We complain We are tired and demand the maid give us a foot massage and then engage in yuri shenanigans.
We remind the maid that if she is to refuse, she will be beaten and have her tongue cut out.

>>27742714
>We shall go check it out, but let us make this quick.
If it is with the MVAC, then we MUST go. It could have something to do with the Voyager probe, the Hecate Lander, or possible First Contact.

>>27742714
>RnD is suspended temporarily
Does this mean that we cannot spend any RP this turn?
Even without the use of the island's facilities, surely we can still send supplies and equipment to Taurus Island, begin repairs of Tannhauser Island's facilities, and begin research into next-generation Mechanical Computing technologies while on the mainland.

>>27742826
It's just for one turn. This is instead of making you pay for repairs which in hindsight was a dumb mechanic.

>>27742848
Can we use RP to purchase a Trendy Dress?

>>27742917
I also decided to drop that mechanic. Just pick one outfit.

>We shall wear something fashionable.
>We shall wear something formal.
>We shall wear our military uniform.

>>27742917
You visit the finest tailor in all the kingdom, and command them to show you their finest dress.
When the modiste returns seemingly empty handed, you begin to protest, but he proclaims he is holding the finest dress ever made, and only those of pure royal blood can see it.

Do you try it on?

>>27742945
Then we shall wear something fashionable.
This isn't a formal royal function steeped in royal traditions.

>>27742967
We have him put in a mental facility for trying to lie so blatantly to a princess.

>>27742997
It seems our princess has outfoxed me this time, but no walls can hold me, no bars shall stop me from producing the lewdest photo of the princess in all the lands.

I shall return! mwhahahaha

>>27742978
>>27742798
>wear something fashionable
>go to the radio room.

Fortunately you have time and head up to the Radio room where Colonel Smith is already waiting. "It's the Foe Star your highness, it's still up there and it's still illuminating voyager with radar." He says looking slightly uncomfortable. "As you know, this is unprecedented, no Foe star we have ever recorded has stuck around like this. At least not since the war."

>>27743109
"Is there a pattern to the radar signal that the Foe Star emits? Or does it appear to simply be measuring the Voyager's progress?"

>>27743173
"Well that's the thing your highness," Smith says as he adjusts his tie. "They seem to be using several different frequencies, some of them are modulated differently. They could be just tracking it, or they could be trying to communicate with it."

>>27743232
"Has this information been transmitted to Ms. Kenaway? What about to the Astrologer Society? Until we examine the City and learn more of the intentions of the Foe Stars, we shall not respond to their communications."

>>27743232

"Can we answer them? Send various signals in different frequencies? We would like to do that, and if we manage to stablish contact...well, hope for the best."

>>27742782

Huh?

>>27743109

"Is there a pattern in its radio beam, or is it just aiming at us? Maybe we should try to talk to it..."

>>27743554
>>27743581
We explicitly told Jakisan not to go for First Contact before we explored the City on the Moon, and now you want to go against everything we told her last thread?
Why are you so determined to be a hypocrite?

>>27743296
"They can access it at any time." The colonel explains before looking at his watch. "You have a Naval review to be attending your highness. Just give us your orders and we'll keep an eye on it while you are out there."

>We shall Keep observing it passively and instruct Ms Kenaway to do the same.
>We shall have Voyager transmit a ping back to the Foe star.
>We shall transmit a message from Stonefield.

>>27743683
>We shall Keep observing it passively and instruct Ms Kenaway to do the same.
The Foe Stars have been watching us for decades and listening to our radio transmissions. We need to know why they haven't contacted us directly before we make contact with them.

>>27743737
Confirmation required.

>>27744022
confirmed

>We shall Keep observing it passively and instruct Ms Kenaway to do the same.

You type a quick memo to your fellow conspirators and put on your best princess face as you head out to the waiting motorcar and drive to the city of Westrin. Normally these kinds of events happen in the bay and viewed from castle Gates, but it seems that General Clay wishes to use this as an opportunity to throw his weight around and intimidate the west.

Whom is escorting you for this event?

>>27744287
Sir Perro shall be escorting us, as he is our bodyguard.

>>27744287

Perro, of course. Hmm, maybe one of the pilots too, or Kraus.

>>27744665
>>27744402
You step out of the motorcar flanked by Perro and Klaus and are immediately greeted by a swarm of flashbulbs. Fortunately Perro is able to fend them off with a few stern looks. You make your way from the motorcade to the stands where the royal family and trusted advisers are sitting. Clay is there of course, and talking heatedly with your father. When you arrive he ends the conversation and greets you with a smile and open arms, as if he hadn't been actively trying to sabotage your entire operation for the past year and a half. "Good afternoon your highness, I trust you traveled well?" he says.


Down in the water below you you can already see the fleet assembling offshore.

>>27745280

We bow politely and answer to the affirmative, then note that this display of strength is impressive.... we wonder if our efforts in positioning systems are helping the Navy?

>>27745280
We shall nod in acknowledgement.
"Quite well, General. Have the weather prediction capabilities of our satellite network been of use?"

Is Admiral Abrahamson around? He was interested in our global communications network and he would be most affected by the global positioning system.

>>27745338
As no exchange of technology have happened since the missile testing before moving to Tanhauser island. The NAVY has only a rudimentary connection to your communication satellite network. Radio triangulation is possible but unreliable.

The weather satellite does help, but it only covers the eastern side of the world, centered exactly above Tanhauser island.

As for the Admiral, you don't see him anywhere.

>>27745280

"The travel was most pleasing, General."

I don't know what to do or say.

>>27745477
Unfortunately we can't divert resources to expanding the weather satellite network or installing MVAC Cores onto all ships of the line to provide proper encrypted global communications at this time.

>>27745426
"I hear wonderful things about your predictions from the eastern fleet, It would be nice if we had similar capabilities for the west." Clay says as the fleet begins to sail past.

You notice a few of the ships have been retrofitted with what appear to be modified Mk2s. Apparently the missiles you tested with them near the infancy of your program have matured.

>>27745576

"Admiral, we're all on the same team here. You simply never asked!"

>>27745576

"There are some things that the RCC can do for the navy. We are deeply focused on reaching the moon before the Suthlanders, but we might be able to continue development in other areas."

>>27745502
>>27745576
It would take 15RP, we may be able to spare it.

"We may be able to allocate the resources for a weather satellite mission sometime before the year is over, General."

>>27745636
Besides getting his branch of service wrong, that's a terrible and stupid thing to say to someone who's been trying to sabotage our program.

>>27745687
>There are some things that the RCC can do for the navy
Oh, wonderful. Tell the man in charge of the Army that we'll be helping the Navy.
[sarcasm]That's some real good politicking there.[/sarcasm]

General Clay is a six star general in charge of all branches of Midland's armed forces and is considered a top choice for prime minister if he ever ran. Although his title is general, he is also in charge of the Navy.

>>27745751

Obviously, our handiwork can be used by all branches of the service. We are a civilian endeavour, but we are very happy to help out our armed forces, like any other government agency would be. Save for actually shooting at anything, because that's their job. As far as he knwos.

>>27745874
>We are a civilian endeavour
The Royal Rocketry Corps is a military branch, not civilian.
We're also the producers of radio-reactive weapons if more are needed.

"Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot princess. I could hook you up with more funding in exchange for increased support on the informational end of things." He says to you before turning to Klaus. "And you Mr Jonckheer. I've heard nothing but good things from you. What are you working on currently?" Klaus turns to you when the general talks to him, as if unsure how to answer.

>>27746088
"Klaus is a vital part of our high-energy propulsion systems research. We are still only in the theoretical stage, but eventually we hope to create an engine for use in the Void. Would you expound on some of your ideas, Klaus?"

>>27746088

That sounds absolutely reasonable. Would General Clay recommend anyone for Void training, incidentally?

(Blue Gemini time!)

>>27746198
"If I might be so presumptuous as to suggest my son." Clay says pointing to a young man in uniform intently watching the ships go by, seated two rows down from where you are standing. "Siskin is a first rate pilot. He just made major you know and I had nothing to do with that. I'm sure I could drag out a few more aces. We'll need to stay competitive now that the westerners and southerners are colluding like this."

>>27746336

"We'd be glad to grant him a shot, for certain."

>>27746336
"We shall review his credentials, of course, but there should be nothing in the way to his transfer to the Corps."

And don't breath a word about us working secretly with the SSC about the City.

>>27746451

We're basically letting a spy in, here....

>>27746336
>>27746198
Be careful, we still have that pool of possible void knight candidates from a while back.

We may want to draw on them first before recruiting Siskin. Alternately, we can host a second Void Knight qualification "exam," and Siskin can be invited to participate as an aspirant.

>>27746465
Better that we let him come in and only feed him information that's been sanitized.
Otherwise, if we refuse, then Clay will make more problems for us, and use an avenue of espionage that we won't so easily be able to control.

>>27746574

It'd take a lot of care. We will have to come clean with our Void Knights about everything eventually...

>>27746626
Not really. Cobham and Harker, Orion, Palmer and Grenefeld are enough to do the exploratory missions, and even then, only Cobham, Harker, and Orion really need to know and go to the dark side of the Moon; Palmer and Grenefeld can do operations and begin setting up a habitat on the light side.
We can use Siskin for the near-Earth and docking missions.

>>27746336

"We are always interested in potential knights."

Suddenly, your conversation is rudely interrupted as an air raid siren goes off. You turn to look and notice something streaking over the western horizon. A rocket aimed squarely at your brother's ship.

You don't get to see the rocket impact as Sir Perro pushes you to the ground, but you hear a loud boom as the rocket impacts the Staberinde.

There is a lot of shouting and you find yourself quickly pulled away from the waterfront, You aren't quite sure what's going on, but it seems like midland is under attack.

>>27747069

Evacuate the premises with everyone together.

>>27747069
>rocket attack
There's only 3 powers that have rocket technology: Midlan, Suthland, and the Western Isles.

We warned Kenaway about Piccolo turning her rockets in weapons!

>>27747114

The nords are also a possibility. We've had no information at all if they had their own rocket/space program, and we've always had the option of scanning them.

>>27747196
>we've always had the option of scanning them.
We were scanning them. If they developed any rocket technology, it would have had to been done away from Nordland where we had our geostationary satellites watching.

The next half hour is tense as you find yourself shuffled around several different military vehicles. Your mother and father also seem to have been shunted in other directions to prevent any lucky shots from destroying the entire royal family in one go. However despite all the shouting and moving, no more rockets come over the horizon. From what you hear, the Staberinde's crew is working to keep the ship from sinking, and the rest of the fleet is mobilizing westward.

Eventually when things calm down you hear the status of your brother, he is wounded in a military hospital in Westrin. You change into a disguise and enter a car with Sir Perro.

>We shall drive to the hospital, we need to see our brother.
>We shall drive to the castle, we will be safe there.
>We shall drive to an airfield and then fly to Tanhuaser island where we can get back to work.

>>27747568
>We shall drive to the hospital, we need to see our brother.

>>27747568
>We shall drive to the hospital, we need to see our brother.
As well, we shall delegate, as is our responsibility as Director of the RRC.
Col. Smith and Sergeant Adell are to return to Tannhauser Island at once in order to expedite repairs and prepare for recon satellite launches next turn.
Mr. Luxon and Amelia are to go to the Castle's Radio Room and contact Ms. Jakisan over an encrypted channel to see if the SSC was able to track where the rocket came from.

>>27747568
>We shall drive to the hospital, we need to see our brother.
time for some drama! i dare say if our older brother dies from his wounds. well, some people WILL want to use our reactor to make new nukes and put them to good use... for revenge. maybe even the princess.

>>27747661
>not removing midland with nukes mounted to rockets
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxUU3zncVmI this is our new theme.

You are escorted to the hospital and pass through several checkpoints before you are allowed to enter.

Inside you find your brother being treated for minor burns sustained while taking part in the damage control operations on the Staberinde. "I'm fine, I know you want to get me away from the danger but I'm not hurt I swear." He tells the nurses before turning to you as you enter. "Ahh sister, it's been too long, I'm sorry our reunion had to be like this."

>>27747882
We shall express our relief that his wounds were only minor, as we know what kind of damage a rocket can produce.
"I am relieved that you are no worse for wear, Michel. Have Father and Mother contacted you yet?
"We shall have to begin investigation immediately on the rocket."

>>27747882

"Brother dearest, are you indeed fine? You don't look so fine."

"This will not go unpunished. We swear to you."

>>27747974
"Yes, we don't know where they went, but that's a good thing, the enemy won't either I guess." He shoos away the nurses. "There's something I want to talk with you in private about though, sister." He says quietly, looking around before moving forward to talk to you. "Something about this smells strange. Mr Piccolo has rockets, but they haven't tested any guidance systems as accurate as ours."

>>27748309

A suicide attack is a possibility. If you can't get a guidance system, strap a kerbal^Wfanatic to it.

>>27748309
"That is unsettling, if it was a rocket from Piccolo and the Western Isles. However, I cannot yet rule out the Nordlanders; they may have continued rocket research further afield, away from where we can see from our satellites."

>>27748413
"A suicide attack? Do you really think the westerners would launch a suicide attack to lightly damage one ship?" Your brother says exasperated. "Right now the western fleet is blockading all the ports in Spartania and troops will be on the ground any minute now. Is this really something worth sacrificing your life for?"

>>27748459
"The Northerners have been obeying the treaties as far as we can tell sister."

>>27748475

We should make a public request for any photos that were taken. If we can reconstruct a trajectory, maybe we can figure out what vector was used.

>>27748475
"The Northerners SEEM to be obeying the treaty forced upon them; we cannot dismiss them simply out of hand.
"Yes, the suicide attack idea does appear to be ill-thought out. However, that rocket came from someone, and we must find out who.
"Though, perhaps it could have simply gone off course; Piccollo has only been able to successfully launch half of the rockets he purchased. This may be simply supremely bad luck."

>>27748587
The State Intelligence and Military Intelligence should already be working that angle. We have to be concerned with getting imaging satellites launched.

>>27748646

We will have to step up imaging efforts. Bad luck is a bit too unlikely...

The guidance system could have been taking advantage of the ship's radio as something to home in on; were they broadcasting?

>>27748646
Your brother laughs. "If this was an accident, it was a very well aimed one. There is a lot of things that don't seem right. All I ask of you is that you keep looking and get to the bottom of this in your own way." He suddenly stops talking as footsteps are heard in the hallway and General Clay steps through the door. "Good to see you're alive Gates!" The general rudely interrupts.

>>27748769

This is man-type stuff, let's let them banter about how indestructible they are.

Recovering bits of rocket will be difficult, but not impossible...

>>27748769
We shall excuse ourselves at this time, and go to the Castle Radio Room to contact Ms. Kenaway.
Also have Mr. Luxon track down General Dean; she may be of use.
As well, contact State Intelligence.

Btw, our dear QM is kidna busy with something at the moment and forgot to tell you all.

>>27749845
Yes sorry exalted game, ANYWAYS...

>>27748821
You return to the castle the next day and manage to get an encrypted fax out to Ms Kenaway. You also see that the Foe star has been pinging voyager all night long, as if unaware of the chaos happening down on earth.

>>27749921
The Foe Stars could have been listening to us launch the damn thing and known that it doesn't have anyone inside, and could instead direct their call to the RRC directly. But do they do that? No, they continue pinging away at a probe instead of the people who launched said probe, when we're RIGHT HERE. It's not like we can't see them or anything, flashing their radar at a probe instead of the Stonefield Array.

Anyway, we shall request any information from the State Intelligence ministry, and dispatch Colonel Smith to expedite the repairs at Tannhauser Island in order to launch satellites to monitor the Western Isles and Nordheim.

>>27749921

Damned ninja.

Anyways...

We shall continue observing the Foe Stars and attempt contact. We will also ask to be informed of the investigations regarding the terrorist attempt, and continue our developments as usual.

>>27750012
Well actually there weren't any Foe Stars in the system when it was launched. You can't say that for sure, but it is true they seem to not care about your facilities on the ground.

>>27750306
>but it is true they seem to not care about your facilities on the ground.
They could easily trace the path of Voyager back to our planet. They use radio so they know we're here.

All attempts to communicate with the Foe Stars must wait until after we finish examination of the City.

Sorry my attention got divided later in the evening. My exalted game is not usually on Mondays but it got moved around, this should not be a problem in the future and this quest will continue as normal next week.

Archiving and signing off.