>>25246625
Budget Turn 5:
24RP Mk4c Cheribum. 12/17
10RP Reactor Test Pile 4/8
8RP. Radio light beacon. 17/20

>>25246946
In addition to this budget, we shall see how the computers are doing.
By completing the development of the necessary technologies for an active radio re-transmission network, we can hide the creation of our radio intercept system.

>>25246946

We should consider preparing to into space ourselves.

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>>25246991
What shall you wear today?

>Frilly dress (no bonus or penalty)
>RRC officer dress uniform (A sharp military uniform with shiny medals and crisp epaulettes, Impresses the military but frightens the common folk. Also includes a sword and pistol)
>Business dress (A professional looking skirt-suit, Impresses the bourgeois, but offends the nobility with it's distasteful combination of pretension and plainness)
>Fancy dress (Your solstice present, an elaborate dress that will put everything else to shame, but will offend the military with it's gaudiness)
>Trendy dress (A custom made dress, costs 1RnD point and impresses everyone for a few turns before being obsolete)

>>25247225
RRC Dress.
The computers are part of te RRC and so nominally military, right?
Otherwise the business dress may be a better option.

>>25247319
Yes, they are all soldiers.

The Computer corps is working in the manor's radio room, monitoring the satellite. It's inclined orbit makes a sign wave over the large map of the world. As the earth spins beneath it's orbital plane. Sergent Adell brings the room to attention as you enter and then briefs you on the project's status.

MultiVac will cost 3 points per core, and up to 10 cores can be built in the manor's basement. The more cores online, the smarter it will work.

MultiVac is nothing without systems of input however. More satellites will be needed for complete coverage of earth. And larger receiving dishes will be required for radio-communication into lunar space.

Also this will all require energy. But she trusts Minerva will be able to deal with that.

>>25247563

Let's get cracking.

We're very interested in the whole docking business, could our computers (real or automatic) help with the math for that, or do we have to do a practicla test?

Also, as much as it's nice to broadcast music, the satellite should sart paying for itself: if we hear of any storms, warning should be broadcast if it happens to be above the appropriate area.

>>25247855
Well, the computers explain, the ability to warn people of storms isn't much if you can't see them yourself. Right now the Navy already monitors the weather and warns people of storms as best it can.

But there might be something in giving MultiVac eyes. Perhaps it might be possible to record and transmit images wirelessly without having to develop photographic plates.

>>25248029
>wireless transmission of photographs and video
That's another thing we have to invent, isn't it.
CAN we even invent it?

>>25248348
The computers believe it to be possible, they just need funding, The Cherubim and Radiopile have been consuming all the budget lately however, leaving little for the MultiVac project.

>>25248397

We're spread a bit too thin, let's focus. Maybe this is something we can poke the Air Force folks about, if they do the optics, we'll launch it.

>>25248484
Speaking of the Air Force... General Clay will be inspecting the island on the equinox next turn. Oh dear.

>>25248484
It's not about the optics, but the actual circuitry and vacuum tube technology to do the radio transmission of video images, of the creation of an electron gun for displaying images.
This is not an easy technology to develop.

>>25248719
He'll want to see about the military applications of our technologies, won't he.

>>25248879
In theory it shouldn't be that much different from the Radar displays.

>>25248895
"It's not my place to speak for the general" Adel explains.

Eventually she changes the topic to the SSC. "So what do you think about there docking mission this turn? Do you think they can pull it off?"

>>25249117

"Yes, and we sort of hope they don't. They've rather been outshining us."

That was unbecoming of us to say, but even so.

>>25249117
"Their previous tries have not been very successful. They have shown a, what could be called brazen, attitude towards safety versus results. We are not surprised that they have made great advancements, as well as their explosive failures. We must not fall behind, but neither can we afford their mistakes."

>>25249506
"If you look at the records, their safety record is now better than ours." Adell corrects you. "They just seem to have more funding than we do I suppose."

How large of thorium reserves do we have access to?

>>25249780
The Ministry of defense is supplying you with radio-elements. As much as you need.

>>25249725
"An unfortunate reality.
"As well, we have more than simple spaceflight to research."

>>25249917

"Well, we did it first and we can still do it best! Let's let them prov th point that spacecraft can dock; we'll focus on mapping and detection systems for now."

>>25249965
At this rate the SSC will get the first EVA.

>>25246946
>24RP Mk4c Cheribum. 12/17
>10RP Reactor Test Pile 4/8
>8RP. Radio light beacon. 17/20
Confirming budget, updating wiki.

Some time passes and the Merikans launch there second capsule. Thanks to the time difference, it happens while you were asleep, and it's already in orbit by the time you find out.

When you get to the radio room, it is matching speed with the target capsule after plotting what looks a perfect intercept course.

You may have made it into space first, but they seem to be doing it better.

>>25250264
Dammit.
We can't get the rest of our satellite network up until we finish development of the radiolight beacons and photovoltaic power cells. We don't have the funds to afford failure.

>>25250264
Send a message back to Father and the Prime Minister. We must have another meeting with the Appropriations Committee to discuss the budget.
We must also have more development finished by then.

>>25250762
You begin writing a letter to daddy asking for a bigger allowance as the two SSC spacecraft dock somewhere over the western isles.

>>25250899

We shall, of course pen a letter of congratulations.

>>25250899
Keep a radio eye on it.

For Turn 6 Budget
24RP Mk4c Cheribum 13/18
2RP Radiolight Beacon 19/20
4RP Photovoltaic Power Cells 19/20
12RP MiniVAC 14/16

God Mother, is it possible to have the Navy, or the Air Force, to work with us on a joint program for MiniVAC/MultiVAC development and Radio-Vision invention and development?
Like, they will match whatever RP's we put into the development, to double the speed at which it is developed?

>>25251515
It might be possible if you could convince them. Although there are probably easier methods.

>>25251609
What, work with the Academies in Havenstad, Gates, and Westrin?

>>25251665
"Your organization does not lack ingenuity your highness, only resources."

>>25251757
I suppose that even X-COM requires some help from academia.

Very well. What institutions in Midland have the academic capacity and resources to be of benefit to our cause?

>>25251871
In Westrin you managed to score a license for tang worth 2 RnD points, the rights to use a piece of music, and a handsome young man with a dangerous little mind.

But what the RRC needs right now is money.

>>25252422
What, are you suggesting we sell our technology?
Or license re-transmission rights on the orbital radio network?

>>25252422
Maybe we should contact some energy consortiums and get them to invest in radio-reactive power generation tech?

>>25252570
If we go with this I propose that this takes the form of LFTR research

>>25251391
Why do we need to upgrade the Cherubim? If we can get the radio-light and Photocells up to 19/20, we ought to spend those points on launching maybe?

>>25252763
Launching with a 14/16 MiniVAC?
Launching a satellite into space requires 16RP, and we lose all of that if any component fails.

We also need the Cheribum for heavier payloads, and players previously were adamant on continued progress on the lifter.

We should really start whoring out our radio transmitters.

And we might consider getting some investments for the pile and maybe the VAC. Banks, research universities and major businesses might be interested in the latter.

>>25252422
Between Mr. Radio and Lord Bruscoloni, who has the more clout and influence? Also who has the more money?

>>25253015

Very much this.

>>25252914

I'd launch it.

>>25253015
Try and sell the satellites as near instintaneous and secure transmission for both the navy and the airforce.
Pehaps even as both recon and weather services as well.

>>25252914
What's the point of throwing money at the Cherubim when it doesn't even have a payload? We ought to either start building a capsule, or finish the other things before we throw more money at a rocket we won't need till later.

>>25253082
There were already complaints from among our staff about how stalled our rocket research was.
And they have a point since without a bigger lifter, we can't get anything with a real payload into orbit.

>>25253120
If all of the players who wanted the Cheribum finished so much have buggered off, then we can finish the other projects.

>>25253079
They are pretty evenly matched in wealth. Mr Radio is popular in Midland and parts of Suthland, Bruscoloni's media empire controls the western isles and parts of Midland.

Consensus required to confirm budget and end turn.

Turn 6 Budget:
2RP Radiolight Beacon 19/20
4RP Photovoltaic Power Cells 19/20
30RP MiniVAC 16/20
6RP Orbital Thrusters 16/19

>>25253218

Now we have something usable.

>>25253182

Given, on this end.

>>25253218
Yep, do it.

>>25253218
confirmed.

After this turn, let's try and launch a satellite every turn until we have a worldwide network.

>>25253218
>2RP Radiolight Beacon 19/20
>4RP Photovoltaic Power Cells 19/20
>30RP MiniVAC 16/20
>6RP Orbital Thrusters 16/19
Confirming budget, updating wiki.

>>25253377
I think that's foolhardy, but if that's what the majority wants, I'll write up the budget to reflect that.

>>25253416
That way we can start selling off the bandwith for worldwide communications. To civilians and the military. Additionally having a large success like that under our belt could bring in much larger amounts of funding.

>>25253491
>To civilians and the military
Maybe license to the civilians, but this is a government program; the military can simply requisition the frequencies if they want to.

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The SSC's capsule eventually unlocks from it's target and returns to earth after breaking a record for longest time spent in orbit. Spending an entire turn in orbit, they were able to carry out many different experiments relating to working and living in space.
Ironically, the space scouts drank the same Tangy orange drink developed by the RRC during the mission, purchased from Nestle food co.

Now it's turn 6, and General Clay is here to inspect the base. You may be royalty, but the RRC is still part of the Ministry of Defense, and he outranks you here.

How shall you receive him?

>>25253542
They could, but we should try and get additional
funding from them if they do. Maybe not by 'selling' frequencies per se. But perhaps funding for future innovations including computer cryptography and reconnaiscence, both of which would overlap with our MultiVAC and world mapping projects.

>>25253733
We shall receive him dressed in the RRC Dress Uniform, and at the dock where his seaplane is most likely to land.

We shall meet him with Lord Perro and Colonel Smith.

>>25253733
In the Military uniform.

We shall give him the tour, stressing the cryptographic potential of multiVAC and the reconnaiscence potential of satellites.

We need to really upsell our projects for that sweet funding dosh.

>>25253796
Sell it too hard and it will bite us in the ass when we meet with the Appropriations Committee next. We barely succeeded in getting our funding, and only half of what we actually wanted, and a quarter of the requested, even with a firm grip on 4 out of the 5 people sitting on the Committee, and even afterwards there were people sniffing about our developments and asking about how our research furthered military applications.

>>25253796

And avoid upsetting staff routines except for the bare minimum.

We're behind. We should be seen working our ass off.

>>25253829
Okay then, upsell lightly.

>>25253796
General Clay nods sternly as you explain MultiVAC to him. He likes the idea, but you get the feeling his mind is elsewhere.

"This Mega-vic or whatever you call it is all well and all, but that's not what I came to talk to you about your highness." He explains. "Things are changing for the worst, I'm sure you've heard the protests in the west are intensifying. Everyone thinks we've gone soft. We need to show the world that Midland is still in charge."

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I wish our Father was a little less strict, and more indulging like Jakisan's dad.
She gets the funding she wants from her confederation of Suthland city-states, while we have to make deals with civilian corporations and plead our case in front of an Appropriations Committee that sees the RRC as nothing more than an indulgence for Royalty when the nation is in an economic recession, or as more war-mongering for the military, even though the military spits on the RRC as the one branch no one wants to be a part of.
Sure, our Mother is one of the leaders of the secretive Royal Astrological Society who supposedly has some clout, but all of that is worth less than the droppings from Cottonball now that the SSC and the RRC have proven them to be old, senile fools who are just grasping for some sort of relevance as their hundreds of years of tradition is brought crashing down by modern science, even as we need their support for more funding.
Our older brother is already first in line for the throne, with a proven record, and commander of the Navy and is too busy with the needs of the nation to help us.
And through it all, our Father just watches, and measures, and judges.

I wouldn't be surprised if he already is completely aware of the threat of the Foe Stars, and he's just seeing if we're good enough to contribute to the X-COM Project.

>>25253962
No better way to do that than launching a man to the moon, really.

>>25253962
As you may have heard from the last appropriations committee meeting, it is hoped that the RRC will start to take a more peaceful role. While that is the case, we have many innovations, while not military in nature, that you could still make use of.
>explain satellite network and GPS system that we are working on.

>>25253962
"Perhaps our other project will be of interest to you?
"We are in the first stages of launching a global radio re-transmitter network. With it in place, and the cryptographic power of MultiVAC, Midland would be able to send and receive communications from anywhere in the world in minutes, as well as providing unprecedented accurate navigation data.
"Of course the Appropriations Committee will be told of the civilian applications, but the military ramifications must be obvious to you, General."

>>25254113

Also, eyes in the sky.

>>25254199
We haven't even invented radio transmission of video data, so unless we're going to try to sell something to him without nothing to prove that it's even feasible, I'm not going to attempt such a hard sell on someone who's already being fed a line of bullshit.

>>25254245
>>25254199
Agreed, let's wait on this one until we have a working prototype.

God Mother, has the transistor been invented yet?

We are still working with vacuum tubes; have you any idea how big a radio would need to be in order to get signals from satellites and then somehow calculate the signal strength in order to try to determine location? That shit's not possible without advanced transistor technology, fractal antennae, and a computer that can interpret that information, just to get latitude and longitude.

Sorry I was AFK for so long, I had to walk the dog, also the ISS passed right over my house

>>25254052
"Well, you'll be glad to learn, those fools are out of the game." Clay laughs. "I think it's actually time to expand our arsenal. Palas only built us 13 devices, and we only have 12 left. I understand putting a man on the moon is a lofty goal and all, but I think the RRC ought to be filling more of it's strategic responsibilities if it's going to justify the kind of funding you people have been asking for." He pauses ominously for a while. "Do you understand what I'm saying your highness?"

>>25254504
"Quite well, General, and we hope that you understand the position that we are in. There are certain theoretical applications which must be explored, that will not yield immediate results. We hope you understand that such ventures must be pursued; the development of the Devices were only made possible by researching what was once only theoretical, and Midland reaped the benefits of pursuing that avenue of research. We cannot allow ourselves to not walk down such avenues.
"Have we come to an understanding, General?"

>>25254504
Man, we just told this guy we can get him global communications and the ability to crack every code ever made and he's still not happy?

I don't know, maybe explain the concept of the meteor and how it could launch a plane to any part of the globe with unprecidented speed. He's airforce, he'll like that shit.

>>25254504
"And by the way, general, don't forget that a rocket capable of delivering a man to the Moon can just as well deliver an obscenely large payload anywhere on Gaia."

>>25254632
Global communications is not that important if all of the habitable landmasses are only on one hemisphere, since bouncing a signal off of the ionosphere to get more range is already done.

The advantages of a global communications network and the ability to crack codes faster (since even if it was brute-forced, the mechanical ENIGMA codes would have taken years even with an electronic computer; you need mathematical functions to properly decode, and that still requires human mathematicians), are not as great as you think, in the perceptions of the General who only needs to be able to nuke the Nords, not fight them.
Midland is still the only nation to have nukes.

>>25254632
>>25254630
"You make a good point your highness, but remember the Suts... sorry your highness, Merikans, have all of those things too. What they don't have is the bomb. If we can publicly test a new device, we can scare those upstarts in the west into forgetting about all this independence nonsense."

"If you can do this for me, I can guarantee you all the funding you could possibly want."

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>>25254504

"If you are interested in some sort of orbital fortress, the Suthlanders are, alas, ahead of us.

We are still learning the number, bt we want you to be aware of the fact that anything that can fly to the Moon can be used, as is, to deliver very heavy things in orbit."

>>25254866

"Are you suggesting that we light a new star in the sky, even for a moment?"

That's actually not a bad idea, if timed right, it could be used to answer a Foe Star appearing.

>>25254866
"A new delivery system? We have, at present, a rocket capable of achieving a ballistic trajectory with three times the possibly payload of the original missile which delivered the Device that won the last war.
"Modifications would have to be done, especially to incorporate our new guidance systems. We cannot promise that it will be done quickly, however."

We will need to tell our Father about this. This kind of strategic weapons development is going to get a lot of bad press, disgruntle our staff, and make the race between us and Kenaway into a strategic arms race that will sour any friendliness that our rivalry has had.

>>25254866
"As you know, we do have the professora Minerva working on the island, as well as one of her most promising students. Together, they have been investigating some rather potent uses for radio-reactive energies. Some of wich could potentially much greater in power than any device already used."

>Klaus had wanted to build an h-bomb right?

>>25254988
>it could be used to answer a Foe Star appearing.
You seriously want to do this, when we don't even know what will happen, or if they're friendly or hostile?
We haven't even finished decoding their signals yet, and you want to detonate a nuke to get their attention.

>>25254988
I'm going to put this in the pile of bad ideas, and just keep it there to remind me never to use nuclear weapons as a friendly hello.

>>25255092
>>25255052

... okay, retractd.

It is now my bedtime. This game will continue at it's regular time next Thursday. Consider the choice and until then, Good night.

>>25254866
In addition to >>25254999
"General, while we are not trained extensively in the arts of war as our elder brother, we believe we have some understanding of public perceptions.
"General, the RRC and Dame Pallas were ostracized and kicked out of the house, as it were, in spite of her contributions to our victory over the Huns. And now you propose that we remind everyone of that?
"Can you assure us, and our Father, and the Prime Minister and Parliament, that you will not lead Midland into being reviled as the RRC was after the war? Are you prepared for the costs that this race for weapons will incur? Because the Merikans will not stop, and the Nords WILL spend more resources in this field."

Starting an arms race should only be a strategic decision made by the Kind and the Prime Minister.

>>25255207

Dun dun dunnn....


thank you!

>>25255207
Can you answer the transistor question sometime soon?

>>25255330
Transistors are probably too sleek for the dieselpunk aesthetic I'm going for, but they might be introduced as an eventual upgrade.

Don't worry however, there are a lot of fancy things you can still do with vacuum tubes, and they have the added benefit of being more resistant to EMP and radiation than integrated circuits.

>>25255458
Also means that GPS is unattainable for anything smaller than a train, zeppelin, or warship.

>>25255458

Actually, here's a thing. A vac-tube computer can operate more reliably in space, because if the glass breaks it's not a big deal.