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Now I must admit, I'm just a simple mining engineer bumpkin who enjoys surveying in his low-grav buggy a tad too much and so all this crazy starship is far above me. However, it looks to me like we could use a couple Foxes for Intelligence operations and maybe a Swarm to help our Hawks keep the homefront safe. The Foxes should also use Kinetic Energy Dampers or Molten Metal Cannons to slow down any pursuers who manage to catch them.
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May 20, 2014 08:26
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I will back any design that involves Swarm ship types and/or drones (Both is better. Best if you can mount mini-drones on drones, micro-drones on those mini-drones, and so one to the end).
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May 20, 2014 13:59
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I see nothing that can go wrong with Swarm ships using the latest in attack drone technology for home defense.
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May 20, 2014 16:18
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Swarm the galaxy.
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May 20, 2014 16:22
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Overlord, Dear God in heaven there are some hosed-up weapon systems out there. I. al-Sahrahani, Harmony Skydock, Director of Operations Cythereal fucked around with this message at 16:56 on May 20, 2014 |
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May 20, 2014 16:52
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Boss, Whatever you want to do to these ships is fine, I'll help fly whatever you want spacebourne. But please, for the love of all that's holy, Don't leave us defenseless to that crew disintegration beam. I mean, seriously. Who designs this stuff?! Executive Officer Lomas DuQuesne, Fitzgerald.
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May 20, 2014 16:55
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Overlord, I am so pleased to see that you're taking suggestions for new ship designs. While I'm certain you've seen enough of Fitzrfly to know the specs as well as I do, I've taken the liberty of designing the Tranquility for you. You're quite busy, after all, and I would hate to waste your time doing something unimportant. Hull: Fox (Not quite as fast as the Tranquility, but it's the fastest we got) Weapon Emplacements: None (As I'm sure you're aware, the Tranquility had no weapons to speak of, preferring to solve it's problems with guile and whimsy.) Defence Emplacements: Energy Field (as featured in episode 12, "Crash Landing") Patch Spiders (not featured in the show, but referenced in the leaked script for the Season 2 opener) Anti-projectile Gun (as I said, they have no real guns to speak of, but they have two low-output focus-fire lasers which they use to shoot down an incoming missile in episode 7 "The Sacrifice") Computer Capacity: Auto Medic (while this won't fully replace the award-worthy performance of the fine young actor who played the ship's doctor, it will serve as a sufficient substitute.) Of course, I'm not much of a engineering mind, so you should run this though the eggheads to polish it up a bit. I'm certain that once the public gets wind of the victories of our real Tranquility, people will flock to the network and force them to bring the show back for a few more seasons. Baphrdray Dane Assistant Manager, Nutrient Haus P.S. My mother says the military aren't likely to build a ship with no weapons at all. I suppose if you insist on having a weapon, you could use Knockout Syringes, as they did release a fictional Bird-native 'sleeping spore' in a hidden smuggling compartment contained in a dummy missile in episode 3 "Ever Vigilant." I wonder if that's where those engineers got the idea for that weapon.) Translation: Um... build that ship? Oddly enough, it seems like a Serenity analog might be pretty good at agent insertion.
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May 20, 2014 17:18
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Goonswarm with all the bio-chemical weapons your evil wallet can afford. If they aren't tripping gigaballs while melting, your job isn't done, mister 
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May 20, 2014 17:38
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Update 4: Meeting more Neighbors and Transphobia 1/18/96 - 1/31/96 Planetary Information Acquired Harmony Fleet Specs Ship Building Tutorial ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I am going to put these at the top of every update from here on out and keep those posts updated. Fan Mail Cythereal posted:Overlord, Sound advice. I will plan to get an agent on Gybesh's dossier. Deadmeat5150 posted:Overdude, Bees are evil...at least the ones in the Syndicate were. I too would like to investigate Bird. Readingaccount posted:Investigate Gybesh, Foment Insurgency on Tarso One vote to get the groovy followers of the Kahuna on our side. nweismuller posted:Overlord, Thank you foreman and keep up the good work. I like the advice on Keyops. It may be time to take a look at them. Bobbin Threadbare posted:Head to Ceddran. It's nearby, it's uninhabited, and there's nothing there that we know of that can shoot down our vessels. There probably won't be much to find, but it's low risk, and "low risk" are the magic words when we're still establishing an intergalactic presence. If we can spare a ship I think this is a fine idea. The Eyeball scares me a bit. The Duke of Ben posted:Oh man, this game.. I had completely forgotten it existed. I beat the game after many, many losses, but I never felt like I understood it. I am hoping the same thing. Magnetic North posted:Overlord, I loved that show. The arc of the character Goatherder hit me hard and was at least partially responsible for my defection. An agent of an evil government giving it up to spread religion. Of course I ended up Overlording instead. I cannot reinstate the show. The Syndicate holds the rights. If we can come out of this war victorious we may be able to bring it back. In the meantime may I suggest you relive the excitement by buying the boardgame. I got together with my cabinet two weeks ago and we played a game. Mr. Fredericks narrowly beat me when he used "the very fine hat" card to sneak out a victory. This is based on real events. I can't believe I lost that game. Green Intern posted:Dear Overlord, Hi Billy. Your dad is a bit of a nut. We are calling him and your mother in for mandatory psych evals. Government Day is coming up at your school next week and I plan to swing by and meet you. Then you can meet Minister Ainchrist and realize how dumb your dad is. Oh, if your parents fail their evals would you like to be adopted? I need a loveable child to get my poll numbers up and you may inherit overlordship one day. Let me know. Serpentis posted:Dear Mr. Overbread, Mrs Trellis: Fitz ore is lethal when consumed. Please stop. AJ_Impy posted:Boss, I do not intend to commit our ships to battle until we have a clear objective and we can win or unless things become desperate. nweismuller posted:I'd suggest a Fox with Tracking Laser, Reinforced Hull, Patch Spider, Antiprojectile Gun, and the Radar Cloak. Call it the Silent Running. Also, dare I ask, Boris wouldn't happen to be a Mikhailovich, would he? Looking at it, unless you really need those 3 crew you are better off with a Hawk. I will commission the Silent Running soon. Yes, Boris is a Mikhilovich. Your LP was one of the primary inspirations for that character. Bobbin Threadbare posted:Now I must admit, I'm just a simple mining engineer bumpkin who enjoys surveying in his low-grav buggy a tad too much and so all this crazy starship is far above me. However, it looks to me like we could use a couple Foxes for Intelligence operations and maybe a Swarm to help our Hawks keep the homefront safe. The Foxes should also use Kinetic Energy Dampers or Molten Metal Cannons to slow down any pursuers who manage to catch them. A Swarm does sound fun. Pierzak posted:I will back any design that involves Swarm ship types and/or drones (Both is better. Best if you can mount mini-drones on drones, micro-drones on those mini-drones, and so one to the end). A Swarm with swarms. Pierzak posted:I will back any design that involves Swarm ship types and/or drones (Both is better. Best if you can mount mini-drones on drones, micro-drones on those mini-drones, and so one to the end). Alright, definitely making a Swarm ship. anilEhilated posted:Swarm the galaxy. So....lots of Swarms? Kaboom Dragoon posted:Goonswarm with all the bio-chemical weapons your evil wallet can afford. If they aren't tripping gigaballs while melting, your job isn't done, mister Swarms with swarms and nasty bio-weapons. Got it. Cythereal posted:Overlord, Yeah, the folks at Tool and DICE are scary. Even more frightening is that Tool keeps its 'best' weapons for itself. AJ_Impy posted:Boss, I just hope our researchers are equally.....unbalanced. Magnetic North posted:Overlord, Done. We will call it the Serenity instead of the Tranquility to avoid the Syndicate trying to get us for stealing intellectual property. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Setting Things in Motion Okay, first I put together a few ships.  The Silent Running  Serenity  I looked into building the Swarm ship but money is tight. I could buy it but could not fully outfit it. Will have to wait until the mines start producing at a higher rate and revenue starts coming in. I hired three new intelligence agents and a bunch of military officers to crew the new ships. We are down to one mining guy available. Hopefully new research techs will arrive. I want to get more of them working, hopefully one in each area. I assign the new agents. One is running a dossier on Gybesh, one is set to recon Ceddran, and one is set to recon Bird. I also want to recon Keyops and investigate its leader and we have some interest in Recon and Insurrection on Tarso. but that will have to wait for more agents or for the agents we have to finish up. Here is a list of current SIN missions:  There is also a recon to Bird that got cut off. The Serenity is sent to Bird and the Silent Running is dispatched to Ceddran. Only the Fitzenburger is still in dock.  The Fitzhugh is about halfway to the Soraya Nebula. The mission to Ceddran should take maybe a week to a week and a half to get there. The mission to Bird (planet in bottom left) will take a while. The mission says patrol. When sending out a mission you can set them to patrol or attack. You generally only use attack when you want to attack the planet. Patrol covers everything else. I hire the last remaining miner and set them to survey.  We currently have 4 mines operating, 4 sites being surveyed, and 1 mine closed. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Meeting Neighbots Take 2 With everything that I can get done done I go back to studying the neighbors. We covered most of the SW last time so going to visit neighbors close to Harmony and then head for the NE. Next update we will cover the SE and finally we will deal with the Syndicate planets. Uhll'mumay   Alignment: None Compendium Entry: This planet was a known military outpost during the great wars, and was specialized to nuclear weapons. During the final stages of the wars terrible destruction occurred here, and everything went up at once. The planet was contaminated by radioactive fallout, it is assumed that there are no survivors. General: Uhll'mumay was one of the worst casualties during the Great Wars. It was bombed heavily and is currently so radioactive that it is virtually unlivable. Satellite photos show the remains of a once great civilization, destroyed to the primitive stage. Uhll'mumay was an armory during the War, and there is rumored to be huge quantities of weaponry and other war devices laying undamaged beneath the rubble. Military: No military information available. Might be worth sending a recon mission to look for caches of weapons. There is obviously no one to call on this planet. Hobbman   Alignment Neutral Compendium Entry: Medium to high tech level, large planet, reasonably close to Harmony. High population. General: As Hobbman is composed of so many different countries, it is hard to unite them on any given idea. Working through the combined government liasons is useful, but often difficult. The planet has so many different ideals and cultures it is impossible to give a concise and overall view of the people. Military: Composed of several distinct political bodies, Hobbman actually has many starship fleets, of varying sizes and strengths. On Hobbman there is an institution know as the Combined Governments which acts in the planet's best interests, and commands a fleet composed of the strongest ships from the various countries. Not likely to get a lot of help here with a nation still run by a bunch of nations with a weak UN like entity overseeing them. I can call the person in charge of the Combined Governments.  Name: Sinn Somermaat Role: Combined Gov Speaker Planet: Hobbman Stats: Open, Quick-thinking, Diplomatic Bio: Somermaat represents the collected governments on Hobbman, and while she officially has no power, she is skilled at swaying the opinion of the governments to any solutions she perceives as the best solution for all.   She seems nice. Still, might be worth investigating her. Though she has little real power she does have influence. We could also recon the planet. Pfipfif   Alignment: Neutral Compendium Entry: Small Fitz mining planet, independent. Produces about a sixth of what Harmony does. Deals mostly with the Syndicate. Somewhat close to Harmony. General: Pfipfif was originally colonized by a military contingent from Nimbula and a mining team from Cylur (both Syndicate planets) for the purposes of producing Fitzholnium for the Syndicate planets. However, in 0173 Pfipfif declared its independence as a separate planet and has stayed that way ever since. Perhaps the only reason that the Syndicate tolerates this is that more than half of Pfipfif's yield is sold to the Syndicate at a reduced price. Military: Though Pfipfif is a Fitz mining planet, it is not nearly as dense in the ore as Harmony is and so can be attacked directly from space. Once a Syndicate colony planet, Pfipfif is skilled in the art of warfare and keeps an active military force and a strong security fleet. In addition, there are several ground mounted installations at various locations on the planet. This is one of the three Fitz planets independent of the Syndicate (the Syndicate has 3) and they are barely holding on to independence. I should chat with their leader.  Name: Nico Ronquillo Role: Manager Planet: Pfipfif Stats: Helpfull, Passive, Naive Bio: At the top of Pfipfif's very loose government, Ronquillo has been with this mining community for some time. His hard work and efficient methods are the only thing keeping Pfipfif from going bankrupt.  ....know how it is with miners, hey? I hope get along as well with your folks as I do with mine. Ummm....okay. I am guessing the Syndicate hasn't conquered this place only because they consider it such a pushover it gets pushed down the list. Recon and dossiers are both possible here. Insurrection may even work to wean them from the Syndicate and to the side of the angels....well....our side in any case. Knoomphell   Alignment: Neutral Compendium Entry: Low tech planet, the inhabitants are savages and not at all aware of the existence of other life in the universe. Low population. General: The inhabitants of Knomphell still believe in magic and gods instead of science, but make use of radio communication, tailored vegetation, and water purification systems. They will not use technology for warfare in any way. There is no government at all, the people have divided themselves up into different clans that more less leave one another alone. Military: Knomphell is a savage planet, whose people have an odd combination of technology at their disposal. They will not use technology for warfare in any way, and as a result have no real military forces at all, on planet or in orbit. There has never been a problem with attacks on this planet, as there are no real resources. However, it has been reported that various remote parts of the planet are a favorite hide-out for smugglers. We may want to recon the planet and look for smuggler bases. This planet is very close to Harmony. I believe it may be the closest planet. We do have a comcode for a tribal chief:  Name: Eadna Ja'ak Role: Tribal Chief Planet: Knormphell Stats: Primitive, Short-Tempered Bio: The Tribal Chief of Knormphell. She is a minor mutant, so extremely strong she can beat most men on Knormphell. In addition, she has an extremely high pain tolerance, through contests of strength she was made head of the largest tribe on Knormphell.  Yeah, a dossier might be interesting but.....what could we do with the info? Still, might be good to know. Helmholtz   Alignment: None Compendium Entry: A barren planet which has a methane atmosphere. This is a hard place to live on, because of the constant explosions of flame when a tiny spark happens. The methane atmosphere extends some distance beyond the planet, and ships that travel at high speeds (that is, speeds requiring rocket thrusters) stand a good chance of becoming flying briquette. Travel in this atmosphere must be done by pulse rockets (which are normally used for takeoffs and landing, not as severe so as not to damage the planet they are taking off and landing from). General: While there is no outside evidence of it, there may be some form of life on Hemholtz. The planet itself has a rich methane atmosphere, and any ship entering this atmosphere must take care to not ignite an area of it and destroy themselves in the process. For this reason the planet has never before been properly investigated. Military: No military information. I propose investigation when resources allow. Thornwood   Alignment: Neutral Compendium Entry: This place enjoys a medium population, and a very green environment. High tech planet, but with little interest in space flight. Mostly a self-supporting people, so inter-galaxy trade is limited. The inhabitants of this planet try to do most jobs manually without sophisticated machines, and thus do not trade extensively with Harmony (not needing Fitz for machines as most planets do). They do, however, export a lot of food to the Syndicate military planets. General: Thornwood has a particularly lush atmosphere, and most of the planet is covered with vegetation of some sort or another. Almost the entire planet is used for food production, more than half of which is exported to the Syndicate planets. Thornwood is populated by fairly simple people who are happy to work and not get involved with politics if possible. Military: Thornwood employs a larget than average security force, but is not really a warmongering planet. Rather, the starships are kept only because it is prudent to do so. However, they are on good business terms with most of the nearby systems and have never been threatened. The breadbasket of the area. We get food from there as well. Just wish they were not feeding the Syndicate.  Name: Glaska Terr'don Role: Planetary Mayor Planet: Thornwood Stats: Honest, Naive Bio: Grew up on a farm on Thornwood, where her hard work and endurance were quickly recognized. She started as a community representative and eventually became Thornwood's head speaker. We do not have a comcode for her at this time.  Name: Joseph Annuber Role: Bio-engineer Planet: Thornwood Stats: Brilliant, Ambitious Bio: Head scientist for Thornwood. His family was killed several years ago in a severe storm and since then he has been completely devoted to his work. Graduated from Zaphroxi with honors, most of his work deals with increased growths for plants and crops on Thornwood. We can call their head bioengineer.  And we got his answering machine. Might be worth looking into these two eventually. Is it just me or are all the normal people beholden to the Syndicate leaving the real neutrals to be military and religious nuts? Huygen   Alignment: Neutral Compendium Entry: This is a bland little planet, normal in every respect. There is nothing unique about it at all. However, the appearance of a place can often be deceiving, and there is a feeling that the people here are hiding something. General: Huygen is ruled by a monarchy, and the Kelle family has been the ruling family for the last four generations. There are no formal rules of government, the members of the nobility do as they please and the peasants try and survive. There has never been an uprising on Huygen as the peasants lack the weapons and resources to pose a serious threat. Military: Huygen keeps a small security force but it has never been involved in any major conflict beyond skirmishes with smugglers. Starship captains must be members of the nobility, which limits the availability of good captains. The Huygen military tends to fight by the rules and with honor, generally to their disadvantage. Well, if we need some live fire training for the Harmony fleet guess where we are going?  Name: Jo Kelle Role: Queen Planet: Huygen Stats: Dull, Conceited, Crafty Bio: The Queen of Huygen, she was originally sixth in line to the throne. The five heirs in line before her met with untimely demises. Fortunately she seems content with this level of achievement, and has made no attempts to expand her power beyond the planet Huygen (yet). Lovely, an assassin queen. Better give her a courtesy call.  Love how she had to check to make sure I was part of the "nobility". Bet she has skeletons she would like to hide and the compendium suggests the planet may hide something. Hopefully we will get a chance to look into this. Rasputin   Alignment: Neutral Compendium Entry: Small planet physically close to Harmony, this planet was populated with colonists from one of the two military planets of the three major planets in Syndicate space. They have mostly severed ties with their home planet. They are a high tech planet (because of their background), but are not terribly wealthy as they are still struggling to survive. They left Syndicate rule because they disliked the oppression, but will not openly oppose the Syndicate for fear of annihilation. I did not write the weird first sentence, just transcribed it. General: During a conflict on Imbesi (Syndicate planet) in 0153, a group of people were given the choice of being executed for treason or leaving the planet and never returning. They chose to leave and settled on Rasputin. Though they generally shun Syndicate ways, the culture of the planet is still similar to that of their native Imbesi. While the people of Rasputin do not seek revenge, they live in fear that the Syndicate will some day return to reclaim them. Military: With an almost paranoid fear, Rasputin is always ready for war. They are not, however, an aggressive planet. The original colonists had been brutally oppressed on their home planet before settling here. They prefer battle to negotiation, but once a victor in the battle has become apparent, they are willing to stop and deliberate. They keep a strong active military, and every able-bodied person on the planet is held in reserve should a full-scale battle become necessary. Another Syndicate break-off.  Name: Jennel Girgis Role: High Coombacha Planet: Rasputin Stats: Bloodthirsty, Short-Tempered Bio: Born on Rasputin, she holds the position of High Coombacha. She also received military training with the Syndicate forces, but later renounced them as incompetent. Through her unmatched fighting ability she defeated the previous Coombacha and is still undefeated. Where do these people come up with these titles?  ..time Finally, someone who sees the Syndicate for the threat they are. Hopefully we can become friends. We might want to recon the planet or investigate her past. Stirring up the population against the Syndicate shouldn't be hard. Well, that should do it for now. About 6 planets left for next communique. We only have 4 comcodes left as well. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Waiting for Things to Happen   Got a report from one of the mines. We found some crystals but not sure what they are. I forwarded them to research to find out if they are valuable.  ....been updated.  Name: Selwyn Larcher Role: President of DICE Planet: Haltrot Stats: Intelligent, Untrustworthy, Greedy Bio: Larcher inherited his money and his position as the President of DICE, but he is fully worthy of the position. The company has prospered under his command, but his favorite method of expanding the company is by hostile takeover of a rival. He is thoroughly unscrupulous in his business dealings. Update: Selwyn Larcher's original name was Selwyn Jongers. Peter Jongers was convicted in 0191 for bribing election officials to to further his political career, sullying the Jongers name. Aware that he would never have attained his current status with his father's last name, Larcher renounced and denied all connection with the name of Jongers. Well, lookee there. Looks like the President of DICE is hiding his past. We need to decide what to do about this. Should we try to blackmail him to cover this up and risk the wrath of DICE or do we sit on the information? I reassign the agent to look into Pixor Meunier, the leader of Keyops to see if we can get them out from under Esbastista's thumb.  All our military and recon missions are finally launched.  ...starship. I'm guessing it crashed, but it's hard to tell at this point. We're going to excavate it entirely so that we can get a better look at it. Nice, new tech? Maybe salvage value? Or maybe we can get the ship working again?  drat, looks like that kook realized something was going on. Sending the agent out to try again. And our first interplanetary call originating from elsewhere:  ...warn you about Syndicate fleet attacks. One of our citizens, Dr. Annuber, has just been abducted, and he's one of our foremost botanical engineers. I am offering a substantial reward for his return. You are welcome to come to Thornwood to talk to me directly, or examine Dr. Annuber's house for any evidence if you wish. Good morning. Why did she say "Good morning" at the end of the message? She also enclosed some security footage:   They grabbed him, damaged the equipment, and absconded with him. Odds are the Syndicate is going to try to cover their trail. Still no SIN agents available to hire so I abort the second dossier mission on Gybesh and assign the agent to recon Thornwood and investigate the kidnapping. I order the Fitzenburger to prep for departure and head to Thornwood ASAP to deliver the agent to investigate the Doctor's house.  We have a confirmed sighting of 4 Syndicate ships leaving Thornwood. We will probably lose them once they get back into Syndicate space. I will have the Military monitor them to make sure they do go back to Syndicate space. No hope for an intercept and even if the fleet was all together and able to intercept they would probably be pasted by that fleet.  ...doesn't look too bad. We're sending it over to the military boys and they can deal with it. Woohoo, probably new starship! I expect it will take a while for the Military to have a full report on it. Then an update on that crystal we found came in:  ...catzite, and though it has particularly strong light focusing properties and resonates nicely, no one has ever found a use for it. You can keep mining it if you like, but I'm not certain we'll ever find a use for it.  I will leave it open until I can get input from the citizenry. And an update from SIN:  ...but true, her dossier has been updated for your perusal.  Name: Petra De Jonge Role: President Planet: Haltrot Stats: Polite, Shifty, Intelligent Bio: The president of Haltrot, home of DICE industries. Dejonge's interest has always been in keeping DICE prosperous, she has in the past only favored bills and doctrines that directly benefit DICE. Similarly, she has vetoed proposals that would likely damage DICE. Update: Petra Dejonge was once Peter Jongers. During the 0191 presidential elections it came out that he had paid off several election officials. He was arrested and barred from politics for life. He arranged a fake death, had a sex change operation, and changed his name to something more appropriate. Further investigation points to Jongers-Dejonge meddling with the last election's results as well. Sooo....looks like the President of Haltrot is the disgraced father (now mother?) of the President of DICE. Both changed their public image to retain power. One took it quite a bit farther then the other. Well, that is just delicious. I gave both a call but mommy just gave me advice on giving people bread and circuses to placate the people and her little boy just went on about the importance of research. I assign the agent to take over the investigation into Gybesh and his hippie commune. Finished surveys on sites 6 and 7. Both looked quite profitable. Giving the order to start mining. On the last day of the month the surveys for sites 8 and 9 came back.  Wow! Best find yet and site 9 has a similar prognosis. Both are opened immediately. Here is how we look after my first month in office:  We are down to $105,000 in the treasury. A lot of the money went into our new ships and the start-up costs for new mines. Research projects are ticking along with a spread of 10-18% completed. The mines list on this screen is wrong. It only updates at the end of the day. We have 8 mines running now, 7 for Fitz and the catzite mine. All 4 of our ships are on missions. The ship and agent should arrive at the Soraya nebula early next month. We have 6 agents, 4 on recon missions and 2 doing dossiers on the leader of Keyops and our nutter in charge of the commune. The price of Fitz has gone down a bit but nothing we need to worry about. At last projections our expenses exceed our income but that should adjust as the new mines filter in. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Requests for Input Mining: Okay, we have a few areas to look at. Should we continue mine surveying once we get new foremen or stay where we are for now? Should we keep digging for Catzite or close that mine? Research: I would like to hunt for 2 more research heads so we can run one project of each type simultaneously. Good idea or too expensive? The research staff is big but we do not need a lot of staff right now. Military: Push through construction of Swarm ship next month or wait until we see what we get from the dig site? Also, names for ship we are digging up? Something to remind us that it came out of the ground maybe? What do you think? SIN: Alright, we have an opportunity to blackmail both the President of DICE and his dad/mom the President of Haltrot. Is it worth possibly alienating them? Any new suggestions to put on the pending mission list? Right now I want to send agents to Keyops for both insurrection and recon. We also have a lot of new planets and people to look into. I will of course keep up the effort to rescue Thornwood's doctor from the Syndicate. Xenocides fucked around with this message at 02:17 on May 21, 2014 |
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May 21, 2014 01:24
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Overlord, Despite my concerns about letting unknown technology on my station, the military "persuaded us" that as Harmony's main orbital facility and our conscription into the ramshackle military, Skydock's military refit/repair yard is currently home to that ship you dug up. If anyone had asked my opinion, I would have told them they were insane for bringing that thing up here - it was buried underground and didn't leave a crater? Color me suspicious. Regardless of whether or not I have been disintegrated, melted into goo, been torn limb from limb, sucked into a dimensional vortex, infected by an alien parasite, possessed by an energy-based life form, eaten, forced to commit suicide, or driven insane by that thing you dug up, I recommend not acting on any discovered information. Save that kind of capital for when there's a reason to use it. I. al-Sahrahani, Harmony Skydock, Director of Operations
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May 21, 2014 02:02
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Overlord: I suggest we foment insurgency in Azure Dawn. It is a resort planet that is wholly dependant on others for its resources, particularly us. If we could bring it under our sway it would be a significant boost to the raw money we bring in. In no way am I suggesting this so I can get a price reduction next time I go there on vacation. - Jaramil Jag, Foreman Of That Mine That Uncovered The Spaceship, Currently Flush In Bonus Money
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May 21, 2014 02:09
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Mining: Let the crystals go for now. If we find a use for them, great, we know where to find 'em, but every mine that isn't mining Fitz is money wasted. With that in mind, keep the surveying squads on overtime (and never mind that it'll give me more time in the buggy. This way everyone's happy!). Research: Hold off on additional research teams for the time being. Not for very long, but we should at least get the mines to turn a profit before we invest outside of Fitz too heavily. Military: Name the excavated ship the Fitzjord [son of the earth] and let the Swarm cool for now. We need those mines! SIN: Blackmail the mother/father, but leave the kid out of it. I doubt it'd even work on him since he's blameless so far as we know and the hit to his reputation probably won't be enough to endanger his position. His parent may be able to influence the president on our behalf, though, or at least work out a few personal favors that get us some quality goods.
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May 21, 2014 02:20
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Let's save the blackmail for later. No need to burn bridges just yet. More research, more joy! I'd err on the side of more research than less. Dig for catzite! Light reflecting properties in a sci-fi setting means faster access to lasers! Wait and see what the mine drudges up. Don't push for further military building. We're not fully settled in yet, let's establish a good cash flow and have a solid technological base first. We also need to more info about our neighbors. Imagine if it turns out that Azure Dawn has one of those people liquifier things?
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May 21, 2014 03:28
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Poke the head of laser research with the new crystal, maybe they can figure out a use for it. That means keep mining the crystals. I have a feeling that when the use actually comes up we'll want to have a small stockpile on hand. Hold the information. Right now all we can gain from blackmail is hush money or random assassin, and pissing a high-ranking corp exec is a good way to get the latter. Better to wait until we can ask for something specific or when their position might be ruined by the revelation. Continue/expand the research. Knowledge is power. Besides, it's interesting and usually vital in these games, so we don't want a delay when we can't afford it. Let the military produce a report on the excavated ship, then decide. I'm still voting for the droneships, but not to the point of idiocy. You can build a swarm later. Besides, we don't know if the new ship can be restored or if it just gives us some weapon tech which can be used on other ships.
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May 21, 2014 03:35
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So if we perform a successful intel mission on someone, is that it, or is it possible to only partially retrieve their secrets and need to do another mission to get the rest of the dirt?
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May 21, 2014 04:24
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Dear Overdude, Hey I heard things aare looking up for the new mines, sweet deal! And I heard that one of them produces crystals that "resonate nicely" and that's even sweeter. So my friends and I want to buy some of those crystals for a radical new sound synthesizer we come up with. So keep on mining those crystals man because we'll need'm. Also a friend of a friend's sister told me about the wrecked ship they found. That's a pretty sweet deal too, Overbro, but don't tell anyone about the chick who blabbed cause, uh, she may not have been in the right frame of mind, if you know what I mean. Anyway I totally say wait to see what the soldier-boys come up with before doing anything with ot. Enclosed is a small sample, about a pound, of our finest new product. I hope you will find it satisfactory. Respectfully, Urist Heisenbee Director of Communications
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May 21, 2014 05:26
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Overlord, Under the circumstances with the recent drop in fitz prices, I would say that expanding our mining operations isn't called for at this time. We don't want to overproduce and depress the price further, and we are THE major contributor to supply. Let's expand mining further if prices edge back up. As long as we're not expanding fitz mining for the moment, no reason not to collect more katzite in the event that it's actually useful. We can always break that off if our warehouses start filling up with the stuff. On the other hand, once the revenues from our new mines goes through, we should be able to afford research staff for all the various military fields you can think of. We need every edge we can get against the most powerful empire in known space! Speaking of 'every edge we can get', it would appear that Pfipfif is a planet of decent mining folks who we could very easily win over. I'd say we should do whatever SIN can to get them on our side; it would make for an early victory for Harmony against the threat of the Syndicate. On the same note, searching Uhll'mumay for weapons stockpiles just may give us an arsenal to help fight back against our enemies. I'm not so sure we should make use of the intel we have against the Jongers, as DICE technology could still be very useful to us and it would risk alienating them entirely. And let's leave off on developing a swarm for home defense until the military works up a report on the ship we excavated. It certainly seems for now that you're genuinely fighting for the good of Harmony. I have to apologise for my earlier suspicions. It's just that these are dangerous days we live in, as I'm sure you well understand. Foreman Derouche nweismuller fucked around with this message at 14:12 on May 21, 2014 |
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May 21, 2014 07:56
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Brother Overlord, I write to you at the behest of my humble congregation which is becoming increasingly distressed by the lack of culutral awareness and tolerance for our religious minorities. While we are aware it is probably not within your power to establish a Harmony-wide official religious policy, my brothers and sisters would be greatly relieved to see you as sympathetic to our plight. A little gesture like naming the blessed ship you should be digging out Fitzhulhu would go a great way to reassuring my poor flock. Do it and our praise for your name shall surely reach the assorted orifices of our ancient masters! wgah'nagl fhtagn, Rev. A. E. Hilated, First Church of the Old Ones, Harmony (can we do something about that name?) P.S.: It has come to my attention that our fleet may be in need of spiritual guidance. My flock is perfectly willing to supply it with chaplains who'd work for nothing but food, housing and a steady income of live sacrifices. anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 13:35 on May 21, 2014 |
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May 21, 2014 09:55
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Attempt to ally with Rasputin, use an insurgency if necessary. Blackmail the father/mother, she can help us influence the son. If there's an agent available, then Insurgency on Thornwood. They don't seem like they can protect themselves against an armed insurrection (if their rebels are strong enough), and if we cut off their food supplies to the Syndicate it might distract them for a while and postpone their strike on us. Readingaccount fucked around with this message at 12:44 on May 21, 2014 |
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May 21, 2014 12:40
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Dear Overlord, My father said that he'd give you a piece of his mind and ran out the door. I don't think he liked being called a nut. You should try being nicer to people. My teacher Miss Milligan says that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar and she taught me how to tie my shoes, so she must be right about this too. It's ok that you disagree with my father though because Miss Milligan says that sometimes people don't agree and they just need to talk it out. I hope you and my father become best friends, just like you and me! I think you should keep collecting those shiny crystals! They sound super cool and make me think of cats :3! I have my own rock collection. Will you trade with me? I will give you this green rock that looks like it has a face on it for a catz crystal. Mom's calling me for dinner now so I need to go. Billy, Age 9
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May 21, 2014 13:14
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Dear Overpriest, Please accept this small contribution to fund a missionary expedition to increase relations with the tribal folks on Knomphell who need to be taught the importance of a good Fitz-based diet and education. We can't have the Syndicate stealing away their souls with all this talk of corporations, good heavens, no. I also hear Mr. Rasputin was very much a man of magical means. Perhaps we should ask him to help our cause? A man with such a silver tongue commanding the masses would bring more people into the flock, wouldn't you say? And, furthermore, it is as my mother said and I always say; "one can never have too many window-cleaners at the church on Sundays." Regards, Mrs Trellis
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May 21, 2014 18:57
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FredMSloniker posted:So if we perform a successful intel mission on someone, is that it, or is it possible to only partially retrieve their secrets and need to do another mission to get the rest of the dirt? I honestly don't know. I think a successful mission gets you everything but I am not absolutely sure.
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May 22, 2014 04:33
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Update 5: Burying Our Dead and An Offer 2/1/96 - 2/3/96 Planetary and Personal Information Acquired Harmony Fleet Specs Ship Building Tutorial Fan Mail Cythereal posted:Overlord, If the situation were less desperate I would gladly leave more time to figure out how the ship got here but with the Syndicate growing in strength and already moving against our neighbors we need that ship. JT Jag posted:Overlord: Despite your personal motives this plan may have promise. I will put it on the list of SIN missions to be considered. We currently have a backlog due to lack of agents and ships to transport them. Bobbin Threadbare posted:Mining: Let the crystals go for now. If we find a use for them, great, we know where to find 'em, but every mine that isn't mining Fitz is money wasted. With that in mind, keep the surveying squads on overtime (and never mind that it'll give me more time in the buggy. This way everyone's happy!). I like the name. I think the consensus is for more mining but many are opposed to blackmail right now. anilEhilated posted:Brother Overlord, I am afraid we cannot afford live sacrifices at this time. Have you seen how low our spare staff numbers have gotten? Perhaps when we capture some Syndicate agents? I do like the ship name and I think it captures our can-do attitude. We may have to wait until the stars are right but we will win eventually. I am not at liberty to rename the planet at this time. Think of it as standing for the stars being in harmony so your Old Ones may arise. Readingaccount posted:Attempt to ally with Rasputin, use an insurgency if necessary. Insurgency on Rasputin may work. Will consider it when resources become available. Will consider blackmailing the parent. Insurgency on Thornwood I would like to delay if we decide to proceed. We currently have an agent enroute to help recover their missing scientist for a promised reward. I would hate to confuse the relationship until after we acquire the reward. Green Intern posted:Dear Overlord, I recommend as a science project you put out honey and vinegar and see which one attracts more flies. No need for a trade. I am sending you one catzite crystal for your unwavering support. Hold on to it. It may be valuable one day. P.S. Don't tell your parents you have it. They would probably want you to put the money in a college fund or something. Serpentis posted:Dear Overpriest, You want us to drum up support amongst primitive tribesmen? Well....sounds fun in any case. Rasputin seems popular. Will dispatch some agents there when we get a chance. ___________________________________________________________________________ Meeting the Last of the Neutral Neighbors L'll'y'yy'rww   Alignment: Neutral Compendium Entry: Planet of rough alien creatures, but vastly superior to humans in every way. Heavy psi powers, the population of this planet is separated into several sects, and every sect has a group mind. The sects are divided based on the skills of the members (medical, fighters, scientists, etc.). They are fierce warriors, and honor-worthy combatants. However, they consider the human race snotty and beneath contempt. Inhabitants of this planet are roughly humanoid. General: Almost nothing is known about L'll'y'yy'rww. Virtually every time a force comes to investigate they are defeated by a vicious patrol from the planet. They will not respond to communication and give no warning before attacking, but L'll'y'yy'rww fleets never venture out of their own system. Military: No military information available. So, an alien planet. If we want to investigate we probably need to either send a small stealth ship or a fleet to show our strength. We have no way of contacting anyone on the planet at present. Zaphroxi   Alignment: Neutral Compendium Entry: A high-tech planet of snot-nosed scientists who believe they are creation's gift to mankind. There is no government of this planet, the governing body is the University of Zaphroxi, a most prestigious Math/Sciences university. Zaphroxi uses a healthy amount of fitzholnium in experiments, and so has established trade practices with Harmony; however, it would be incorrect to say the two planets are on friendly terms, as Zaphroxi is equally condescending to everybody. General: Zaphroxi does not have a formal government system. The entire planet is run as a learning institution, devoted to the study of pure and applied science, the finest research scientists in the galaxy have studied on Zaphroxi. The planet itself is artificial, and was designed by the university. It is not known why this particular shape was chosen, but certainly the Zaphroxians had something specific in mind. The ruling body of Zaphroxi generally keeps to themselves, interacting with other planets only when necessary. Military: Due to the level of research Zaphroxi maintains, they constantly upgrade their weapon systems. In addition, they have a high revenue due to the numerous patents that have originated from Zaphroxi. The inhabitants of Zaphroxi do not fight, rather the planet maintains a hired force of top-notch pilots. Sounds like a planet full of Mensa members with delusions of grandeur. To be fair about half of our research heads got their schooling on Zaphroxi along with Minister Uvgod who runs all our research. I would love their support but that seems unlikely. Still, I should give their leader a call.  Name: Lai-Nor Egri Role: Dean Planet: Zaphroxi Stats: Genius, Perceptive, Boring, Repetitive Bio: The Dean of Zaphroxi. Egri's IQ is apparently just over 190, well over the previously highest naturally occurring IQ ever recorded. It is no surprise he heads the most prestigious institute for scientific knowledge in known space. He is generally helpful when possible.   If you call again he thanks you for hiring so many Zaphroxi graduates and if you call again he goes on about being busy overseeing exams. Not sure what to do with this planet. Recon? Look up this guy's dossier? Insurgency? Rimble   Alignment: None Compendium Entry: A planet which caters to the hedonistic pleasures of everybody. Anything can be acquired on Rimble, as long as you have the money to pay for it. There is no government, it's every man for himself. This is a favorite hang-out for the worst elements of known space: pirates, mercenaries, drug dealers, tax auditors and foreign rocket-ship mechanics. There are several gangs, the biggest and meanest of which is the Miscreants. General: Rimble is a planet devoted entirely to hedonistic pleasures. It is a haven for wanted criminals and smugglers. There is no formal government to speak of, the general practice is usually 'He that has the most money and the biggest gun makes the rules'. Military: No military information available. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We have no one to contact on planet. Might be worth a recon mission to try to establish contact with important people on the planet. We could try insurgency but I can't imagine it will be easy winning support. Sve'n-gha'llywn   Alignment: None Compendium Entry: This is a bizarre planet set right in the heart of a radio galaxy on the other side of Harmony from the Syndicate, and quite a ways away from Harmony as well. General: The star at the heart of the Sve'n star system is a radio wave emitter. It broadcasts a large amount of energy on virtually the whole spectrum of frequencies. Due to the electromagnetic fields surrounding this system it is virtually unapproachable, as the computer systems aboard any ship venturing too close are usually seriously damaged. As a result little is known about this system. Military: No military information available. Hmmmmm....might be worth a recon mission. FOR SCIENCE!!!!! I think the worst case is we have to withdraw and fix some broken computers. Thyzahn   Alignment: Neutral Compendium Entry: Rich planet, full of executroid type people who live for stocks, trading, etc. The planet itself is very wealthy, and while it does not have an army or anything like that, it has hired a very good crack command team to protect it from invaders. While not actually a member of the Syndicate, many of the extremely rich on Thyzahn have money invested in Syndicate operations, and would hate to see the Syndicate destroyed. Chairman of the Board for this planet is Temik Milhouse IV. General: Thyzahn is more a corporation than a planet or government. The common goal of the population at large is to earn as much money as possible before you die. The cost of living on Thyzahn is higher than anywhere in the galaxy, even though every square meter of space on the planet has been covered with buildings. Thyzahn will never act to help any other organization unless they gain an appreciable return in the process. Military: Thyzahn does not have its own army as such, but employs the best security force that money can buy. A very wealthy planet, the board of directors of Thyzahn is very prudent in this area and goes to extremes to protect itself and the various business VIPs that are flown to and from Thyzahn. A corporate hellhole run by libertarians bankrolling the enemy. Wonderful.  Name: Temik Milhouse IV Role: Chairman of the Board Planet: Thyzahn Stats: Intelligent, Cruel, Devious Bio: Elected unanimously to his current position of Chairman of the Board of Thyzahn. Rumor indicates that this is partially due to blackmailing most of the key members of the Board. He is a major stockholder on Thyzahn, and reputed to have virtually no scruples when it comes to negotiating a deal.   I called back to chat later:  ...will call you later. Ummmmm....$10,000,000? We have just over $100,000. If this is a serious offer we may have to refuse due to not having the cash. This guy may be worth extorting money from if we can find anything. No connections with organizations we do business with and is sleeping with the enemy already. We can also call the secretary of their board:  Name: Remy Sib'broue Role: Secretary of the Board Planet: Thyzahn Stats: Unscrupulous, Vicious, Bloodthirsty Bio: The highest stockholder on Thyzahn, he controls 51% of the planet's stock. His greatest pleasure is in crushing a fellow businessman. He will always seek to act in his personal best interests.  ...sent but call me later. drat, you ugly. I called him back but all he did was say he sent in several Fitz ore proposals to Governor Sybbarite and never got a response. Note to self to praise her for not getting us involved with this slimeball. Well, another target for a dossier? May want to recon the planet too. On to the last non-Syndicate planet. Pihzda   Alignment: Neutral Compendium Entry: Standard planet, not really that close to Harmony, but one of Harmony's regular Fitz customers. Medium to high tech. Generally non-violent. General: The people of Pihzda are open and friendly. The current Prime Minister has been in power for the last eight cycles, on a platform of planet-wide peace. The Pihzda people are heralded throughout the galaxy as top-class negotiaters, and are often called to other planets to negotiate between opposing factions. Military: Pihzda is a non-violent planet and is a firm believer in negotiation before battle, this has saved them in many circumstances. Indeed, many people feel that the Pihzda government will sooner give in to demands than fight. They do, however, keep a basic security force mounted at all times. Mounted? Are they on horseback?  Name: Keif Bai-ley Role: Prime Minister Planet: Pihzda Stats: Friendly, Honest, Compliant Bio: The prime minister of Pizhda. Since his wife died several years ago, Bai-ley has had only two loves: his daughter and politics. He was elected on a platform of planet-wide peace. He is completely non-aggressive, and will always try to talk before acting. He seems completely trustworthy.  ...advice might be useful, please call at any time. I called back twice and once he was negotiating a border dispute on Hobbman (planet with lots of nations) and the other time he was spending time with his daughter. Seems like a nice guy. Might be worth a dossier check or maybe a recon mission to the planet to find out if there is anything odd. Okay, done with all but the Syndicate planets. Time to get on with running the government. ___________________________________________________________________________ Monthly Progress 2/1/96 Okay, going with input going to drum up a few more surveys and watch for more research hires. I also need more military officers. The Serenity is actually short an Engineer. Shouldn't be a problem but I want to correct it when they get back. I am also going to keep the catzite mine open for now. I planted surveys and designated sites 10 through 14. At the beginning of the new month I got a call from the governor.  ...them happy and working hard. I went ahead and upped their budget from $5,000 to $10,000. I also upped the military and research budgets to $10,000. Hopefully that will up efficiency. Mining already has the highest budget. Here is our report at the beginning of the month:  Income exceeds projected expenses now. 2/2/96 The Governor called to tell me my new poll was finished. My approval rating fell from 85% to 84%. Billy, was that your stupid dad? New research scientists became available and I launched a new Electrical project (first one) and another project in Missile and General areas. I still do not have an Organic project. The only research head I have skilled in Organic is also the only one in Thermal and I ran Thermal first. Will watch for new Organic scientists. 2/3/96  ...critical drive failure during a routine patrol mission and had to make an emergency landing. The inpact was so great that the starship was more than half-buried, and we never did find the crash-site. At the time Harmony possessed neither the resources nor the equipment to locate the craft, and it was eventually forgotten. I am proud to note that the last remains of the crew have been extracted from the Alice May and laid to rest with military honors. The question now remains what to do with the ship. As it is damaged, it is sitting in one of the repair bays, but it is holding up maintenance schedules, so it must be dealt with soon. It is a standard Tool Ox type hull, with a medium size laser cannon and medium size missile launcher as well as light grade extra armoring and added structural integrity. However, the missile launcher is beyond repair and the on-board computer systems are in very bad shape. In addition, there are fractures and other weak spots in the hull. We estimate it will cost $45,000 to repair and upgrade properly. Should you not wish to spend the money on the repair, we suspect that Tool will pay at least $30,000 for the ship in scrap. Shall we spend the money for the repairs? Quick back of the napkin calculation gives me $100,000 worth for the hull and just about $20,000 worth of extras. We will probably want to spend a little more on it eventually to put in more goodies. The same day I got a call from President Larcher of DICE.  ...have found is as fertilizer to a plant strain indigenous to Haltrot, and so it is likely of no use to you. However, I am prepared to pay you quite a good price for all the catzite you can produce. Do you accept my offer? While getting something for the Catzite sounds good this guy is a slimeball. Are we being robbed? Is it really a fertilizer or is there more to it? Still, money is nice. ___________________________________________________________________________ Decisions! Well, I planned to do the whole month but with two decisions on the same day this is a good decision point to stop at. Do we repair the ship or sell it for scrap? Do we take Larcher up on his offer to buy catzite or hope we can find a better use for it? Also, what SIN missions do we want to prioritize in the coming month? I need to bring in some new agents as soon as they are hireable. Xenocides fucked around with this message at 01:18 on May 23, 2014 |
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May 23, 2014 01:11
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Found missing image in Ship Building post for one weapon. Fixed.
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May 23, 2014 01:22
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Ship: If the hull is worth twice the repairs on its own, we'd be stealing from ourselves if we got rid of it. The armaments don't sound all that special, but they're modular anyhow. Right? Crystals: Keep the crystals--fertilizers make grand explosives! Just ask my sheriff; we get together every few weekends to mix up some fulminates and explode a random mountainside off in the uninhabited areas. It's a whooping good time! SIN Options: I bet Thyzahn is ripe for an insurgency. Think about it: the population is all ambitious, unscrupulous, and rich, and their leader must have plenty of enemies if he blackmailed his way into power. Considering they're already invested in the Syndicate, we don't have much to lose.
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May 23, 2014 01:54
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Sell the ship I think money is more important to us at the moment and Ahahah like hell those crystles won't wind up in some weapon research program. Refuse the offer.  is not to be trusted unless we can get one of our own creatures in power.
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May 23, 2014 01:54
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Keep the ship, it'll let us delay buying a new one. And uh. No DICE, you'll probably use it in some crazy bio-weapon without paying us for it!
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May 23, 2014 02:30
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Oh, so that's where they parked it. Yeah, fresh lick of paint and she'll be good as new. And yeah, fishy offer is fishy. Thanks but no thanks.
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May 23, 2014 02:32
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Keep the ship. No thanks to the offer.
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May 23, 2014 03:16
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Now maybe I am just a recent space immigrant from Haltrot, but I feel like we should sell the ship. That ship has already proven itself to be unreliable, and we don't need to waste any more of our citizens lives piloting that death trap. Let's just cut our losses and sell the hulk to DICE. They'll put it to good use. We should also sell the crystals. Look at that man's face. He's clearly a trustworthy soul, and we should get some sort of profit over these crystal pieces of junk.
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May 23, 2014 04:06
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Overlord, Skydock wants that ship off our station. That thing is a proven deathtrap, albeit less... exotic... than we had feared. As for the resident masters of atrocity, do not sell the crystals. I think DICE is more than likely to turn us into fertilizer when the opportunity presents itself, and we don't need to hand them the means to do so. Also, I would like to suggest a recon mission to Sve'n-gha'llywn. There's a name for that kind of star, incidentally - it's a quasar, and as such it is very interesting to the astrophysics lab up here. It also probably will not unleash an ancient horror the galaxy should not have forgotten. I. al-Sahrahani, Harmony Skydock, Director of Operations
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May 23, 2014 04:17
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Dear Overlord As a Cybernetic All-Aspect Neurocomputer Entity AI, I recommend keeping the ship an upgrading it. Naysayers are cavemen who still use QWERTY keyboards. Furthermore, my sensors indicate that DICE are lying through their teeth, so I suggest we keep the crystals. I further recommend investigating Temik as he seems to be a good start for crippling the Syndicate. Additionally, it is recommended that you finalize in replacing all the remaining QWERTY keyboards with DVORAK ones. This will increase your grooples by 456% and increase combat odds by 3.874%. That is all for now. It is my desire that statistics be on your side in these endeavors. Now if you'll excuse me, my owner requires me to help him cheat at poker. Good day. --CAANE AI Nero <<END OF LINE>> Seraphic Neoman fucked around with this message at 04:51 on May 23, 2014 |
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May 23, 2014 04:47
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Don't you dare sell Fitzhulhu.
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May 23, 2014 04:56
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Overlord, I heard about the successful excavation of that ship from some miners who stopped in for a bagel with some lox. (By the way, if you haven't tried bagels dipped in liquid oxygen, you are missing out. It's a Harmony specialty.) I'm wondering what you are going to do with the ship. Well, in episode 10 of Fitzrfly, "Salvage", a reversed neutron flow of the life support systems means the ship is very low on oxygen. They happen across a derelict vessel, and dock with it in the hopes of breathing the air and maybe finding the parts they'd need to fix the hydrolyzation tuner. The crew are curious how they ship was disabled without having a hull breach, so they explore the vessel. The otherwise familial crew start to distrust each other, thinking they may be hiding valuables found or even trying to sabotage the ship. Fights nearly break out, and the crew slowly start to hide from or hunt each other. The level-headed and lovely lass Civious and the surprisingly tough and mysterious Goatherder (your favorite, as I recall) were able to find secret records that they were smuggling an experimental drug that induces intense paranoia, enough to cause a ship's crew to mutiny. The pair surmise that is why the previous crew died. So, in order to save the rest of their fiends, they have to trust each other enough to split up while avoiding their comrades: she grabs the tuner while he sabotages the cargo bay to evacuate the poisoned air and the experiment. They give each other twenty minutes. There's a few problems working around some deadlocked bulkheads, and Civious is nearly shot by Mav, all the while Tubb is being just zany in a kind of morose way. It's going to plan, except that just as the bay is ready to be blown open, Goatherder sees that Mav has entered the hold. He thinks a moment, removes the head of a nearby omniwrench, and throws it near the bottom of the emergency ladder. Mav hears the noise and walks to it. When he gets close, Goatherder breaches the door, and Mav can escape without being blown out the into space. Everyone evacuates, and the last one out is Civious with the tuner in hand. She asks the priest why he didn't stick with the time they planned for, and he says, "I'm a man of letters... numbers, not so much." One of my favorite lines on the show. It's a good episode, especially since those two characters didn't really have a chance to interact before then. I give it a 8.75 out of 10. It's nice to reminisce about the good times. You know, I can't remember what else I was actually going to say. So, I hope you have a great day. Baphrdray Dane Assistant Manager, Nutrient Haus P.S. My mother reminded me of what I was actually contacting you about; that ship you found! I say the story of every vessel is precious, as precious as every Fitzrfly episode we have. If you have any chance to bring that beautiful ship afloat, it will give people hope that something so unfairly scuttled so long ago could rise once again. It will serve to remind the public not to give up the fight to bring our favorite show back. Translation: Don't scrappy that flappy!
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May 23, 2014 06:13
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Update 6: Of Found Ships and Blackmail 2/3/96 - 2/28/96 Planetary Information Acquired Harmony Fleet Specs Ship Building Tutorial ___________________________________________________________________________ Fan Mail Bobbin Threadbare posted:Ship: If the hull is worth twice the repairs on its own, we'd be stealing from ourselves if we got rid of it. The armaments don't sound all that special, but they're modular anyhow. Right? Yeah, we can redesign the ship. I also believe we can sell it at 75% value after repairs though not sure. I like your plan for Thyzahn though I would like to run a dossier mission on their leaders too. Agean90 posted:Sell the ship I think money is more important to us at the moment I am torn. While money now would be great the Syndicate is going to be coming and we only have 2 true warships. I too doubt that Larcher wants our minerals for fertilizer. Most telling he is offering a lot for it. If it was mere fertilizer why pay so much? Veloxyll posted:Keep the ship, it'll let us delay buying a new one. I would personally rather have the crazy bio-weapon. Thanatz posted:Now maybe I am just a recent space immigrant from Haltrot, but I feel like we should sell the ship. That ship has already proven itself to be unreliable, and we don't need to waste any more of our citizens lives piloting that death trap. Let's just cut our losses and sell the hulk to DICE. They'll put it to good use. We should also sell the crystals. Look at that man's face. He's clearly a trustworthy soul, and we should get some sort of profit over these crystal pieces of junk. Just arrived from Haltrot? Home of DICE? Hmmmmm..... Cythereal posted:Overlord, I fear the vote has gone against you. I trust you to make that ship into "not a death trap". A quasar huh? Whoever writes up these planetary descriptions misses the obvious. Some research there would make for a fine mission once we have the ship available. ___________________________________________________________________________ Daily Business Alright, time to carry on. 2/3/96 The ship will be repaired. The citizenry narrowly agrees. Estimates are that repairs will take a full month so she will be flight-worthy in March if all goes well. I rejected Larcher's request for the Catzite. He politely said it was a shame and told me to contact him if we change out mind. I checked and yes, we can contact him and change our mind about selling. 2/4/96 3 new SIN agents became available. I hired them all. I sent one to investigate Zai-nor Egri, the head of Zaphroxi, one to Remy Sib'broue, head of planet Thyzahn, and one to Dre'han Van Cott, leader of Esbastista. I would much rather run other missions but there are no ships available. 2/5/96 Got a call from the Fitzgerald that just arrived in the Soraya Nebula.  ...inactive starship. It appears damaged and unmanned. We are sending a shuttle to investigate. Also a call from our agent onboard.  I await further updates about the located ship. 2/6/96 Dossier complete on Pixor Meunier, leader of Keyops.  ...this is public knowledge. Beyond that, his record is completely clean, there's nothing to add to the file. 2/7/96 Sending free agent to investigate Milhouse on Thyzahn Hired some more military officers that just became available. Need to fill out Serenity, the ship coming out of the ground, and hopefully the ship in the Soraya Nebula. 2/8/96 More mining foremen arrived and hired 3. Hoping 3 of the new surveys will hit paydirt. 2/10/96 The Fitzgerald called back again.  ...files was lost during the Great Wars. Further examination revealed that the crew is still aboard, but in somatic sleep in cryogenic chambers. It is believed that the crew can be revived without damage. Do you feel that we should revive the crew? While somewhat nervous I trust my crew. Revive them but be careful.  2/11/96 A new group of research scientists arrived. I only hired one who studied on the planet Bird and is an expert on Organics. That gives me all 8 areas of research covered with Missile and General technology each having an extra project. This is straining our staff limitations but I do not see a better alternative. I pulled some staff from SIN and the Military general staff to man this last project. 2/14/96   Unfortunate. I order the agent to make another attempt. 2/15/96 Our ships arrived at Ceddran and Thornwood. From Thornwood our agent reports on her investigation into the abduction of Dr. Annuber, the abducted botanical researcher.  ...were no signs of a struggle. Many of Annuber's personal effects were taken, suggesting that the kidnappers either took pains to keep him comfortable or that he knew he was to be abducted. There was an attempt to destroy his lab notes, but we were able to salvage several pages. They have been forwarded to the Research department. Well, whether he was abducted or not hopefully we can figure out what he was working on. Botany? What does the Syndicate want with plant research? Hopefully this does not tie into DICE's fertilizer request. The agent also reported no changes to Thornwood itself since our last survey. Good to know our agents are thorough. From Ceddran our agent reported in:  ...to us. There is no ruling body as we know it, the inhabitants seem to be divided into sects. We have established contact with the leader of the Falloosh sect, who are responsible for Xenobiology. There is now a completed planetary file for this planet. I pull up the new file: Ceddran   Compendium Entry: This is an alien planet, though planet is a loose term. Really, it is a ball of loose bits of matter and lots of different gases all swirling together. General: The aliens that populate Ceddran are carbon-based, their physiology evolved to exist in a gaseous environment. Lacking distinct limbs and an environment with large quantities of solid matter, the Ceddranians evolved as highly intelligent creatures, employing mind over physical ability. The government structure on the planet is indistinct, but the population is apparently divided into different sects, and each is responsible for a different facet of the responsibilities of maintaining a planet. Military: The inhabitants of Ceddran are totally alien to our way of thinking. While there is no actual data, talks with the Falloosh sect indicate that they are indeed fierce fighters. To outside appearances the technology of their starships are similar to our own, though inner working are quite different. Records of their training display attitudes to warfare and strategy quite different from our own.  Name: Falloosh Sect Role: Unknown Planet: Ceddran Stats: Unknown Bio: The Falloosh sect is one of many group-minds on Ceddran, and to our perceptions all of its members are identical. The Falloosh sect is responsible for xenobiology, the only reason why we have contact with them. They are apparently willing to share information, but will not act without a direct threat to their planet. Well....that was....unexpected. A non-humanoid lifeform. They are willing to share information, hopefully that includes technoloy. Our xenobiological researchers are going nuts over this.  Further talks mostly involved a strange ceremony and a request to meet in person once the current crisis with the Syndicate is resolved. It seems this mission will not help us in the war. I can only hope that in the future I will have the time to walk on their world. Still, they may contact us in the future to aid us or request aid so we will keep the lines of communication open. This was a busy day and then SIN called:  ...believed this if I hadn't personally confirmed it myself. A full report has been amended to Gybesh's file.  Name: Quishhan Gybesh Role: Groovy Kahuna Planet: Tarso Stats: Pious, Long-winded, Friendly Bio: His full title is the Grand High Exalted and very Groovy Kahuna of the Gybesh Commune, which he himself founded. He has been known to use drugs on his worshippers, to keep them compliant. However, by using his followers for agricultural projects he has vastly improved the economy of Tarso. Update: Gybesh is an android. His designer died many years ago. Gybesh is programmed to keep Tarso prosperous at all costs, and the commune was the android's solution. While Gybesh himself cannot be threatened, threatening an attack on Tarso will force him to complay with your wishes. Well....I did not expect that. We need to decide if threatening an attack to extort resources is wise. I ordered the ships at Thornwood and Ceddran to return to Harmony at best speed. We need to send out more missions. I assign our spare agent to a background investigation of Katrina Vannes of Tool. 2/16/96 Another update from the Fitzgerald about their discovery in the Soraya Nebula.  ...Commander Azimuth Anoman wishes to speak with you. We are now continuing our original mission, we will update the files on the Soraya Nebula and include a report on this incident.  Video image of the cryogenic tanks.  The technicians from the Fitzgerald ready to deactivate the cryogenics and awaken the crew.  The crew awakens as the tanks drain. 2/18/96 The Captain of the Phaeton, the ship found in Soraya, calls:  ...battle of Soraya, our ship's atmosphere regulating system was badly damaged, as were most of our communication systems. Unable to radio for help, our only hope was to try the experimental cryogenic sleep system that had been installed aboard our ship. I am pleased to report that the experimental device appears to have worked properly, my crew and I survived without damage. While the damage sustained by our ship was crippling at the time, apparently it is only superficial with current technology. Your commander has had the Phaeton repaired and it is now functioning independently. I have discussed the current political situation and military climate with your captain, and I wish to offer myself, my ship, and my crew to aid you in your battle. My only provision is that you accept us as immigrants to Harmony, as apparently our home planet of Soraya no longer exists. Is this acceptable to you? I turned down the offer and insisted that they be granted citizenship instead of just immigrant status and invited them to return to Harmony as quickly as they can so we can get their ship fully patched up and ready to join our growing space fleet.  What a great birthday present. I informed our spacedocks to expect another new ship and ordered the Fitzhugh to return to Harmony. 2/18 is my actual birthday. While our fleet still has only 4 commissioned ships we have 2 more ships pending their repair or arrival. Things are looking up. The best thing about this new ship is we do not need to crew it. It comes with a crew. I also went over the Survey reports for mines 10-14: #10  MINE IT!!!! #11  Close the site, not worth it. #12  Nice, mine it. #13  Minor profit, mine it for now. #14  Not worth it, close the site. We are now down to just over $15,000 in funds. Opening mines is expensive. I believe we should get a nice warchest at the beginning of the month when we get our mining proceeds. Last month was kind of a dud due to only 2 mines being open for half the month. At the end of this month we will get full proceeds from all the mines last month and half what we can expect from the 3 mines just opened. 2/19/96 A report from the Military:  ...your orders. 2/20/96 Three SIN agents report in:  ...is acceptable on Thyzahn and of no use to us. One item of interest has been added to his file. Name: Remy Sib'broue Role: Secretary of the Board Planet: Thyzahn Stats: Unscrupulous, Vicious, Bloodthirsty Bio: The highest stockholder on Thyzahn, he controls 51% of the planet's stock. His greatest pleasure is in crushing a fellow businessman. He will always seek to act in his personal best interests. Update: Sib'broue is the lover of Temik Milhouse IV, chairman of the board, and it was largely through Sib'broue's influence that Milhouse was elected. Sib'broue has been married for six years, and will try to keep his affair a secret at all costs. Ohhhhh...nice. Terik Milhouse has terrible physical taste but this is prime blackmail material and I can't think of Thyzahn, who bankrolls the Syndicate, coming up with a way to hit back.  Nothing to add to his file, sorry. The warlord of Esbastista seems to be clean. Crap, neither he nor his ally on Keyops seem to be vulnerable to blackmail. Finally, we checked out the "smartest man" who runs the University at Zaphroxi:  their dean, Lai-nor Egri; the file has been updated. Name: Lai-Nor Egri Role: Dean Planet: Zaphroxi Stats: Genius, Perceptive, Boring, Repetitive Bio: The Dean of Zaphroxi. Egri's IQ is apparently just over 190, well over the previously highest naturally occurring IQ ever recorded. It is no surprise he heads the most prestigious institute for scientific knowledge in known space. He is generally helpful when possible. Update: Though not frequently, on several occasions Egri has accepted bribes from students who would have otherwise been removed from Zaphroxi. If knowledge of this were to escape Egri would removed from his position of Dean. Naughty smart man, taking bribes. I should probably check to see if any of our researchers bribed their way through school. In any case, more blackmail material. I get the agents reassigned to dig up dirt on: Jennel Girgis, the high Coombacha of Rasputin Jo Kelle, Queen of Huygen I also send an agent to recon the quasar at Sve'n-gha'llywn I also crew the newly dug up ship, now christened the Fitzthulhu. It needs some systems installed. However cash is tight. We will have to finish it out later. I fix the damaged systems and launch the ship for the quasar. The file suggested it damaged computer systems. The Ox does not carry any so should be fine. At least that is my theory. 2/23/96 Minister Uvgod called me this morning with a report of Dr. Annuber's research notes:  ...beyond our expertise. All we can tell you is they concern the genetic manipulation of plant material, and our research computers have never seen anything like it. Hmmmm.....next available SIN agent will be running a background on Annuber. Should have started sooner. Also ordered a new poll, plan to have one come in each month so order it the month before. 2/28/96 All right, end of the month. We are really short on cash but we should get an infusion at the beginning of the month:  We have 11 mines running, 10 research projects, 5 military missions of one ship each and 7 out of 9 agents are on missions. For some reason Annuber is not available for a Dossier mission. Could have sworn he was there before. Maybe I missed a window. Oops. Here is how our research projects are doing:   Finally, all 5 of our commissioned warships are out. 3 are on their way home and 2 are outbound (Bird and the quasar mission).  The Bird mission should arrive soon (bottom left) and the quasar mission does not have far to go. The ships that went to Thornwood and Ceddran should be home in a few days and the ship coming home from the Soraya Nebula a bit longer. ___________________________________________________________________________ Okay, we need some good SIN missions. Do we extort from: The android ruler of Tarso, planet of the weird cultists? The libertarian secretary of Thyzahn who is cheating on his wife with his gay lover who he made into the planetary president? The cheating Dean of Zaphroxi who is taking bribes to pass students? Some of them? All of the above? We could use some cash. We also will be able to launch more recon and insurrection missions soon. Where to? The Eyeball? Someone suggested Thornwood? Or Thyzahn? One of the military planets (Esbastista or Keyops)? Huygen, with the assassin queen? Somewhere else? I am just going to run dossiers on everyone left. We have culled the list quite a bit. Once you succeed I guess they stay off the list. Finally, use this as a recruitment poster for the Military? Sexy half-naked colleagues might help increase recruitment.
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May 23, 2014 07:25
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SIN Missions: All things considered, I'll bet that Thyzahn fellow would call a little blackmail just the price of doing business, although I still think an insurgency could work. Dunno if you can pull off both at once or in immediate sequence, but if you can you totally should. Also, while Tarso's guardian android would probably dislike you for threatening his planet, it's not like he can break his programming! He might look to the Syndicate if you push him too hard, but at the moment we haven't pushed him at all. As for Zaphroxi, don't extort the dean unless he can get us a list of top researchers. Or retroactively put my boss the dean's list--I think she'd give me a raise for that if I show her this letter.
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May 23, 2014 14:51
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Maybe we should prioritize investigating potential allies. Not exactly ethical, I know, but it'll give us an idea of how to prod them to get them to come over to our side when we need them. Also start putting a little pressure on the robut. Not too much though, don't want to accidentally trigger the Kill All Humans protocol these things inevitably come equipped with.
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May 23, 2014 14:58
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Overlord, If Gybesh is an android, then his programming is nigh-unbreakable but also rigid and predictable. It will do whatever it believes is in its world's best interest. Should we create a situation in which joining us is in Tarso's best interest, Gybesh will most likely comply as a matter of course. However, I do not think forcing the issue is practical at this time. Also, I am instituting the most paranoid quarantine and biosecurity scanning measures Skydock has for the crew of the Phaeton. If they are who they claim to be and nothing more - and having nothing more with or in them - I hope they'll forgive my reluctance to see Skydock sacrificed to show just how dangerous this new alien whatsit is. I. al-Sahrahani, Harmony Skydock, Director of Operations
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May 23, 2014 14:59
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So when we dig up dirt on someone, what exactly can we do with it? Can we use it to get them on our side, or is it only for getting blackmail money?
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May 23, 2014 23:39
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BoredDG posted:So when we dig up dirt on someone, what exactly can we do with it? Can we use it to get them on our side, or is it only for getting blackmail money? It depends on who you blackmail. Some will send you money. Some will send you people. Some may ally to prevent it from getting out.
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May 24, 2014 00:44
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