine personal manning the station were quickly roused from their bunks. Suddenly, they realize what is occurring, a Kooken Attack Class vessel has transited the jump point and was squaring off against the small station. There was no way to know if they were spotted, but they could assume they were.  Within mere days we pick up a Kooken craft jumping through, not a great start, but at least we know it’s there. Their actives switch on immediately, and they post up near the listening post.  February 14th, 2111 One month has passed since the Kooken vessel jumped in, it remains in place, observing our listening post. It seems they had the same idea I had. April 11th, 2111  Our first batch of refit cargo ships finish up, I quickly get another batch going. May 9th, 2111  May sees Commander Telsa Cola come down with a strange medical condition while on mission at Makho’s Folly. May 14th, 2111  We complete research into 12cm lasers, research is immediately begun on increasing laser ranges. While this does mean we are splitting our energy weapons research between Particle Beams and Lasers, we really want lasers. They are the gold standard of medium range beam weapons; they also have the benefit of being able to be mounted in turrets. Mounting multiple lasers in individual turrets uses less space and crew than mounting each weapon individually on the hull. It also lets us speed up the tracking speed of the weapon above that of the speed of the ship, which is the usual default. August 17th, 2111  Work continues on the modernization of our freighters, almost all of them have been refit at this point. Our fighters are coming along nicely too. The standoff at Jump Point Charlie continues, they have not so much as budged. Nothing else has come through at least. I also begin to order some of our new refit freighters to start transporting infrastructure within Sol. Our fuel situation is still not great, but it seems we won’t be fighting soon, so we can restart expanding our colonies. September 4th, 2111  HereticMind also takes ill, everyone’s in their 30’s now, so that tracks. October 30th, 2111  Our first batch of Inspector Gadget class Corvettes are finished. I’m going to build another batch immediately, this time a set of three.  I hope I captured the essence of this ship being an engine with a large beam weapon attached. December 31st, 2111 With every day that passes the Terran Navy grows stronger, more ready to respond to Kooken aggression. The fuel shortage that hampered growth in the closing years of the previous decade was being rectified, and the colonial supply shipments were beginning again. While the Kookens had undeniably cut off the Union of Terra from one arm of the galaxy. However, exploration vessels were identifying multiple avenues of expansion in the opposite direction.  The year ends without incident, the standoff at Jump Point Charlie Continues. I’m not going to hold a vote or ship contest. I’m going to hold off until we get a bit more meaningful changes in technology. I’ll try to get the next update out as quickly as possible. I'm going to try to include more and more of my simple pixel art illustrations. I'm hoping that over time they will help make what is a highly abstracted game feel a little more concrete. In particular, I want all our colonies to have a unique look. I've made scenes for all of them so far, and will include them as needed. We are starting to see retirements and illness among the officers, if you want to be immune to these let me know. I totally understand if you don't want your dorf to exit the game via retirement. Virtual Russian fucked around with this message at 04:38 on Aug 6, 2020 |
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Aug 6, 2020 04:22
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Virtual Russian posted:We are starting to see retirements and illness among the officers, if you want to be immune to these let me know. I totally understand if you don't want your dorf to exit the game via retirement. 1/20/2110 This is truly the worst news imaginable. Adrastopol's only other jump point leads to Accatran. Rather than being a key link in a corridor out from the homeworld, we've been relegated to an easily-bypassed backwater! Sure, I got the extra funding for my solid gold swimming pool filled with solid gold water, but I didn't bluff my way into a position of power I'm in no way qualified for to not govern over one of humanity's gateways to the stars! Now that I've got some "governing" on my resume, I'll see if I can grease a few palms in High Command, get myself reassigned somewhere more important, once we've discovered a few new systems. Not right now, too many toes to step on, don't wanna get in the way of anyone capable of fighting back. I'll just bide my time until all those guys are assigned somewhere else, then palm this place off on some rando and get back on the frontier of the galaxy! Fortunately, I have all the time I need. Just got back from the doctor, and it turns out that weird alien doodad I
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Aug 6, 2020 04:42
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Commander's Log, Stardate 012621.11. The GB Arisarchus is currently undergoing maintenance at the Earth Shipyards. Personally, I'm taking the opportunity to take some shore leave. With war almost certainly looming on the horizon, I assume that will be in short supply once the Kooken finally decide to attack. Until then though, I'm going to milk my time off for all it's worth. Commander's Log, Supplemental. During my shore leave, I was affected by the aftereffects of a TN experiment being run by a nearby university. To keep things short, I was sent to a far-off world, how far I don't quite know, and made to participate in trials by a powerful alien species, the Xudruts. After passing their trials, they returned me to Earth, none the worse for wear. In fact, during my medical checkup, they said that the cells in my body have begun to cease aging. If I understand them right, I believe that I am now immune to dying by old age. A minor relief--I had already assumed that I would meet my death in combat. I have submitted a full report to Naval Command on my experiences with the Xudruts, and, for what feels like the thousandth time, repeat that I was not on any sort of mind-altering substance at the time. Pyroi fucked around with this message at 05:45 on Aug 6, 2020 |
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Aug 6, 2020 05:36
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I love the art! Like all proud parents, I think the Inspector Gadget looks very cute. That sensor buoy is a very clever idea. I didn't realize you could do that. LLSix fucked around with this message at 05:41 on Aug 6, 2020 |
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Aug 6, 2020 05:38
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I have no plans to ever retire.
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Aug 6, 2020 05:59
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Count me in for never aging.
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Aug 6, 2020 06:02
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AJ_Impy posted:I have no plans to ever retire. Same, I'll just keep injecting myself with ever more outre research chemicals
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Aug 6, 2020 06:02
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The discover of a secondary route into our space is a major setback to our defensive efforts, but it is better we know about than to have a sneak attack bypass a large picket fleet. I do not intend to rest until I find a new path for humanity to explore in peace
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Aug 6, 2020 06:15
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Come to think of it, I bet a couple Dwaynes would be really useful to have in position between those two jump points...
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Aug 6, 2020 06:21
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Lich me Agreed on the missile bases being useful with that configuration.
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Aug 6, 2020 06:29
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Graduating to Dwaynes after we have a swarm of gadgets as our stopgap is looking real good, yeah Oh and immortality, please
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Aug 6, 2020 08:50
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I don't think I'd want to clean after everyone else forever, so count me out of immortality. Heck, if eventually Ham Jr. finds a different calling than Planetary Garrison Cleaner that's just nature. e: also  What an unfortunate name, considering circumstances! Zanzibar Ham fucked around with this message at 09:28 on Aug 6, 2020 |
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Aug 6, 2020 09:23
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Yeah I have no intention of retiring through anything but a glorious death by decompression.
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Aug 6, 2020 09:39
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Greatly enjoying the art additions, by the way. Also lol at the Kookens just sitting there, staring at the station. How viable would it be to tow some defense stations into place near the jump point? Would they be likely to get a first shot at incoming hostile vessels with powerful short-range weapons? And how creative can we get with those, like, can we slap a shitload of guns and missiles on an asteroid and tow it into a new orbit? Also where in space am I currently wasting my time?
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Aug 6, 2020 10:52
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Maybe the Kookens just instinctively shoot at/hunt down fleeing vessels/animals.
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Aug 6, 2020 12:21
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I will live until I die through exploding spaceship. Immortality
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Aug 6, 2020 13:02
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*** BEGIN TRANSMISSION *** FOR FLEET COMMAND ONLY Internal memo: Not for public consumption TOPIC: Rules of Engagement against the Kookens My fellow officers of the fleet. After the Voss Incident xenophobia and aggression has run rampant within our ranks, and it behooves us as officers to examine and determine how to diffuse the tensions between our own personnel and that of the "enemy". Too often in the troubled history of our species have we seen the atrocities committed by those who would dehumanize their opponent, atrocities that have always cost more blood and more suffering in the years since and has never, not once, in hindsight been attributed as a necessary evil. The Kookens profess to be the remnants of a once great space faring people, and to think they would be the only species we might encounter is naive. We appear to enjoy a similar level of technological development as them, but would that apply to any other remnants that may remain? To other species? No. We must go forward under the assumption that the Kookens are not unique, that we cannot hope to always be on par or even ahead of any other species in this cosmos. And so we must treat them as we wish to be treated, we cannot allow our unchecked anger at the loss of one vessel to bring us to destroy a space faring species in the event of our victory. We must lay down the foundational rules of engagement, not just for the Kookens, but for all sentient life we might encounter. Therefore I bring the following suggestion to fleet command. In the event of an all out war we should, must, limit ourselves to space and ban the bombing of civilian populations on the ground. Destroy their shipyards and capacity for war in space, yes, but do not murder them in their homes. Evil begets evil, let us choose good. Thank you. *** END TRANSMISSION ***
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Aug 6, 2020 13:43
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*** BEGIN TRANSMISSION *** FOR FLEET COMMAND ONLY Internal memo: Not for public consumption TOPIC: Dark Forest theory application vs. Kooken interaction. It is with the strongest convictions that I must disagree with commander Demiurge's guidance to fleet command with respect to the Kooken menance, and general attitude towards the as-yet unknown galactic community. I will note that while in command of the survey ship that was unfortunately lost to Kooken aggression, the communication difficulties between our species were not simply due to challenges in deciphering syntax and grammer. No, it was a fundamental misalignment in how we perceive and understand the universe around us. I cannot emphasize enough that the Kookens are truly alien in thought and action. We cannot assume that they will respond to human overtures in a human way. They are not. Consider that we have yet to encounter any other species, and that the Kooken's themselves were encountered by a chance encounter that would not have occurred if we had not blindly poked through a jump point and made our presence known. I admit that my better judgement was overcome by the excitement of encountering an alien species and forgot the lessons of the past. The theory of the Dark Forest was put forth early in the 21st century as an answer to the question of Fermi's paradox: where are all the aliens at? Why have we not seen or heard signs of them among the stars? The answer is simple. Living beings want to stay alive, and a similarly or more advanced species are as likely to view another as a threat as a they are to react peacefully. Risking eradication, the best survival strategy is to remain as quiet as possible, and hide in the dark forest as long as possible so as not to become prey or to advance enough to be the predator. Will we be the benevolent species that does not eradicate our competitors? Perhaps, and I pray that we will. But to do so we cannot be vulnerable to eradication ourselves, and we cannot assume that another species will act in kind. Encounters with the Kooken prove as much. An unarmed and peaceful survey ship was annihilated without provocation. We have stumbled into another beast in the forest and we will soon find out whether or not we will have to fight for our lives. -Cmdr E. Spamo, DSS Iosif Samuliovich Shkovsky *** END TRANSMISSION *** Noted the character traits in the game's listing of my dorf. Playing up both being callous and also a nerd, so OF COURSE he's read the Dark Forest theory and is all-in. (let me know if I hit some nerves though, callous can slide into problematic and I only want to be an rear end in a top hat)
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Aug 6, 2020 15:00
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Imagine the jump point exits as the ends of two large "pipes." The Kooken vessel is hovering between the "pipes," almost like a stepping stone... the solution becomes clear!!
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Aug 6, 2020 15:10
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Let nature take its course. What is my character up to at the moment please?
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Aug 6, 2020 15:51
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GunnerJ posted:Imagine the jump point exits as the ends of two large "pipes." The Kooken vessel is hovering between the "pipes," almost like a stepping stone... the solution becomes clear!! Imagine four ships at the edge of a jump point...
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Aug 6, 2020 16:03
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PurpleXVI posted:How viable would it be to tow some defense stations into place near the jump point? Would they be likely to get a first shot at incoming hostile vessels with powerful short-range weapons? And how creative can we get with those, like, can we slap a shitload of guns and missiles on an asteroid and tow it into a new orbit? Jump point guard ships like this are a common strategy in aurora. They usually need to be fast and well trained though. A normal jump leaves the jumping ship blind and unarmed for a couple minutes where they can get ripped up by an opposing beamship. Military ships with a jump drive can make a squadron transit instead through. That reduces the blindness to about 30-45s and drops them at a random place close, but not on top of the jump point. That radius is much bigger than beam ranges, so a guard needs to run over to the enemy and then have enough firepower to cripple them in a short amount of time. Poorly trained ships also take time to react to new orders, so they'll need to spend a bunch of time practicing to have even started moving in time. Dwayne style defenses are also possible. These are using the chokepoint formed by jump points to force the enemy to fight an otherwise immobile ship, but not trying to get an advantage from jump shock. They have to be actual ships though, you can't tow asteroids and this version of Aurora doesn't do long ranged surface-to-space weapons. (We're playing with a simplification where all jump points start stabilized. Normally you need a big enough jump drive to cross at all, or to have a big construction ship spend 6 months per side to stabilize it)
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Aug 6, 2020 18:24
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If I die or retire please re-dorf me but if someone is in the queue, waiting for a spot, let them have first dibs.
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Aug 6, 2020 18:56
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Same, if I die/retire then plonk me back into the rotation at the back of the queue.
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Aug 6, 2020 19:08
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El Spamo posted:Same, if I die/retire then plonk me back into the rotation at the back of the queue. Same.
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Aug 6, 2020 19:23
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Sad King Billy posted:Let nature take its course. You're the commander of the CT Eratosthenes, an Artemis Class Corvette in the 1st Corvette Squadron, which is currently stationed at Earth. You are also the squadron's Commander.
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Aug 6, 2020 19:59
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Also just a heads up no one will be truly immortal. Once anyone reaches advanced age I'll be removing story mode from them. This will prevent an exploitative build-up of highly effective officers. I just don't really want everyone retiring in their 30's before the action starts.
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Aug 6, 2020 20:01
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Foxfire_ posted:Jump point guard ships like this are a common strategy in aurora. They usually need to be fast and well trained though. A normal jump leaves the jumping ship blind and unarmed for a couple minutes where they can get ripped up by an opposing beamship. Military ships with a jump drive can make a squadron transit instead through. That reduces the blindness to about 30-45s and drops them at a random place close, but not on top of the jump point. That radius is much bigger than beam ranges, so a guard needs to run over to the enemy and then have enough firepower to cripple them in a short amount of time. Poorly trained ships also take time to react to new orders, so they'll need to spend a bunch of time practicing to have even started moving in time. Would we need to build any nearby infrastructure in order to maintain a force of ships near the jump point? A refuelling depot or a place to go for R&R; some sort of Deep Space station near the Virtual Russian posted:Also just a heads up no one will be truly immortal. Once anyone reaches advanced age I'll be removing story mode from them. This will prevent an exploitative build-up of highly effective officers. I just don't really want everyone retiring in their 30's before the action starts. Fair enough, I don't think any of us plan on living forever. Just long enough to see battle.
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Aug 6, 2020 20:07
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Europa admin would like to be immortal.
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Aug 6, 2020 20:16
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Can you dwarf me again? No real preference towards any assignment.
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Aug 6, 2020 20:51
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*** Notice *** From: Lt.Col. Kodos To: Our so called 'intelligence detachment Subject: alleged ImInt from the Kooken Pleasure Pits Please stop posting your disgusting smut all over the Brigade-network. Nobody is being fooled by your crudely edited pictures and passing them of as genuine intel. The next soldier found in possesion of such or similar material will face at least ten days of detention for sympathising with the enemy. Everyone who is caught distributing said material will face charges of sedition. That would be all. ***Thought of the day: You cursed rascals, do you want to live forever? (No magic pills for me)***
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Aug 6, 2020 21:09
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Radio Free Kobold posted:Can you dwarf me again? No real preference towards any assignment. Got ya back in as a Lieutenant Commander, you're the science officer on the GEC Paul Gotz.
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Aug 6, 2020 22:07
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Been following for a while, dorf me as anything that doesn't already have a name.
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Aug 6, 2020 22:28
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Put my dorf on story mode I guess, now that there's a war on it would suck to go out via early retirement.
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Aug 6, 2020 22:36
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GrabbinPeels posted:Been following for a while, dorf me as anything that doesn't already have a name. In at the rank of Lieutenant Commander, currently the CO of a Kobold FAC.
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Aug 6, 2020 22:51
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A war station is viable, not having engines means it can dedicate more hull space to weaponry and armor as well as point defense. Also if we haven't already, we should consider heavy STO divisions on our colonies that are equipped with high powered offensive weapons as well as point defense units, this way we can force them to commit ground forces instead of just nuking our world's down should they wish to do so.
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Aug 6, 2020 23:03
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ChaseSP posted:A war station is viable, not having engines means it can dedicate more hull space to weaponry and armor as well as point defense. We already do this to a degree, but increasing the armies presence continues to get voted down. I will continue to include that option. Though we have so many thing to worry over before we shore ourselves up for sieges. I'll have the next update out very soon as some stuff happened and we likely will need a big vote/ship contest. We are really getting the worst of the RNG.
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Aug 6, 2020 23:47
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The only way I will die is in a blaze of glory! (COUNTS AS MAKING MY CHARACTER IMMUNE TO DISEASE AND RETIREMENT)
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Aug 6, 2020 23:54
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Virtual Russian posted:Though we have so many thing to worry over before we shore ourselves up for sieges. I'll have the next update out very soon as some stuff happened and we likely will need a big vote/ship contest. We are really getting the worst of the RNG. Sounds like Fun(tm)!
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Aug 7, 2020 00:21
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Foxfire_ posted:Sounds like Fun(tm)! Things are not looking great right now. Edit: not quite as bad as I thought, but things are getting pretty interesting... Virtual Russian fucked around with this message at 02:10 on Aug 7, 2020 |
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Aug 7, 2020 01:01
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