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habeasdorkus posted:If anyone from Paradox is watching this thread, I really want Necroid Mr. Rogers to make it into the base game. They're adorable. How could you not write an event chain around them? its a beautiful day in the [incomprehensible] wont you be my [untranslatable]
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Jun 18, 2021 12:34
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| # ? Jun 8, 2024 13:33 |
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We've received a transmission! [Necroid Mr. Rogers plays] [xenophile]:"Let's find him and be friends!" [xenophobe]: "Oh my deity, is that a cardigan? This is why the xeno must be shunned" [materialist]: "I don't understand the meaning of 'friendship' beep boop" [devouring swarm]: "He looks tasty"
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Jun 18, 2021 14:21
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By popular demand posted:Stellaris LP: It's a beautiful day in the galactic neighborhood. And you are a horrible corpo
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Jun 18, 2021 16:07
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2310 - 2321 _______________________ Two months after the end of the War of the Western Frontier, an elegant yacht enters UN space from the west. By the time it reaches the Muscida system close to Regulus City, a pair of RCPD patrol craft are sent to intercept it. But beyond an initial message claiming they are heading for The Bastion, they ignore all further communication telling the Regulusi "We are here to see your masters, we don't converse with the help." The 'SPB-Espadarte' docked in Jakarta atop The Bastion and the host, a Princess from Brazil requested an audience with UNSG Cross.  "I am Princess Isabelle de Silva, wife of High Prince César de Silva, sovereign of Sao Paulo and ruler of all of greater Brazil, I come to you today so that we may open official diplomatic channels between our two great peoples. Our recent conflict was a regrettable mistake, but I am sure you noticed no Brazilian ships present in the Orion Bridge at any point in the past twenty five years. We are far more alike than we are different and I think the Principality and United Nations may get along quite well."  "You've entered a pact with the New Americans. A pact that gave them the courage to declare war on us." "You will have to forgive us if Brazil was not aware of the UN's survival and prosperous continuation, we in Sao Paulo have been preoccupied with keeping three billion serfs in line, putting cyber-slavs on our borders in their place and ensuring the endless hordes of alien scum from beyond the Victorious Night are kept ar bay. We joined PATO under the assumption it was a defensive alliance. "And yet, even after the war is concluded you are still a part of alliance?" "Well of course. My husband is not only ruler of all of Brazil, but now PATO supreme commander - control has fallen to us as the New Americans are preoccupied with keeping the populace of Novo Colorado under control - something our mercenário are increasingly proficient at doing back home - but New Americans are such a proud people they would not accept our help."  Sao Paulo, capital of the Principality "You do not want us nor the NAF in the Orion Arm, you made that point quite succinctly. But perhaps there are other avenues we may collaborate - we are aware that you have already made contact with the CoBras, those filho da putas, and yet you did not assist or harbor them and for that the High Prince is quite thankful. But now the official Brazilian government is here, we can establish a formal embassy and get all this Western Frontier nastiness out of the way." "No, I don't think that's going to happen Mrs de Silva. The war may be over but the NAF is still our enemy, and while anyone else collaborates with them they too are our enemy." "No? Mister Secretary-General do you know how long I have had to travel to get to this glorified star-favela and now you will simply turn me away? You do not want to make enemies of the Princes, we do not forget those who have crossed us" "Then enjoy your time here is our quest, Princess, but once the Espadarte departs the Bastion and leaves UN space, no future Principality vessels will be allowed back in until PATO is dissolved or you stop aligning with the NAFties"  _______________________ On the surface of Omaha the wide open expanses have allowed a number of science and research institutes once houses on the Bastion that had for a century been confined to tiny offices and laboratories were now able to finally branch out, constructing a number of huge facilities across the planet. One so large, and receiving such considerable funding from The Research Institute of Bastion, that within just a few short years it has become one of the premier R&D groups at the UN's disposal, with many scientists of all manner of fields flocking to it. The Great Plains Research Facility.   Meanwhile in the Perseus Arm, despite the NAF's set back they are still powerful enough to throw their weight away demand that the Veil Institute swears fealty to them and join PATO. No doubt the President will have the Institute designing new weapons and ships for the NAF in no time.  __________________________________________________________________________ UN Darwin Simon Fawcett The Darwin has spent the past decade mapping out as much as the Iguo Veil as is possible, but with the recent war progress has been slow, and now with the Institute siding with the NAF, the whole Perseus Arm is becoming a rather unsafe and unwelcoming place. Instead we have been called back to UN Space, to assist in investigating a number of occurrences here, the biggest one being the fate of the UNICA-construction ship and what exactly the mysterious space station here is. In a very low orbit of Epsilon Indi IIc we discover the space station (another fifty years and the orbit will properly degrade so much that the station will start burning up from the intense heat of the molten planet). It does not seem to bare any of the symbols or emblems usually associated with the Irassian Concordant and so this must have belonged to one of the many brief alien empires that rose and fell between the end of Irassia and our own first steps in to space. There is a a large hole on one side of the station that goes down numerous decks, fuel and oxygen cables and other wreckage now blocking it up - and the station's dock is closed. The whole station is locked down tight. The Darwin circles around until it finds an emergency access hatch, and one of the braver scientists goes out to cut the door open and allow the crew access, then I and seven others join them. The station's oxygen had been vented by whatever caused the large hole we saw, so EVA-suits had to stay on. It must have been some centuries since anyone had set foot in this place and we could find no signs of life.  Progressing deeper into the space station there are more signs of degradation but still plenty of intact alien artefacts that are worth studying. Eventually the team reaches the hole, and are appeal to peer down to the floor beneath - and the one beneath that.  As we make our way through channel of holes that had been carved through the station we begin to see what almost certainly caused it - a large spaceship rests beneath.  We enter the station's dock to discover it - the lone starship twice as large as even the largest known human-built ships. It has become detached from it's berth, slowly lodging itself against the interior dock walls over the centuries, the extendable gangway stretched at it's absolute limit. Along the docks were piles of skeletal remains, draped in tattered remains of clothing bearing the same symbol as the station. The bones are fractured and smashed, and it's obvious why when approaching the gangway to the ship and seeing the floor littered with spent ammunition casing. The passage just about holds and I and the team manage to board the ancient vessel, where we encounter more long deceased bodies in it's entry corridors, this time curled up fetal position, discarded weapons beside them that ended the lives of those down on the docks. Curiously they also wear the same jumpsuits and coveralls as those down on the dock, we cannot find any uniformed bodies aboard, it appears that is all civilians here. Reaching the bridge of the huge battleship, we find yet more skeletons and the ship it seems was all prepared to depart from the station. It's weapon systems were put on an automated self-defence system which was triggered by the arrival of the UNICA construction ship. The ship is too heavily damaged and eroded to actually pilot it out of the station, and it would require dismantling the station around it to actually get to it. But studying what we can while it's still lodged inside the station may prove immensely useful. Our best bet as to what had happened here is - this battleship was unknowingly carrying some kind of disease which had infected it's crew. They came aboard the station for shore leave and promptly fell ill and had infected everyone they came in contact with. The disease spread quickly throughout the station - every other ship that could had fled the station leaving just the battleship behind. Those still uninfected tried to commandeer the vessel and escape from the station - but with no way of operating most of its systems - including the weapons they set them to all be automated. Then, they were overrun by those who were infected and this whole station had remained locked up right for centuries.  _______________________ May 16th 2311, Lagos is deemed safe for major colonization. UNICA with SovMech assistance had cleared out most of the skies of the gargantuan predators. Large swathes of the mangrove shorelines had been cut-back so vessels could more easily traverse between the open oceans and the shorelines of what few small landmasses actually existed on the planet. Lagos is a small planet and the land available even smaller, it would not make for a suitable farming or mining world, but could perhaps house specialized industries in small but very dense urban areas on the scattered islands.  Following the immense success of UNICA's terraforming projects and giving the UN new worlds and lands to finally free The Bastion of it's overburdened populace, the Colonial Administration is granted permission to embark on it's most ambitious endeavour yet - the terraforming of Mars. Up until now UNICA has only been terraforming planets with extant atmospheres, that could technically support human life but Mars will be the largest project yet and one that will cost a huge amount of money and resources, but they are confident they are up to the task.  _______________________ UN Brigandine Having successfully mapped out the Western Frontier all the way upto the Victorious Night nebula we have returned to the Jornarnrir system so we may finally see if this whole war has been worth it. The UNN has entered the system and is already engaging the space amoeba present, freeing the Brigandine to survey the three Earth-likes.   Jorarnrir III, the largest planet which the other two orbit, is more or less the same size as Earth and has many continents and oceans but the planet has no axis tilt and so has very a uniform temperature and biome across the whole planet. The local wildlife seems almost unnaturally inclined to friendliness toward humans, even predator animals show either mild curiosity or just indifference to our explorers but never any hostile intent. It would also seem this world was once a major hub of Irassian activity as many ruins baring their symbols can be found - most prominent of all is a gargantuan orbital habitat which as collided with the planet. We have dubbed this place Lisbon.  Jorarnrir IIIa, (Kashgar) the first moon is the size of Mars, with a vast dune desert covering most of it's surface with a single large sea (or could almost be called an inland ocean) with many tributary rivers, the shores of which provide the only sanctuary from the blistering heat the rest of the planet suffers. The shores are rich with fauna and flora which much like on Lisbon are very docile, any habitats would have to be built on the edge of the large ocean, but out across the bleak dunes it is speculated there is a great amount of exotic resources to be exploited.  Jorarnrir IIIb (Stormberg) is slightly bigger than Kashgar but far less hospitable than the previous two worlds. The surface is made of a vast glaciers that slowly shift and cause earthquakes as well as constant storms that roam the skies. Any habitats would have to be constructed on the few more stable salt flats that reside between the glaciers. Beneath the surface of the ice there is a labyrinth of caves and tunnels, heated by geothermal deposits and providing amble space for subsurface hydroponic facilities as well as many power plants.  Each world is valuable in it's own right and the resources the each of the moons provides could allow Jorarnrir III / Lisbon to prosper greatly. UNICA has been tasked with colonizing this system at once and allow it to become the new hub of the Western Frontier. Meanwhile the Brigandine has been ordered to remain here and study the great Irassian wreckage.  _______________________ May 28th 2312, Patrick Cross steps down as the Secretary-General. With am impressive legacy under his belt - participating in the C-SOB raid of Addis Ababa to capture the Indie figure Theodore Kaldirim before leading the Special Operations Branch himself and then taking lead of Strike Force November and finally leading the United Nations to victory against the New American Federation. With no more mountains to conquer and wishing to spend his last decades in peace he resigns and in his place Dennis Carroll, formerly StellarX head of inter-system communications is chosen by the security council to lead. With all the excitement of the Western Frontier conflict over is aim is to settle it and further the UN's diplomatic endeavours to pull it back out of it's isolationist period.  UNSG Carroll's first act is the creation of a dedicated xeno-relations department in the UN, now that the United Nations has personally made contact with non-human species. Aboard the few Chinese clippers that make the long journey to the Bastion, a new race has been sighted among the crews. Called the Endurga, they are loyal and diligent citizens of the New Canton Republic and native to planet Hong Kong. Some have expressed interest in settling worlds within UN space (which remains under consideration), as well as the Grammich requesting permission to leave Phoenix - which they are granted. Those that fled the NAF aboard the Beckoning Fall freighter have been nothing but cooperative with the small UNICA office set up along side the main Grammich settlement on Phoenix and they are willing to colonization and work on planets that humans would struggle to survive on, in exchange for a great deal of autonomy - in stark difference to their kin still trapped beneath New American jackboots.  (it should be noted, the human population in 2200 was 10 billion. Now in the early years of the 2300s it is over quarter of a trillion) With Jorarnrir fully surveyed and the space-amoeba in the system vanquished or driven off, UNICA is given the green light to begin colonization, focusing for now on the main planet of the three Earth-likes, Lisbon.  Meanwhile in the Aldebaran system on the fringe of core UN-space and the Western Frontier, the planet Inuvik is allowed to be settled by a SovMech expedition to assist in populating and exploiting the Frontier.  _______________________ Since the end of the War of the Western Frontier, the United Nations Navy has continued to patrol and conduct exercises across the Frontier. Out amongst the sparse systems of the Frontier new Independents are discovered, having lived out beyond the control of any major power for almost a century. But unlike previous UN administrations that either ignored or outright attacked these far-flung settlements that fled from our dying Earth, the UNN is instead ordered to gift them a modest amount of food and medical aid from the fleet's vast stores - and more importantly establish a small UN garrison to begin the process of integrating them into the United Nations.  Piracy in the frontier is rare - but not entirely unheard of. Especially in the Jorarnrir system and those surrounding it, as increased UNICA activity in the settling of Lisbon has attracted unsavory sorts, new-Indies that refuse the UNN's aid, as well as a small number of privateers operating under Principality commission. But these scattered undisciplined pirates and raiders are nothing compared to the previous engagements against the NAF, though the UNN still welcomes the impromptu-exercises.  With the immense amount of space that the United Nations now occupies, speed and reaction-time is an ever increasingly important aspect of the UNN's doctrine, as well as an overall ethos that the best defence is a good offence.  _______________________ In the summer of 2313 a pro-military demonstration escalated after clashes with a diplomatic-democratic advocacy movement, into a full blown riot. While not reaching the intensity of the Summer of Fury, what is worrying is the degree of tacit support the agitators receive from officials from across the board of UN departments, calling for the transition of the United Nations in to some sort of United Empire and the Bastion turned in to a fortress habitat from which to rule all of human space. The movement is heavily condemned by UNSG Carroll and those supporting it in the UN put under heavy surveillance by C-SOB.  _______________________ The Bastion's deep-space telescopes pick up activity in a system deep within 'Socialist Space' previously thought unpopulated. The ongoing war between New India and the USS has caused a certain amount of unrest on the border regions between Patria Grande and the Scandinavian Union, where New Indian fleets have been most active, ransacking the USS settlements. Marson III, now dubbed Anchorage has become a center of pirate activity, various criminal and bandit crews operating from the 'eyeball-planet' (tidally locked, with the side facing the star having a large warm inland sea, wit the rest of the planet frozen solid)   They have no official government, and really no proper identification beyond collectively being known as The Corsairs, a representative of the largest group on Anchorage makes contact with a UN diplomatic-corps member, asking for protection. Which the UN categorically refuses.  __________________________________________________________________________ March 14th 2314, representatives of the Free City of Regulus, the Sovereign Mechanized and UNSG Carroll convene in Deuxième-Versailles to commence the next stage of the UN's role in human space. UNSG Caroll has proposed elevating Regulus and the SovMech from mere junior-partners within the United Nations, to being equal players and reorganizing the top level structure as a federation with the goal of uniting and brining peace to as much as space as possible, all in the name of growth, stability and prosperity. The Federal Partnership.   The other major powers born from the Hegira have already began to consolidate and form their own federations - PATO, the USS, New China, the Conference beyond the Voiceless Nightmare - but there remains dozens if not hundreds of small states, colonies and habitats housing humans all across space and with team each of the federations will certainly vie to control them. The Federal Partnership must be there to offer a rational and productive alternative.  It is an exciting time in the UN and the prospects of this new federation it leads are boundless.   Standard-Dynamics is commissioned to design a new exploration-cruiser such as the one piloted by Silas Mckinnon a century ago that went on to found Columbia. This time, larger, more armored and equipped with the state of the art communications arrays and scientific equipment with the goal of exploring out beyond the two nebulas that sit at the edges of the eastern half of the galaxy. Names for humanity's greatest explorer, the Gail-Stevens Cruiser is manned by humans of the Bastion and Regulus, SovMech, Grammich and even some Endurga residing on the Bastion that volunteered. The UN had still not made physical contact with any members of the Zunguatese race, but if they had they would have been welcome aboard the ship bound for uncharted space.  __________________________________________________________________________ (over the course of 2312 - 2314) UN Brigandine Dr.Gerald Sorensen UNICA has established Odysseus, the new capital city of planet Lisbon and the UN's furthest outpost, it is still early days but already a great many people flock to this new colony at a chance to find riches and glory out here in the Frontier. We however have our own task here, now that UN control has been cemented - we must investigate the great Irassian wreckage strewn across the system - but most importantly the space structure on Lisbon itself.  The ruins are many hundreds of miles wide (you can spot it from orbit) and have their own climate. The first months of the investigation are just spent mapping out the surrounding area and inspecting the structure from the outside, looking all around it for entrances, either intentional ones or some that may have formed when it crashed to the surface. Once it has been deemed safe enough and a viable way in is located our teams relocate within.  The wreckage is unbelievably ancient, by far the oldest Irassian technology or structure yet encountered - is is theorized this may have been the Concordant's first major undertaking in space.   The structure was once part of a larger ringworld that orbited Jorarnrir III / Lisbon, it is remarkable that it's collapse and crashing to the surface did not cause more damage to the environment of Lisbon but then again this may have occurred tens of thousands of years ago and the planet may have had time to recover. The technology these ruins can grant the UN and all of humanity are invaluable and science teams will take centuries to fully analyze, research and catalog it all. There is already talk of humanity (hopefully the UN) constructing ringworlds of its own, but they may be a way off yet.  But for now our first technology gleaned from studying the 'Jorarnrir Ring' has been greatly more effective space station (and habitat) energy conservation, allowing UN installations to generate more energy and therefore requiring less resources and manpower in the first place freeing them up for other endeavours.  __________________________________________________________________________ (over the course of 2314 - 2318) UN Einstein Dean Wells In the century since Professor Gail Stevens first discovered evidence of the Irassian Concordat in the Alpha Centauri system there has been a wealth of knowledge and technology discovered about this ancient civilisation all across the cosmos, but there had been little mention of their home world. That changed in 2314 with the discovery of the ruins of the Joranrir Ring, upon which was the galactic coordinates of Irass itself, at long last.  The Irass system is located on the fringes where the Western Frontier meets core UN space, just beside Regulus. It is perhaps lucky then that when the Independents first consolidated to settle a world they did not discover Irass or the last sixty years may have gone very differently - but things worked out in the end between Bastioneer and Regulusi. The hyperlane to Irass, leading from both Castor and Regulus is not detectable by any ship's hyper-drive and it's coordinates must be input manually (a dangerous maneuver that can send your ship slamming into a star or planet at lightspeed if not done correctly (or perhaps tear them apart if gravitational influence from nearby sources is too great - as with the 1st UNN in 'The Regulus Disaster')).  But we put faith in the coordinates transmitted to us from Dr Sorensen from within the Frontier and we arrive safely at the edge of the Irass system.  As we approach the star of Irass, the atmosphere within the ship as well as the black canvas of space that surrounds us changes colours, bathing the ship in a faint ever-shifting spectrum of light. Nearing the star we discover why as it appears orbiting Irass is an array of many hundreds of trillions of panels that seem to block or lessen certain light wavelengths as well as keeping the star stable - potentially extending it's lifespan far beyond any normal star. What practical purpose having the panels emit the different colours is unknown exactly maybe it's entirely aesthetic - it is certainly awe-inspiring, but not nearly as much as the next discovery.  Irass is no normal star. It's maybe not even a star at all.  It is a diamond. A million-kilometre wide lattice of hyper-condensed carbon within which the eons-old stellar fusion reaction continues, coating the diamond in oxygen and helium. There are even structures within the star that presumably the Irassians constructed, but what they are or how on Bastion one would get to them remains a mystery.  And to add to the discoveries, there are four immense shipyards orbiting Irass in a synchronous positions on it's equator axis, each one is maybe twice perhaps even three times the size of the Bastion. Three of them seem to be worn away by time and the slow stream of space debris striking it. But the fourth is entirely intact - and powered, and fully operational as the UN-Einstein docks at the long-abandoned shipyard. It does not look like it has aged a day since Irassians themselves walked it's halls, an incredibly sophisticated AI-announcement system and management mainframe welcomes our arrive, referring to us as "Solians" and congratulates us on reaching the cosmos without blowing ourselves up. (We choose to omit Earth's fate for now).  It informs us that before the fall of Irassia it was still constructing a great warship that it never got to deliver to it's Irassian masters, and sees no reason why it cannot gift us the gargantuan vessel. It was to be christened the Lance of Irassia but the UN is free to rename it whatever they wish, and that also we should take care as we may not be advanced enough yet to handle such a vessel. It is powered by a blackhole at it's core.  Around Irass VII - a huge gas giant are two worlds that were once bountiful Earth-like planets, but have had their atmospheres stripped away and now are just frozen husks. That happen to be strewn with an unfamatable amount of Irassian technology, each planet housing more artefacts than all previous discoveries combined. And both can be restored, though they may be in a dire condition now, the UNICA specialist aboard the UN-Einstein belives these worlds can become Earth-likes again and sustain human life.  Irass VIIa, nicknamed Osiris was once a great forge-world, which probably constructed most of the great machines and artefacts we have since discovered over the past century. The complex covers the entire surface of the planet, buried beneath millenia of sediment build up and debris, but beneath it all there remains vast swathes, hundreds of kilometres of still intact and usable facility.  Irass VIIb, nicknamed Isis was the site of a major battle - possibly the last fought by the Irassians. __________________ Unfortunately due to the clumsiness of one of our researchers, he left a coffee mug atop my notes and a terrible stain has been left on the lower half, so I shall rewrite them now for the security council's consideration. __________________ 'The Science expedition team led by Dean Wells from the science vessel UN Einstein has found something remarkable! After Planetfall, researchers and surveyors began thoroughly combing the surface. Scorch marks, half-wrecked buildings, and the detritus of a thousand weapons are all that remains of this world. After careful examination, our surveyors have determined that a massive battle proved the end of whatever civilization once inhabited this place. With this collection of millenia-old weaponry and battle data, our weapons specialists can continue to innovate exponentially upon our existing armaments.'  'The Science expedition team led by Dean Wells from the science vessel UN Einstein has found something remarkable! This world appears to have underground regions resembling laboratories and experimentation facilities, leading to a central room containing an enormous singularity drive that resonates with energy. Automatons are scattered about the room, frequently taking each other apart and repairing one another with no discernible pattern. The Science Team has succeeded in setting up an observation relay to monitor the singularity drive's effects and capabilities. Despite this, no indication of what this drive was previously [UNINTELLIGIBLE]. Until this can be discovered, they recommend caution when considering construction of such a technology.'  Finally we reach Irassia itself, orbiting Irass VI. Again, the surface of this once marevelous world has been scorched clean, but blackened ancient spires, kilometres wide and high still jut out defiantly across the planet. And beneath the ash and ice lies a wealth of knowledge and ancient structures the likes of which we have never seen - and again it can be terraformed just like Osiris and Isis.  Landing on the surface of Irassia, we find it a solemn place, the weight of a billion souls that perished here still hangs heavy in the air (or well, the oxygenless-space around us). Despite the ravages of the Javorian Pox and the uncontrollable fires and infrastructure decay that likely occurred after the last Irassian passed away - nevermind the much more recent attempts by someone to bombard this planet - much of Irassia is surprisingly intact. There is far more here than the hundred or so crew members of the UN-Einstein could possibly hope to discover alone. Even if all seven billion citizens of the Bastion were enlisted in the science teams and bought here it would take millenia to truly discover everything Irassia hides.  But one discovery we wish we would never have made is uncovered remarkably easy after a team I was personally leading ventured down into a medical research facility. The very thing that wiped the Irassians out. A sample of the Javorian Pox, sealed away behind walls of reinforced glass. We had always assumed the pox to be a naturally occurring illness and our science teams have always bee incredibly cautious when exploring Irassian ruins lest any of it still contain trace elements of the disease. But here it is in a laboratory with extensive notes on it's makeup and applications. Was it made by the Irassians this whole time, for some benign purpose but released by accident (or dare I even say, intentionally?). If it were up to me I would have the sample and all it's research flung into the star or this entire facility vaporized by a nuclear bomb. But the Standard-Dynamics representative aboard the Einstein makes contact with the Security Council before I can do anything "rash" and they concur that the sample must be protected and brought to the new Great Plains Research Facility for further study.  __________________________________________________________________________ By 2317, Lisbon has close to a billion people living on it. The UNICA office aboard the planet is reclassified as a new subsidiary-company that reports directly to the Security Council and not UNICA HQ, and given a great deal of autonomy to rule the Western Frontier in whatever way it deems most productive for the United Nations and Federal Partnership as a whole.  Jasmine Stewart, Superior Corporation board member is assigned leadership of the Western Frontier Company.   Freighter ships frequenting the Frontier. Just as the naming scheme of seafaring naval ships carried over to military space vessels, so too did civilian ships. The naming convention swapping number of sails for number of thrusters. Meanwhile two new worlds, one within the frontier and one within core UN space are selected for UNICA's next colonial settlement drive. Trinity (Yildun IVa) and Busan (40 Eridani C IV), by SovMechs and Grammich respectively. The last of the Earth-like planets first discovered before even the Bastion was conceived are settled.   The 'Anarchy Road' - the line of starbases along the UN - Patria Grande border is finally upgraded, and proper substantial defensive stations installed. It is a miracle the syndicalists never attacked the UN until now, considering they could have run countless raids into UN space and the UNN would have been powerless to retaliate considering the immense build up of stellar fortifications across PeeGee space.  In late 2317 news reaches Lisbon from across the border with the Cobras, that PATO is invading them. The Principalities time leading PATO it seems has come to an end, the NAF has regained control of it's unruly populace and taken back the mantle of it's alliance. There is much discourse among the Security Council about what, if anything, the United Nations should do about this situation. It could very well lead the Federal Partnership in an intervention war to save the democratic Brazillian rebels, and set an example for the rest of the human states that the Partnership is the beacon of stability and peace. But is the UN prepared to face the New Americans again so soon.  __________________________________________________________________________ Tales from Beyond the Nightmare. A report on contact with foreign states beyond the Voiceless Nightmare nebula by Captain Conroy of the UN-Rainbow.  Our time inside Centaurus-Conference space has been most fruitful and our CC hosts have been more than accommodating. Despite the United Systems of Oceania being of a comparable size to the United African Empire or Patria Grande it is an immensely dense area of space and the Hegirans that left Australia have developed the area just beyond the nebula to an incredible degree in a short amount of time. They have formed close friendships and alliances with over a dozen alien species, incorporated them into the USO where they all enjoy equal rights and freedoms and together have built something remarkable out here.  It's worlds include Federation - the capital, a huge gaia-world in the Lisirrasya system, colloquially known as The Great Blue, and it's populace as 'True Blues'. Aurora, St.Albans (Eminia system) New Christchurch (Stooqista system) Wellington (Peidiph system) Tasmania, Canberra, Brisbane, Melbourne (Sythenie system) Caledonia (Drahatterchey system) Fiji (Lumallongia system)  The dense and greatly populated Sythenie system The USO is a congressional republic that heavily believes in democratic values and leads the Conference as such, seeking to align itself with other democratic powers and 'illuminate the dark recesses of the Centaurus Arm from barbarism'. It has the Nusantara Republic and (constitutional) Kingdom of Coral as fellow members and is currently pitted in a war against the Veronica Monarchate.  Veronica Arnold was a disgraced USO politician that had amassed an almost cult-like following and managed to get herself elected Prime Minister of Oceania some thirty years ago. Her attempts to turn the USO into a militaristic and imperialist power were met with severe backlash that almost triggered a civil war. She was removed from power by elements of her own security detail - however other parts of her entourage that still believed in her helped the politician escape justice and so she and those who still believed in her vision followed Veronica to the Mestros system. The immediate aftermath of the Veronica Insurrection is what led to the creation of the Centaurus Conference.  AEGIS is a private military company that seems to exist in an uneasy state with the Conference, sometimes ally, sometimes enemy. Despite this they seem reliant on the CC for their own survival, trading for (or raiding in times of hostility) supplies from Federation, but they seem extremely reluctant to become a member proper of the CC.  Just to the west lies the Feudal Conglomerate - modelled after the states of medieval europe but with lords and barons replaced with hereditary executive officers and middle managers, and the drive for profit itself regarded in an almost religious manner. King Profiteer Elliot Fredricks seemed dismissive of the United Nations, describing what he heard of our society aboard the Bastion as sounding "quaint, but being too wasteful granting it's ‘inferior class’ even a modicum of freedom"  Further afield, and just on the border of the German Military Order, there is the People's Republic of Forum. Another break-away state of the USO that seeks to join the Union of Socialist Systems. The Crescendo Republic - an isolationist military-democracy on planet Crescendo and then there is the Revolutionary Solar Empire.  The RSE seems to uphold itself as the true continuation of Earth, despite the fact it did not recognize the name United Nations nor possess any evidence itself of Earth's history, location or cultures - merely acting on passed down tales of the crew and passengers of whatever ship that fled Earth a century ago, and now settled here in the Peliamon system. Until a decade ago the RSE has been isolated, cobbling together it's own vague understanding of the lost world it's ancestors departed and trying to recreate it. Now it has made contact with the United Systems of Oceania and makes bold demands of the USO and CC. They have also done the very same to another great power even further to the west, which has drawn them into a conflict.  The League of Sagittarius Treaty.  The League of Sagittarius or The League or even just LOST is a powerful and deceptive federation centered around the Alpine Empire, but also has Shiro, Las Estrellas and the Republic of the Desolate Reef as fellow members.  The Alpine Empire is a small but incredibly developed feudal state on planet Alps led by House Spooner. Much like the RSE they seemed to have no knowledge at all of old Earth, they had no idea what the United Nations was, or American or Chinese or any culture or nation of Earth we described to them. The Shiro are more of a band of cutthroats and corsairs though one with a strong code of conduct that tries to present itself as a legitimate government, but they seem an unscrupulous bunch nonetheless. Then there is Las Estrellas.   Las Estrellas is a corporate-casino enterprise housed on a planet with megaflora, where casinos and resorts are constructed inside gargantuan trees as large as skyscrapers. Most of them are closely affiliated with if not outright operated by members of The Shiro, none the less we saw new alien races frequenting this world from all the surrounding systems of the Sagittarius arm. Despite being a den of sin and vice the Shiro and Alpine lords on Las Estrellas are resolute in keeping the planet under strict order, to ensure alien tourists keep flocking to the world to waste their credits.  And finally - there is the Republic of the Desolate Reef, or the RDR or just The Reef. Once upon a time this was The Shire - homeland of the Zunguatese people. Planet Shire had until just two decades ago still been mired by war and strife. Much of the planet was blanketed in nuclear fallout, there was no central government and marauders and raiders quelled any attempt at restoration of order - that is until The LOST entered the reef, initiating a campaign to bring back order to the shire, and bring it into their federation. The largest of the marauder clans sensing the inevitable decided to side with the Alpine Empire, assisting them in conquering the other clans and in return was allowed to rule the new Shire under LOST control.  We enjoyed a brief audience with Emperor Frank, he seemed somewhat receptive to the idea of working with the United Nations, but certainly not as any kind of subordinate - frankly though I'm not sure our new Federal Partnership would want such colourful characters among its ranks. He also warned us that it would be most unwise for us to venture further west, as the LOST was the last bastion of order in the galaxy, and beyond them resided only the most ruthless and deranged, not open to any form of diplomacy, and a little science vessel such as the UN-Rainbow would not last more than a year. We heed the Emperor's advise and turn around back for Conference space once again. __________________________________________________________________________ Mars, as it has looked throughout all of human history.  Mars, as of 2318.  UNICA has successfully brought life to an entirely barren world, and the Red Planet is now anything but. It is a time of great jubilation aboard the Bastion, as a prospect once limited to only old science-fiction tales is at last realised, as mankind can settle Mars. The UNICA ship that has been in orbit over the planet for the entire terraforming process is sent down to the surface at once to create Tharsis City, those aboard chosen from a lottery held on the Bastion and now they will become the lucky Martians after years of preparation and colonial training aboard the UN-Peleliu.  With the success of bringing life to Mars, UNICA is tasked next with bringing life back to a different world - Irassia. They are confident that they can achieve the same results without damaging too much of the ancient Irassian ruins.  On Lisbon, despite the best efforts of Governor Stewert, crime and corruption is rampant (with rumours that the Governor herself is partaking in it) as Frontier-Indies that resist UNN garrison-taxation offices pilfer outposts and small unprotected colonial convoys going to and from the Jorarnrir system. UNSG Carroll is determined not to repeat the errors of Felix Jackson, the UNN ordered only to engage criminal elements it has correctly identified, and even capturing them rather than outright eliminating if possible - much to the chargin of Admiral Beauflower.  Doctor Simon Fawcett is given command of the UN's renewed exploration cruiser and tasked with venturing west beyond the Victorious Night, in a trek that will last probably decades. The diverse crew of scientists, explorers and adventurers from various backgrounds and even species is eager to explore uncharted space and are well aware they may be old and infirm by time they return to their homes - if indeed they ever come back at all.  Before the Exploration Cruiser (name pending) even gets close to the Western Frontier, it's improved communications systems pick up new contacts to the west. Siwa and the Pacific Military Company.   The former a democratic republic that has recently regained its space capabilities after arriving in the Maroll system a hundred years ago, only to find themselves surrounded by the Principality. The latter is another rogue PMC based out of a great floating city on New Pacific - a waterworld entirely devoid of any landmasses.   Aboard the Bastion (and now with the assistance of the Great Plains Research Facility) great strides are being made in the UN's already impressive technological lead, with each passing day scientists draw closer to understanding the singularity drives our scientists have discovered powering much of the ancient Irassian structures. And Vance Blair continues his research and development of starbase and habitats, even coming up with possible ways to expand the Bastion itself if need be.  In 2320, news reaches the Bastion that the Columbians attempted invasion of Medina has ended in disaster. Despite all the advanced technology Columbia had gained from it's floating city, it could not make them any better at fighting wars it seems, and the Arabians near enough annihilated the entire Columbian Fleet just as happened to the UNN in Regulus. Only - unlike the Regulus, the Arabs have a huge fleet with which they could now invade Columbia. It is fortunate then that Medina is still at war with China, a conflict that is not going quite so well. Columbia forfeits it's border region with the FAE and forks over a large amount of its resources but thankfully retains it's technology.  Columbia's superiority has been shaken and now finds itself adrift, what a perfect opportunity then to welcome back out wayward people into the fold. The other Partners are in unanimous agreement - only good can come from having Columbia in the Federation.  Columbia it seems has been so devastated by the war however that it requires extra protection and guidance while it tries to refind its way, and requests to become a temporary satellite of the UN proper rather than merely a member of Federation. UN personnel and resources to be allocated to helping Columbia and in exchange - Columbia will finally grant the use of some of its technology to outside powers.   Most notably its anti-gravity technology, which UNICA has already devised ways of using on Cardiff to offset the intense gravity so maybe the people residing there can finally live without having to be permanently strapped into an exoskeleton.  2nd October 2321. Tharsis City has been founded, the flag of the United Nations now flies over Mars.   __________________________________________________________________________   
Crisis Now fucked around with this message at 01:03 on Jul 1, 2021 |
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Jul 1, 2021 00:40
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Epic update! Great to see this going on! Amazing read so far! Can't wait for the next bit! So what are our diplomatic priorities at the moment? And I also hope we have a -big- defense station in Irassia and a permanent garrison there just in case. If not, whenever feasible should probably be made a priority to ensure full control is maintained.
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Jul 1, 2021 01:44
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Wow, Inuvik. I have a cousin who lived there. Not often you see it mentioned.
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Jul 1, 2021 03:26
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Hey, I know I've posted in this thread before, but I just wanted to mention two things. A) This is a really goddamn good LP with lots of great art. B) Playing a space mapgame as humans is basic af. There's perfectly good earth-based mapgames if you want to play humans. 
StillFullyTerrible fucked around with this message at 04:07 on Jul 1, 2021 |
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Jul 1, 2021 04:05
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You have gone above and beyond once again OP. This is amazing. Also OH NO COMSTAR we all know what happens when something called COMSTAR gets to be in charge of communications. Finally in game: We better be careful of our new discovery leaking out to our new "friends" from Columbia. Those clone bastards will probably want to get their hands on more ancient tech so they can claw their way back to the top. Gridlocked fucked around with this message at 13:25 on Jul 1, 2021 |
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Jul 1, 2021 07:10
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We got a lot of new toys to play with now, and that 25% research on battleships will help a ton.
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Jul 1, 2021 10:08
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Also as an Australian I feel compelled to point this out: Tasmania, Canberra, Brisbane, Melbourne (Sythenie system) Canberra is the capital city of the Australian Capital Territory, Brisbane of the state of Queensland and Melbourne of the state of Victoria. Tasmania is the state. It's capital city is Hobart.
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Jul 1, 2021 13:14
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Well, if at first you don't succeed, keep hitting Mars with a hammer until it behaves.
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Jul 1, 2021 13:43
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let's be real, the reason they succeeded this time was because Elon Musk wasn't involved
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Jul 1, 2021 15:06
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Blue Mars! Phyllis Boyle would be proud. And your new multi-year-mission Heavy Exploration Cruiser from a society controlled by free market hyperoligarchs should obviously be called the Free [REDACTED BY PEAK ENTERTAINMENT LEGAL] I'm really enjoying this LP, duder.
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Jul 1, 2021 16:45
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StillFullyTerrible posted:let's be real, the reason they succeeded this time was because Elon Musk wasn't involved Also, hundred of years for the techniques to be refined by the cold perfection of free enterprise (I kid) (Never mind that in the meantime earth exploded, almost certainly due to the very same, this is ideologically inconvenient!)
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Jul 1, 2021 16:47
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First, Blue Mars. Soon, Blue Venus.
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Jul 1, 2021 22:33
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wedgekree posted:
I honestly don't know, I'm playing it by ear right now. Getting back Columbia was one of the only major goals, and they did that themselves. (The major powers don't like the UN. China is indifferent. Everyone who likes the UN is a junior partner to some other power)  And Irassia is safe, it's deep inside UN territory and is about to become heavily fortified / developed / populated, considering it has three viable worlds for terraforming. Gridlocked posted:Tasmania is the state. It's capital city is Hobart. It somehow completely slipped my mind I was naming one of the planets after a state and not a city. Xelkelvos posted:First, Blue Mars. Soon, Blue Venus. No spoilers.
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Jul 1, 2021 23:13
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Is there a war type that specifically fractures a federation or takes tributes away?
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Jul 1, 2021 23:31
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JT Jag posted:Is there a war type that specifically fractures a federation or takes tributes away? You can declare war on indivudal members of a federation - so for example I could sezie the Veil Institute as my own tributary from the NAF. In terms of fracturing a large power. I could wage a war to impose my ideology, capture a bunch of systems and peace out and those sytems will form a new break-away state friendly to me. Inter-federation diplomacy and federation-wide wars seem a bit underdeveloped.
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Jul 1, 2021 23:42
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Xelkelvos posted:First, Blue Mars. Soon, Blue Venus. Please stop before Brown Uranus.
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Jul 2, 2021 00:02
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Xelkelvos posted:First, Blue Mars. Soon, Blue Venus. haha blenus :-DDDDDD 
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Jul 2, 2021 01:50
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What about the Free Brazilians? Did they resist the Americans?? Can we help them resist the Americans???
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Jul 2, 2021 04:47
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Viola the Mad posted:What about the Free Brazilians? Did they resist the Americans?? Can we help them resist the Americans??? There's no way to directly intervene in a war in Stellaris. I would have to do it in a round about way, declaring war on NAF and taking my fleet to the Free-Brazil and stopping them there before then moving on to the actual war objective.
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Jul 2, 2021 07:35
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gently caress the aristocracy!
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Jul 2, 2021 18:24
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Crisis Now posted:There's no way to directly intervene in a war in Stellaris. I would have to do it in a round about way, declaring war on NAF and taking my fleet to the Free-Brazil and stopping them there before then moving on to the actual war objective. Yeah, this is something that's not in Paradox games in general, and for good reason because it could be abused horribly by a human player against the AI, but I've often found myself wishing I could join a war as a later entrant to prevent some group from getting wiped out or to bleed a major rival. Can we offer guarantees of independence to other small, friendly states that are reasonably close to us? I don't know that there are any, but I should have asked prior to this in order to protect the CoBras. And obviously we should offer the guarantee to the CoBras, if they survive.
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Jul 2, 2021 18:29
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Deadmeat5150 posted:gently caress the aristocracy! Don't, they're inbred and full of mega syphilis.
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Jul 2, 2021 18:31
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Finally managed to catch up to the thread and I'm loving it. Your writing is fantastic!
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Jul 4, 2021 02:14
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UNICA has an alien battleship likely equipped with end-game technology. The moment, the moment that news leaks, people are going to poo poo themselves. Hell, if Columbia found out that UNICA and the Federal Partnership had found three full planets of technology more advanced than theirs, it would bluescreen their society.
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Jul 4, 2021 07:37
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2321 - 2324 As the population of Lisbon continues to grow, so too does the issue of piracy and smuggling. The UNN has returned to the Bastion for renovations and upgrades and the Lisbon governorate has struggled to maintain order alone given the vast scale of the Western Frontier, and the only other points of UN-support being the even smaller and less developed colonial outposts on Trinity and Inuvik.  Image obtained by C-SOB of a smuggler base in the sparse frozen northern regions of Lisbon built around a scuttled NAF destroyer from the War of the Western Frontier.  To help secure Lisbon and the Jorarnrir system as a whole a new space station is commissioned way out in the Frontier from which UN security forces can be based and patrol surrounding space. While relations with Imperial China itself may be ambivalent at best, their subject nation - the New Canton Republic could not think more highly of us, and now with Columbia back inside the UN there are many more trading vessels travelling from the core UN systems north-east to the incredibly densely populated Jonocymeal System.  The native Endurga of Hong Kong (once Endurga Prime, before the Chinese settled the far eastern reaches of the Orion Arm) have shown a keen interest in settling worlds in UN space on humanity's behalf - the Imperial Chinese bureaucracy is far more stringent on colonial rights - especially for non-humans-, and there is simply little room left to expand out in the far eastern edge of the galaxy. We grant UNICA permission to outfit a colonial vessel of Endurgan hopefuls who have hitched rides aboard NCR freighters to the Bastion. Paburh IVa in the western edges of the Western Frontier is selected as the first world Endurga may settle - a world perfectly suited for them, and hopefully will act as another bulwark against criminal activity in the wild west of the Frontier. Though UN explorers who had discovered Pahburh IVa initially dubbed it New Chile, it is decided the UN will opt out of that name - in the off chance that 'Nuevo Chile' exists inside Patria Grande space, to avoid any confusion. Instead it is simply called what most of the planet's biome resembles - Atacama.  New comms contact is made with powers to the west beyond the Victorious Night nebula. 1st is the Mirida Cartel, a Zunguatese crime syndicate (with a human minority) on planet Mirida in the Chomkesh system. They have long had contact with the various human colonies beyond the Victorious Night, and especially with the Visegrad Alliance. They are enterprising and cunning, but no method or course of action is beneath them, they will do anything to ensure Visgrad koruna or Principality real keeps coming in fast and steady. Working with them - if at all- may prove difficult.   2nd is the Affiliation of Illuminated Houses, or simply just The Illuminated, A tight-knit community of small noble houses ruling over a population of just over a billion workers and farmers on the planet Illumination in the Elises system and surrounded by a ring of fortified systems. The noble houses -claim to at least- hold the best interests of the common people at heart and do everything in their power to ensure the lower classes benefit from their "benevolent and ingenious guiding hand"   3rd is Charon. A despotic kingdom that sees no qualms with raiding and pillaging all around them with no regard for civility. The Hart Foundation was a German pharmaceutical corporation back on Old Earth, but now the descendants of the once philanthropic and multiple-nobel prize winning family are all but bandit lords ruling over the planet Styx, a small and incredibly dense planet with a thick, almost choking atmosphere and a glaring orange ring surrounding it. Three billion humans toil under House von Hart, only the most ruthless, cunning or lucky ever reach a comfortable and safe life in the upper echelons of Charon society. And there are rumours that the Harts constantly demand ritualistic human sacrifice to bring good fortune to the realm.   Only a year or two after the Second Indian War on Communism commenced, both New Kazana and the British Admiralty were also in an open state of war against New Delhi to see themselves freed of the bonds of tribute. In British space the wave of rebellious fervor has seeped through all of their society. The once single-minded resolute devotion to nothing but 'The Fleet' is fading, as the number of "supply worlds'' for the British fleet grows ever larger and more powerful and comes to dominate the Admiralty Board, making vast sweeping demands of them. No longer are the worlds of Severn / Mersey / Tyne / Tay / Wye / Avalon beholden to the fleet, but it's people will receive due compensation and recognition for the work they do.  This is a state of affairs that may not last long - to say The Fleet is displeased with this development would be an understatement, but with them deployed in the east to deter the fleets of New India and ensure they only focus on fighting the USS and not come for their wayward tributaries, there may be little they can do themselves for their citizenry rising up to better their society.  None the less, the current British administration is far more open to diplomacy and a nice new embassy building is set aside for them in Paris-on-Bastion.  In the Research Institute campuses across Tehran and Hanoi great strides are being made toward more advanced AI. The plan is to use it to help administrate and oversee the coming and going of the now thousands of vessels from the Bastion to and from the planets the UN has settled in the past four decades. Whether the UN is willing to grant it's population of 8 billion droids truly sapient AI and surely the new array of rights and freedoms that would come with that, is yet to be seen. Theorists working in conjunction with the UN's diplomatic corps, administration offices and UNICA are putting down theoretical plans to federalize the UN itself, and give greater power to the worlds beyond the Bastion. Meanwhile Professor Blair is working over the collected data from the Irassian relics collected from the Jorarnrir Ring and from Irassia itself, already putting together designs for lossless energy-generation for UN space stations, with more to come from unveiling all that the Irassians have left behind.  On the surface of Trinity our SovMech colonists are finding a wealth of resources and infrastructure built by whatever poor species once inhabited this world that failed to pass the Great Filter. What the robots learnt on planet Gray inside the boundaries of Sovereign Mechanized space has been put to great use here on Trinity, and with any luck this world may be made habitable again within a few generations.   Aboard the UN-Einstein, Dr Wells has unfortunately struggled with the enormity of the task ahead of becoming the head researcher and archivist of all that the Irass system can hold. While it has not affected his work -yet- he will often spend his evenings alone in his quarters aboard the science vessel, his bottles of Lagos whiskey, his own companions.  He has set up a base camp on Irass VIIa / Osiris, to begin investigating what the ancient-manufactorium-planet holds, while UNICA is busy bringing an atmosphere back to Irassia, to aid in the science team's excavations and investigations.  C-SOB operators inside the New American Federation are reaching the limit of what they alone can achieve, and field operative Jeffrey Shannon suggests perhaps it is time to solicit help from those inside the NAF whose loyalties lie elsewhere than the blind devotion New Colorado demands.   There is inital apprehension from a number of the C-SOB agents working beneath Shannon, who have doubts that they can find any suitable individuals and at the risk of exposing themselves to the New American authorities which are ever-prevalent across all their worlds. Some of the operatives seem to know a little more than they rightfully should (considering they each work independently of each other, and should only be getting information from Shannon) - leading him and his superiors to believe the network may have been compromised, that some of our operatives may be NAF-double agents. We order Shannon to proceed regardless.  Our luck, and trust in our operatives pay off, one manages to secure us a promising asset within the NAF that we can use against them in future operations.  'Otra, daughter of Tigg' is a Lucalfian, a new alien species added to the pool of NAF subjects. They are from the planet Carolina. She has no lover for the NAF and wishes to see her people freed from New American rule one day. She served in the Auxiliary Fleet of America, but despite being a veteran and a purple-heart recipient from barely surviving our own Mirachi Campaign, none in the New Colorado regime show her kind the respect they deserve. Counter to the vast majority of alien species in the Milky Way that seem to wipe themselves out in nuclear war, the Lucalfians had instead managed to unite their species peacefully and begun making the first steps of becoming an interstellar power. They had expended a great amount of resources and manpower in the construction of a gargantuan space-station perhaps even comparable to the Bastion itself.  The NAF upon discovering the Lucalfians nuked their station as a show of force before landing the New American Marine Corps on the surface and demanding their subjugation and full undying support, which the Lucalfians had little choice but to accept. Within ten years they had gone from making first contact with alien species (humans) to being drafted into their navy to fight in the War of the Western Frontier. Somehow we had never encountered any ship with Lucalfian crew during the conflict.   The forested moon world of Virginia orbiting Carolina. Virginia is the homebase of the New American Marine Corps, conveniently watchful over the alien world. The Chinese (proper - not the two smaller substates) are finally beginning to warm up to the UN again - perhaps it is now because we are the leader of a federation that dwarfs the Imperium. And we are of course receptive to an embassy for our friends and fellow traders in the Orion Arm. From further afield a ship arrives from Centaurus with humans and khabayyanids aboard, a diplomatic mission from the planet Federation in Oceania.   Three new distinct robot regimes have cropped up on the borders of the UN. Break-away states from the Sovereign Mechanized, each one proclaiming themselves a new model that wish to pursue their own destiny independent of Bellezir. The Anarcho-Directorate. The Kingdom of Mechs. The Vityaz Order.  While the Anarcho-Directorate still agree with the SovMech's vision of a socialist utopia they dislike that there is still a ruling class of robots that make the decisions for all SovMechs. Here instead there is a single immense supercomputer that the Icarus robots have constructed simply called The Director. They are all networked with it, and it makes no decisions without first reaching consensus by all the Icarus. But beyond that each of them enjoys near unlimited personal freedom to do as they wish.  The Kingdom of Mechs could not be further from the anarchist ideals of the Directorate. With King-Paramount Lawrence ruling as an absolute monarch with an underclass of noble-robots and beneath them a billion drones all devoted to their goal of one day creating a dyson sphere that they may retreat within and create their "mechtopia".  A number of SovMech were hired out by the Patria Grande to fight as mercenaries against New India, and while operating inside PeeGee space it seems they became exposed increasingly to the Catholic Communes prevalent across Syndicalist systems. Now they have found God, and their contract with the Patria Grande is up, they do not desire to return to Bellezir but instead have styled themselves as a chivalric military order They are fiercely independent but offer their services to any fighting a just and righteous cause.  In May 2314, news reached us that the Coalition of Brazil had already fallen. A two-front invasion from the Principality and NAF meant they had little chance of survival. Perhaps, if the UN had intervened at the very outbreak of the war we could have avoided this. But since the UNN has been back in Sol having repaired the past three years, it would have taken too long for them to reach CoBra space to save them.  The CoBra planets are once again under the rule of the Principality while all uncolonized systems go to the NAF.  The Jorarnrir system is once again on the front with an enemy power. Since the War of the Western Frontier the NAF has greatly updated and expanded their navy, there is no longer just The Fleet of America and Auxiliary Fleet of America, but multiple large cruiser-equipped fleets each stationed on a NAF planet. The Houston Fleet had been the main invasion force in their war on the Coalition, and now long-range sensors on Lisbon observe the fleet, it's not turning back for Houston to repair or rearm. It is flying straight for Jorarnrir.  War has returned to the Western Frontier.  The UN is in a far better position now than it was the last time the NAF declared war on us. The Security Council almost seem to relish the chance to fight the Nafties again, given the public morale boost and unifying effect the last war brought. Plus now, the UN is not alone, the Partners stand at the Bastion's side and we are prepared to commit to a total war against the NAF. it is now simply enough to contain them, the New Colorado regime must be toppled, or there will never be peace between the Perseus and Orion Arm.  
Crisis Now fucked around with this message at 17:03 on Jul 4, 2021 |
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Jul 4, 2021 08:26
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Gideon020 posted:UNICA has an alien battleship likely equipped with end-game technology. The moment, the moment that news leaks, people are going to poo poo themselves. Hell, if Columbia found out that UNICA and the Federal Partnership had found three full planets of technology more advanced than theirs, it would bluescreen their society. How big of a deal is this gameplay wise? Can we launch it death-star style at an enemy capital or is just equivalent to multiple current-tech battleships? 4Xs all seem to handle this very differently.
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Jul 4, 2021 08:34
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Z the IVth posted:How big of a deal is this gameplay wise? Can we launch it death-star style at an enemy capital or is just equivalent to multiple current-tech battleships? 4Xs all seem to handle this very differently. It can one-shot NAF cruisers. It is a truly terrifying warship. Though it's main weapon takes weeks to recharge and defensive capabilities are lacking. I suppose it would be comparable to getting a modern missile cruiser during the Great War. It's not absolutely invincible, but the power it can project is far greater than any existing ship. Crisis Now fucked around with this message at 08:54 on Jul 4, 2021 |
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Jul 4, 2021 08:35
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If it's the ship I'm thinking of, it is wildly strong but vulnerable to swarms of corvettes
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Jul 4, 2021 09:01
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Crisis Now posted:It can one-shot NAF cruisers. It is a truly terrifying warship. Though it's main weapon takes weeks to recharge and defensive capabilities are lacking. ... Perfect! Also. Thank you so much for including Tarsus Light Manufacturing in the official LP art!  Speaking of which. ------------------ [Security directorate log, designate UNNSD-CID-TarLiMa 11092. Meeting between main partners, Tarsus Light Manufacturing. Participants: Innokentij Mitsuhama, Gregor Kaltenstein, Theresa Benz-Ulbricht IM: "[...]-we owe the pleasure of this little summons, Theresa? I was about to take my grandchildren skiing on Olympus Mons." TB-U; "Don't play loving coy with me, Innokentij. This poo poo came out of your shop." GK: "Ah." IM: "I'm sure I haven't the faintest idea what you mean, Theresa." TB-U: "So, this draft proposal for backing the Synthetic Rights Campaign I have here, signed by your minion van Krain is a fake, is it, Innokentij? Pledging the company's backing of full rights for any UN or Federation-native 'synthetic intelligence that may arise, regardless of circumstance or physical form'? Civil rights for the loving toasters?! Have you lost your damned mind?!" IM: "It's only a draft proposal to the board, Theresa. And... Please, don't call them that. Not even in private." TB-U: "And why the hell not?" GK: "Because what we voice out loud, even in private, may slip out in public. And we do not want the controversy." TB-U: "Controversy?! We're talking about machines here, Gregor! Machines we will have built! Our legal property! And I know what you're about to say, Innokenitj, and no. The SovMechs are entirely different. This won't be like that at all!" IM: "... Tell me, Theresa. Just where did the SovMechs come from?" TB-U: "... what?" IM: "Where did the SovMechs come from?" TB-U: "You know perfectly well, Innokentij! They came from that crashed, automated Congo freighter and- Oh. ... Oh, I see." GK: "Yes, precisely. The last thing we want is to oppose legal recognition of synthetic rights, and thereby give Congo an opening to legally claim the SovMechs and all their works as their 'rightful property'." IM: "And don't think they wouldn't jump at another bite at that apple in a heartbeat, Theresa. The possible gains are too vast. It's the same reason we've invested ourselves so heavily in supplying the terraforming-industry; even if they only manage to score a deal like our 'licensing fee' for services rendered, the profits would be absolutely staggering." GK: "And that's before we start thinking about the diplomatic strain something like this would put on our diplomatic relations with the SovMechs themselves!" TB-U: "... Fine. I still don't like it - and I don't think Congo could make it stick - but when you put it like that, I guess we're better safe than sorry." GK: "We don't have to like it. Just realize that it's going to happen, and be ready to get behind it and push when it's time." IM: "Speaking of, Theresa... Something came across my v-desk earlier. What's 'Project Hippus', and why am I being notified of it by some pissant little biotech division I've never heard of?" GK: "Ah. That's one of mine, sorry." TB-U: "Oh, loving hell, don't tell me you actually listened to that raving loon?" GK: "It was an interesting proposal, if a bit quixotic." TB-U: "I can't believe you'd waste company money on that-" IM: "Excuse me, but what are you talking about." TB-U: "Gregor here has thrown money at some lunatic who wants to re-introduce the horse! On Mars!" ------------------------------------------------------- TLM3101 fucked around with this message at 09:58 on Jul 4, 2021 |
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Jul 4, 2021 09:55
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It's good to see the Guffman Hypothesis disproven, Something is happening on mars!
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Jul 4, 2021 10:16
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Looks like you posted the Vityaz Order diplomatic screen twice.
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Jul 4, 2021 11:09
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So the uber cruiser going to be put on the front lines or kept back just as it being used would make space combat too easy?
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Jul 4, 2021 20:01
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Oh Space America, at least the first time this looked like a good idea on PAPER. Also how the hell did catholic robo knights happen.
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Jul 4, 2021 23:22
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Night10194 posted:Oh Space America, at least the first time this looked like a good idea on PAPER. I don't know, but I love that it did.
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Jul 4, 2021 23:23
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Cooked Auto posted:Looks like you posted the Vityaz Order diplomatic screen twice. Fixed wedgekree posted:So the uber cruiser going to be put on the front lines or kept back just as it being used would make space combat too easy? It's powerful, but certainly not game-breakingly so. Night10194 posted:
Proud Patria Grande local: Trying to show the robots how they've transformed the Catholic church in to a force for communal good and spirital wellness SovMech seeing an illustration of a Templar: Oh yeah, it's all coming together. 
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Jul 5, 2021 01:02
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There are certainly PG nerds fighting about which robots are cooler: The Communist Robots or the Religious Mercenary Robots
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Jul 5, 2021 02:02
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| # ? Jun 8, 2024 13:33 |
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Crisis Now posted:Proud Patria Grande local: Trying to show the robots how they've transformed the Catholic church in to a force for communal good and spirital wellness God bless our ridiculous idiot robot neighbors.
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Jul 5, 2021 03:01
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