>>41008852
FOR HOUSE AND DOMINION

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With the latest invasion repulsed your fleet has returned home richer than it left. Salvage, SP Torpedoes and a fortune in funding the House can use to boost it's economy have all earned you a hero's welcome. Casualties among the fleet were minimal. Ship losses were higher than you would have liked but the funds brought back will cover their replacement.

You've done everything right.

So why are things going so very wrong for you at this moment?


You're currently at the capital spaceport, a line of armored ground cars having just pulled up near your limo before you could get in. Several officers wearing what looks like a cross between a dress uniform and marine armor approach. Their vehicles and uniforms all carry the crest of the Jerik family.

"Captain of the Earl's guard." Daska points out, nodding to the closest officer.

"Knight Commander Sonia Reynard?" Asks the Captain as he approaches.

"Yes?"

"I'm here to place you under arrest for the crime of Treason."

You didn't think anything short of an orbital bombardment would be able to ruin this day, but there it is. At this moment you really wish you had the plasma pistol. Even damaged you could probably bluff with it.

Your brain kicks into planning mode. The limo, which is bound to have some armor, is still separating you from the newest arrivals. If things go badly it would provide plenty of cover. There are also about a dozen of your Knights getting off the shuttle behind you.
Then there are your bodyguards. Valeri may be in dress uniform too but he also happens to be invisible, keeping his holographic camouflage active until you reach the capital.

How do you plan to respond to this problem? Try and talk things, out or will your reply be a bit more violent?

>>41009068
What exactly did I supposedly do?

>>41009068
How do we know you aren't some bastard trying to kidnap us to clone for nefarious end.

>>41009068
Give them the look

Then ask them if it can wait until after the parade as to not confuse the population. We're going to the Earl it either case aren't we? This way we can get there smoothly and they can keep a tight watch on us there. Or if they want to we could make a scene which will be bad for everyone involved.

Also did they bring a warrant or some ID? They could just be some random people with the right uniform for all we know.

Under no circumstances do we act with violence but they damn well are going to treat us with the respect one of the most powerful people in this House deserve.

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Writing up responses.

>>41009260
>ask them if it can wait until after the parade as to not confuse the population.
Tell them they're being pic related?

>>41009488
>Pic related
Would calling them Assburgers to their face be a bad idea?

Talk seems like the best option, if only to delay until more of your Knights get closer to the vehicles.

"And just what exactly did I supposedly do?"

"You've been accused of the intercepting and decryption of classified communiques between the Earl and a Planetary Governor."

You know exactly what files they're talking about, the ones you downloaded on Surakeh but couldn't have them opened because they would trigger security flags. Only you didn't decrypt any of them. You'd considered it while visiting distant Alliance bases, but instead decided to wait until later. Much later.
As far as you're concerned these charges are bullshit.

"How do I know you are who you claim to be? I've had my share of kidnapping attempts."

Daska leans in and whispers to you.
"I've met Captain Nagel at more than fifty social gatherings where the Earl was present."

You still want to be sure.

The Captain of the guard signals his second to hand him the necessary documentation before presenting it to you, setting it down on the back of the Limo. It's a warrant for your arrest signed by the Earl.

Alex walks up, the other Knights hanging back a few meters behind you to give some privacy.

"These look like they're genuine." states Daska. "It has the seal of the council too."

Alex refuses to believe it. "There must be some mistake."

You most certainly agree. "Would it be possible to wait until after the parade as to not confuse the populace? I'll need to speak to the Earl either way would I not?"

The Captain shakes his head. "Our orders dictate that you be arrested upon landing. Your legal counsel will of course be able to speak with the Earl but you're to be put under house arrest and confined to your property here on Dreminth while the investigation is underway."

[ ] Go quietly
[ ] Negotiate
[ ] Resist arrest

Any additional orders you'd like to give to your people?

>>41010394
Request to speak with the Earl directly, as in they take us under arrest and we all take a shuttle directly to the Earl to talk about this. We deserve nothing less than that. We are a Knight-Commander after all.

If they decide to decline us we
[ ] Go quietly
All the while giving them "The look"

>>41010394
>[X] Negotiate
We get to wait until we can bring a decent number of armed marines as a guard. Surakeh really makes me paranoid when it comes to J-D politics and accusations of treason.

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>>41010394

>>41010613
Seconding

>>40888378
>At a staff meeting Mike brings up the topic. If lack of a ship is the only thing blocking a promotion, the Wing Commanders should do their fellow officers the favour of helping them out.

>Felix rightly points out that Mike doesn't command a Wing, and thus his people haven't taken nearly the number of losses as the other commanders have. Some of them don't necessarily have the same cash reserves available even if they wanted to help.

In response to that issue I would like to suggest we start constructing a series of subsidized light cruiser shipyards

The Knight Commanders and Wing Commanders of our fleets will go through the available licenses and find something that will work well enough as babby's Knight's first cruiser and has a chance to actually survive front line deployments. With Jerik-Dremine's (and especially Sonia's) outstanding contribution to the Factions Alliance for a House of their size we should have an extensive list of designs to pick from, especially if we guarantee relatively low monthly production numbers.

Then we set up a company that runs 4-5 basic light cruiser yards. Construction is 15 million S each, so we'd need 60-75 million S, and total production would be 24-30 assault/light cruisers per deployment.

That should be enough ships to provide every pilot who needs a ship to be knighted with one. These ships would be sold at cost to new Knights with an option for interest free loans if they can't finance their cruiser yet. If possible, we should try to institute a sponsor system for these loans and try to win established noble families for the idea. The sponsored Knight would have to attend education and social functions at their sponsor's behest as interest for the money.

Ask the Wing Commanders and Knight Commanders to spend equal amounts so no single person has a controlling in the company. The Knight Commanders would contribute 50% of the funds required, our Wing Commanders the other 50%.

>1/2

>>41011546
Leftover ships could be offered to the Knights Errant. If they come across a potential candidate who doesn't have a proper ship, they send them here and they leave with a new ship (and indebted to our House and its military).

>Why light cruisers?
The Knight Class Light Cruiser was the traditional ship earned by new knights before it became obsolete during the recent conflicts. I'd like to continue that tradition to appease traditionalist elements in J-D and Dominion. We just have to find a Light Cruiser that's still decent and works with our House's tactics and strategies.

>But why the shitty low tech yards?
The idea is to spread out the jobs over as many systems as possible to give the people investing in this some economic clout in the J-D core systems. I'm going to assume the low tech options require larger amounts of manual labour, thus creating more jobs. We also don't need a huge output of ships.

>Why try to get the old guys who have been snubbing their noses at our new knights from middle and lower class backgrounds in on this?
At this point it should be obvious to every established noble who isn't holding on to their fortune by pure luck that they need a way to gain influence and connections with the new generation of Knights unless they want to face political irrelevance in 10 or 20 years. As many of the still have trouble to see our upstart Knights as equals, this would give them the chance to interact with them while still maintaining a facade of doing charity work for the good of the House by teaching a new member of the House's nobility the proper ways. It would also hopefully help to reduce present and future tensions between the more traditionalist elements and our new generation of Knights.

>2/3

>>41011572
>But this won't be profitable!
You're right, it will most likely not be profitable at all in a strictly monetary sense. It will however result in increased loyalty of new knights to the fleets' commanding officers, and hopefully appease the traditionalists in our House and the greater Dominion as well because every knight will have their own cruiser as is proper by Dominion tradition. We'd also be able to quietly prove our support to the Ruling House by strengthening the Knights Errant.

Every ship we've still left after our Knights and the Knights Errant had their pick is sold at market price. Any actual profits would be paid out to the Wing Commanders until they their investment returned first, then the Knight Commanders, after that any profits are distributed along the lines of percentage owned.

>Comments? Worst idea ever?

Does that make any sense? I've had like a total of 4 hours of sleep over the last 3 days

>>41010394

[x] Negotiate

They can arrest us and accompany us on the parade. We are not leaving the Parade.

They can assume honor guard positions so as to essentially be fulfilling the arrest even in parade and they get to be part of the parade.

This is the best they get. We are not leaving the parade.

>>41011546
This is an interesting idea. More on this later.

>>41010613
>Request to speak with the Earl directly, as in they take us under arrest and we all take a shuttle directly to the Earl to talk about this. We deserve nothing less than that. We are a Knight-Commander after all.
"I'm sorry Knight Commander but I'm not authorised to do that. At least not at the moment. There are concerns you might attempt to cause trouble one way or another. Some have suggested you might take the opportunity to make an attempt on the Earl's life."

"Rediculous." you mutter.

>>41010702
>We get to wait until we can bring a decent number of armed marines as a guard

"Fine, I'll go quietly, but not until more of my bodyguards and Marines have arrived. I'm not going to allow myself to be assassinated like those Nobles on Surakeh."

The Captain considers for a moment before agreeing with your terms. "Very well, we can wait." Nagel signals for his people to return to the vehicles before turning back to you.

"Commander I'm sure all of us, both yourself and the House in general would be better off if word of your arrest were to remain quiet. This is a delicate matter and the House is in a more... tumultuous state than you may be aware of. If the general populace found out it could cause unrest, possibly even demonstrations.
The council has requested that you and your Knights refrain from contact with the media or widespread discussion of your case for the time being. Should the charges against you be thrown out or proven false then there would be no mark against your record."

A cover story has been prepared if you were to approve of it."

>What say?

>>41011776
If they have this than we can push for this:

>>41011771

He either accepts or we raise a stink. The parade does not get fucked up. This stinks of political PR bullshit to all high heavens and we have to find a way to fuck it up.

>>41011822
>The parade does not get fucked up.

I think the problem is that any potential promotion comes more or less immediately after the parade.

>A cover story has been prepared if you were to approve of it.
"I'd like to hear it before I agree to anything."

>>41011776
>What is the cover story
>Tell the Media about this clearly bullshit attempt at getting us shunned.

>>41011857
myeah.... true. But seeing us in the parade would probably crib that somehow. Probably with either our public arrest or with suspending the whole promotion.

But all of this is unlikely. If they have a cover story ready, that means they are prepared for us raising the stink.

>>41011932
>>41011822
On the other hand if we go on the media offensive the noble circles that are either allies or impartial in this get polarized and it paints us as hostile to the Earl... so yeah...

>>41011990
If the Earl and the council have turned on us, We must ensure they pay.

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>>41011776
>Rediculous
Screw you too spell check.

>>41011857
"I'd like to hear it before I agree to anything."

The Captain clears his throat.
"The cover story is that you've suffered an assassination attempt and that you've been moved to your estate for protection."

"...really?"

"It wouldn't be the first time it's happened to you." Daska points out.

A few of your Marines arrive, armed with Reynard Rifle M's and pulse pistols. They're not in full body armor but should be enough to let you fight your way clear if anything goes wrong.

>Your orders?

>>41012029
>If the Earl and the council have turned on us, We must ensure they pay.
If.

>>41012030
>Your orders?
Let's get this over with. Is there anybody else from our fleet they want to pick up while they're here?

Other than that, call Mr London and have him prepare our holdings for the usual Dominion shenanigans that are sure to follow while keeping quite about the whole thing. Also, get our law firms to send us people.

Who's actually accusing us of the treason anyway?

>>41012030
>Wait for actual armored marines
>Look through the paper work too see if things appeared fishy, Because Seals and signtures can be forged.

>>41012160
Also, try to get some marines we trust to check our property for bombs or assassins before we land.

Then order some good catering for our marines, I'm sure we're not prepared to have that many people around. Make sure to keep the bills because that's going to be something the House will get to pay once this is over.

>>41012160
>Let's get this over with. Is there anybody else from our fleet they want to pick up while they're here?
>Other than that, call Mr London and have him prepare our holdings for the usual Dominion shenanigans that are sure to follow while keeping quite about the whole thing. Also, get our law firms to send us people.
Does this sound good to everyone?

>>41012203
>Who's actually accusing us of the treason anyway?
Officially the House is. Once your lawyers get started they'll try to find out more.

>>41012215
>Look through the paper work too see if things appeared fishy, Because Seals and signtures can be forged.
Daska and Alex both make calls checking the authentication and soon agree that the paper work is in order, as much as they'd like to dismiss it.

>Wait for actual armored marines
This is going to take a few minutes for a shuttle with a heavy team to arrive. The rest of your people need to get on with the parade. Do you want one of your Knights to stay with you until they arrive, or even to see you safely to your estate? If so which one?

Daska Rna
Alexander Palaiologos*
Katherine Drake
Verilis Rah'ne
Siri Thal
Jehtot Kharbos
Félix Ekwueme
Cristina Pozzi (Is scheduled for minor promotion)
Mike Serth
Lorraine Day

None
(* As your acting replacement for the later weeks of the deployment Alex may not be the best to take along.)

>>41012458
Daska Rna is probably the best person to have with us right now, and maybe she can get us in touch with Winifred?

Worst comes to worst, we can always have Vera tell the Alliance that we have info on how to produce SP torpedoes and watch as they crush our old house.

>>41012458
>Do you want one of your Knights to stay with you until they arrive, or even to see you safely to your estate?

Does one of them want to come along? I don't want them to miss their parade and award ceremony but there's usually at least one person who's just looking for an excuse to miss such events.

>>41012495
I'll go with this one.

I still suggest we just get back into the limo and go home. Fuck this shit, We're heros. tell the media we're trying too be framed or something.

>>41012495
I'm worried we'll put Daska in an unpleasant position if her extended family is trying to get back at Sonia for Surakeh.

>>41012518
That's the kind of thought that leads to treason, Anon. We must respect the rule of law.

However, we are accused traitors, not convicted ones. We are not a criminal, and will not stand to be treated as such.

Seeing as the police forces are offering us a cover story, as well as allowing us to keep armed forces with us, I'd say things are going pretty well in that regards at the moment.

Lawyer up, hit the gym, and if necessary start calling in favours and reminding people not only about what we've done for the house, but that we still have evidence of the shadier side of it that could end up crippling our house if we're forced to flee it or fight against it.

As a last resort, that is. Blackmail is most effective when people don't know that you have it, otherwise they can take steps to nullify it.

>>41012631
But we love Daska. She is the next Knight Commander if it says anything about our relation with her.

We are protective of her and she is borderline our protege, where it not we that rely on her political acumen instead of the other way around. Alex and Mike are our friends, but its obvious that we have put Daska as our follow up in Knight Commander slot, and its most likely that we would support her if she wants it, and we expect her to want it considering our conversations.

>>41012495
I’m not sure how good Daska and Sonia are right now. Don’t want to strain the relationship by, yet again, putting her in an unpleasant political situation. Though she would be the best choice if they are on good terms now.

>>41012458
I’d go with some of the minor knights, Maybe Verilis and Siri? People we can trust but whom we wouldn’t pull out of the spotlight. This parade is important for quite a few people.

>>41012506
>Does one of them want to come along?
>there's usually at least one person who's just looking for an excuse to miss such events.
Lorraine Day, but she admits that she really should go since one of her subordinates are supposed to be Knighted.

>>41012495
>>41012518
Looks like (maybe?) Daska.

>>41012631
>I'm worried we'll put Daska in an unpleasant position if her extended family is trying to get back at Sonia for Surakeh.
On the bright side it's less likely your convoy will be blown up with her along.

Was going to post but sudden flurry of activity.

>>41013008
Rule of law? We've done nothing but good and here we are! Being accused of treason!

>>41013094
>Lorraine Day
>>29497115
>Lorraine Day is thankfully confined to one particular com band because there is little else to hear on that channel but her joyful screaming

We should definitely spend more time with her. I really like what I've seen of Ms Day so far.

>>41013094
Also for some reason I refuse to imagine a male Daska.

I think Sonia will suffer from disassociation when Daska goes male and insists its not Daska, but someone else, at least for the first parts of every conversation, until she is back to a girl.

Probably because Daska and Linda are among the very, very few girl friends of Sonia, thus Daska gets squeezed into girlfriend for Sonia headscape.

>>41013094
I think we'll do fine for now. Lorraine can come once the ceremony is done, it should only take half a day or so.

>>41013260
Since Sonia grew up in the Dominion, is familiar with Dro'all, and Daska isn't human, I think that's just your headcanon Anon.

>>41013109

Yes, and let's try to keep it to just an accusation and not make it actual treason, yes? You argue in court, not with cops.

>>41013342
You'll never take us alive Anon!

>>41013008
>Lawyer up, hit the gym, and if necessary start calling in favours and reminding people not only about what we've done for the house,
Noted.

>>41013029
They're on fairly good terms at the moment. Daska has accepted that eventually she's going to get her promotion. Recommending her to command the House fleet in South Reach that one time removed any lingering doubt.

>>41013029
>I’d go with some of the minor knights, Maybe Verilis and Siri?
Anyone else?

>>41013260
>Also for some reason I refuse to imagine a male Daska.
You're not the only one.
>I think Sonia will suffer from disassociation when Daska goes male and insists its not Daska, but someone else, at least for the first parts of every conversation, until she is back to a girl.
I don't know about Sonia but I do and it would be now because Daska is currently in male phase and I keep forgetting.

>>41013189
>We should definitely spend more time with her. I really like what I've seen of Ms Day so far.
>>41013284
>Lorraine can come once the ceremony is done

Inviting Lorraine over later looks like.

>>41013094
I wonder if we'll get the opportunity to counter-sue? Heck, this arrest could even be a cover for the Earl to get us to investigate the people who were backing the Governor.

>>41013342
Disassociation is probably a mental issue, and not a acclimatization issue.

My headcannon would be that our PTSD crystallized persons as they were in the war. Kavos gets away with it because he is old.

This probably taints our future interaction with them as well. Meaning its mostly a choice between getting drunk or trouble in one way or another. It does go rather well with our predilection for aggressive actions, in a way of forming a type for Sonia.

>>41013393
>I don't know about Sonia but I do and it would be now because Daska is currently in male phase and I keep forgetting.

>>41013449
So this has got it right basically. We either disassociate her from male Daska or refuse to acknowledge Daska as male or Kavos as female.

>>41013485
>So this has got it right basically. We either disassociate her from male Daska or refuse to acknowledge Daska as male or Kavos as female.

Dude, as TSTG said, it's an issue for real people, no fictional characters who've grown up in a society where humans had millennia to get used to it.

>>41013485
I thought we just viewed them as people, since due to our PTSD and other issues our sex drive is redirected into acquiring salvage.

That is to say, we don't really see gender at all so it's not relevant if they're female or male.

I honestly have no idea how this quest has gone on so long with no waifu wars.

Maaaaaan, I kind of want to go "Fuck the Earl and have everyone spread shit about this all over House space. But they do seem to be playing it kind of nice with us so I think it's for the best to play along and cooperate to our best ability. Will probably look good on the eventual trial.

I hope Winifred brought her jar of headache pills.

>>41013540
Why does the gender has anything to do with sexual anything?

They are aliens.

The reason I meant for the whole thing would be so that we have another girlfriend to do girl things with that is not Linda. That means Daska. Thus typecasting Daska as a eternal girl.

This is not a waifu thing its a BFF scouting thing.

>>41013540
>>41013583
Sonia is most likely Asexual. The only time we considered any kind of sexual relationship was in a marriage for political reasons. And even then it would be in a lab. And consummated with syringes and test tubes.

By the time we get there we might even be a few steps away from full conversion cyborg and have to go into our egg stash.

>>41013540
>I honestly have no idea how this quest has gone on so long with no waifu wars.

I think people realized waifu wars tend to rock the boat a lot and considering how much work it takes to get up to speed with H&D we can't really risk losing players over something like that.

OP is also very good at keeping us distracted with other stuff.

>>41013583
What girl things? Recon S&D missions? Fighting space battles? Hunting Warrals? Stealing state secrets? Dueling? Fighter sim practice?

My point is that we don't really do "Girl" things. We're kind of fucked up in the head that way. Anyways, our BFFs are already Linda, Mike, and Alex and we don't treat any of them differently whether they're a boy or a girl.

Like I said, sex < salvage.

>>41013650
I blame our amazing salvage rolls, and our paranoia around Balls.

heheheheh.

>>41013651
So we need a fisto?

>>41013678
No, we need a Neeran City Ship so that we can live out our dreams of having our own salvage state. We will become known as dreaded intergalactic peace keepers that swoop into conflicts and abscond with ALL the ships!

>>41013678
Assume the position.

>>41013540
>I honestly have no idea how this quest has gone on so long with no waifu wars.
I think most of us have silently agreed to avoid all things sexual just to avoid all that. I mean this story is not about, love, romance or smut ( With the exception of Sharks and salvage. It's about making spaceships go boom, making cash and rising to the very beast.

>>41013739
All your salvage are belong to Sonia.

>>41013651
There was that one time when Sonia wore a dress to that one ball. I remember everyone was shocked.

Also all these people that seem to have forgotten Kavos.

Oh god what's happening

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>>41013739
>>41013771
>All your salvage are belong to Sonia.

you people forgot your pic

One squad of Marines are dispatched to your position while another heads for your property to inspect it before you arrive. Once they've been dropped off their shuttle will monitor your progress from the air.

The other Knights and officers head out while Daska remains behind along with a pair of her- no, his bodyguards. You haven't decided whether or not to make things difficult for the House by breaking their media blackout on your arrest.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcwF1jv3JJQ

>You'll never take us alive Anon!
That's certainly running through your head when the other Marines arrive and you mount up in one of the armored cars. You still have your holdout and a normal sized pulse pistol in place of your weapon of choice being under repair. Not the most effective weapons these days but you know they can get through the joints of power cell armor at point blank range.

The convoy heads north away from the parade route and then out of the capital, into the surrounding agriculture sectors. The vehicles are slower than your usual travel by air, but these can't be hijacked by the city autopilot systems. Captain Nagel informs you that repulsor activated mines are becoming more commonplace these days among assassins as many are produced for the war to disable or destroy Neeran ground vehicles.

By the time you arrive near the edge of your property the marines have signaled that the grounds are clear of any traps or disturbances. The shuttle sets down nearby to ferry you the rest of the way into the forest.

"I hope you don't mind Knight Commander, we'll be stationing a few guards near the residence to keep an eye on things. Others will be deployed along your property line forming a perimeter in conjunction with a few airborne units. We would appreciate it if you could inform one of our field officers before the arrival of any guests to avoid complications.

Do you have any questions? I"ll attempt to answer them to the best of my abilities."

>>41014249
Can we send marines to our family? If the cover is an assassination attempt they should be guarded. Only my marines for this.

>>41014249
"Is my family being detained or the like. Because if they being involved in this then I would be very cross."

"Estimated time until this house arrest ends and we can get on with it? I am a busy woman and have business to attend to."

I say we go ahead with the Houses plan to cover up this for now if only to gain points for cooperating with them.

Should beef up family RTS security.

>>41014349
This

Also we should send our own personal and well trusted men too watch our family.

>>41014349
This sounds good to me. Given our history, though, we should be informed of the guards locations on our property as well so that we can respond . . . appropriately if there are any emergencies.

After all, we wouldn't want to mistake any of them for intruders.

>>41014400
Heck, let's hire someone to stage an actual assassination attempt on us. Let's see the Earl deal with that!

I, of course, have every confidence that we will survive. So lets make it a real one.

>>41014249
>Do you have any questions? I"ll attempt to answer them to the best of my abilities."

"Any idea how long can this could possibly drag on? You also mentioned our House is currently in a, how did you put it... tumultuous state, could you be so kind and expand on that?"

>>41014467
That would be more useful if we went too the media and had an assasintion attempt DURING the news or right before the media reports on this. Act like we forced the Earl and his council too attack us.

>>41014249
"Do you know who it is that is bringing these accusations against me? There was evidence that the Governor was being assisted by people within the house, who were probably not very happy once I uncovered his crimes against the nobles on the planet. Up to sending out assassination squads to break in and attempt to kill all the witnesses."

>>41014467
Can we at least wait until we see what they're trying to frame us with before we start with the completely looney schemes?

>>41014511
Woah, there, buddy. As far as I'm concerned, this is probably something cooked up by the people who supported the Governor we took out. An assassination attempt against us could help convince the Earl that someone is trying to sink us.

I don't know why you think the Earl himself is against us. Because while we're fucked 100% if that's true, we haven't seen any evidence at all of that yet.

I think you're a little too salty for politics, Anon.

Why are you trying to split us away from our house?

>>41014597
Strike first before the enemy rally its support on the matter, Plus the seal of the Earl and Council is confirmed by OP.

>>41014570
I'm more interested in finding out who's backing this, as opposed to what the charges are. We're a successful leader who just came back from yet another successful campaign, who has had excellent media relations and appears to have wide-spread popularity among the middle class. The area that we are weakest in is with the nobility, but even then we have some solid allies like the Bro-Baron and Winifred.

Not to mention we have exceptionally good working relationships with the governments outside of the Dominion.

And we are rich. as. fuck.

We've been mostly responsible for a significant portion of our houses increased status, with ridiculous amounts of equipment salvaged and minimal losses.

Finally, we have a couple ticking time bombs in the sense of political secrets.

The Earl would have to be fucking insane to bring us to trial for treason unless there was a faction pushing for it, especially on false charges. I honestly would expect him to let it slide if the charges were true, although maybe to have him interview us and make us an offer to bind ourselves more tightly to him and the house.

So there's gotta be some sort of subtext here. Either someone is trying to shoot down our star, or the Earl needs something from us and this is the easiest way to get us to come to him without letting people know what it's really about, and has the added benefit of being a good test to see how we'll react and if we actually are loyal to JD.

What's with the sudden upswing of annoying namefags? Stop shitting the game up, fucklords.

>>41014675
That just means the Earl and the Council are involved. It doesn't mean that the Earl is the one bringing the charges against us.

Politics, Saltlick, the Earl is bound by them just as much as anyone else if not more so.

He might just be trying to keep open warfare from breaking out between two competing factions in his court, and a single knight no matter how competent is a small price to pay to keep the house intact.

>>41014722
>good test on how we'll react

I don't think anyone comes up from a public treason trial grateful, especially when it could be held over us. If we've pissed anyone off, it would be the Earl and his herd of entrenched nobles.

>>41014675
>Plus the seal of the Earl and Council is confirmed by OP.

I think they're the only legal authority in J-D at this point that actually has enough clout to make Sonia reconsider things at this point. Some local judge or small scale planetary governor would probably only get laughed at if he tries to detain us.

>>41014733
Eh, namefags have been tolerable so far, and it's to be expected that new people will have some difficulty getting used to the quest at this point.

>>41014722
>being a good test to see how we'll react and if we actually are loyal to JD.

Yeah, maybe this is just one last test before we officially get our planet.

>>41014763
Fair point, but we've done so much for the house. To think He'd willing to do this shit bugs me.

>>41014733
It's summer. Yes, yes, I know that gets thrown around a lot whenever someone is a massive faggot, but there you are.

At least it makes it easy to know that the person making the recommendations is an idiot.

> Hurr Durr, let's attack our house and somehow strike out on our own.

At best, we would get snapped up by the Factions Alliance and lose all of our land and money that exists in the Dominion, not to mention the repercussions to our family and co-workers.

>>41014794
I think the Earl is actually bound to uphold a semblance of the rule of law when it comes to nobles, especially high ranking ones.

He likely has to appear impartial in conflicts like this one, doesn't mean he likes it, or anything.

It's too early to start scheming in this particularly pitfall if you ask me. We're very much in the dark about things and there are far to many unknowns as of yet for us to be able to make an accurate play.

Nah, I'd say waiting for this thing to play out is our best bet at the moment. We have allies who will support us. Winifred for one will most likely support us as we would owe her and be a powerful ally as a Baron. Daska can probably upset the Rna family from bugging up things for us too much. So on and so forth. I think we are good for the moment. Just wait and see and all shall we revealed to us.

Also I am fairly certain we are suppose to have a Mass Driver Rifle hidden in our House should it be needed.

>>41014824
Well that's a first, an unbiased Earl or judge on the matter. Its just fishy as fuck, I'll just side with going silently then.
>>41014733
you sound Salty Anon.

>>41014789
When did we piss off the Earl, anon? As far as I know, we only pissed off the nobles who were behind the Governors power play on Surakesh.

His position makes it necessary for him to be involved, and it isn't a public treason trial yet. We have been accused, and we're doing it in private to protect both parties reputations.

> The council has requested that you and your Knights refrain from contact with the media or widespread discussion of your case for the time being. Should the charges against you be thrown out or proven false then there would be no mark against your record."

Look, it's getting political. That means READING EVERYTHING PEOPLE SAY. This shit is important.

>>41014794

Needs must, anon. It's politics, and ultimately we're here to serve the house.

And so far, nothing at all has been done to us. This could be as simple as going in and showing that we didn't trip the security flags on the files.

>>41014836
Yep, right now we need to set the board. I recommend against getting in touch with anyone outside the house at the moment, but we should make sure we have multiple lines of communication open to our allies if we need it.

>>41014858

You're the kind of guy who argues with cops, aren't you. We don't have enough information to assume the Earls biases one way or the other, he could be on our side. So we shouldn't act like he's an enemy until we have evidence of it.

>>41014858
And you sound like a bad poster :^)

>>41014300
>Can we send marines to our family?
Yes.

>>41014414
>>41014400
>>41014349
"Is my family being detained or the like. Because if they're being involved in this then I would be very cross."
"No charges are being brought against them, you and perpahs some of your bodyguards are the only ones indicated so far."

"Any idea how long can this could possibly drag on? I am a busy woman and have business to attend to."
"There hasn't been an incident like this in a long time. The closest would be accusations of treason against one of the Barons long ago. These things can take months to sort out."

Not what you wanted to hear.

>>41014414
>Given our history, though, we should be informed of the guards locations on our property as well so that we can respond . . . appropriately if there are any emergencies.
>After all, we wouldn't want to mistake any of them for intruders.
"We'll inform you of our patrol times and locations once they're fully established."


>>41014549
"Do you know who it is that is bringing these accusations against me?"
"I don't know yet but it is likely another Knight."

"There was evidence that the Governor was being assisted by people within the house, who were probably not very happy once I uncovered his crimes against the nobles on the planet. Up to sending out assassination squads to break in and attempt to kill all the witnesses."
"I don't know if the two are related Commander, and even if I did it would not be my place to say."

>>41014471
>Should beef up family RTS security
>we should send our own personal and well trusted men to watch our family.
Add marines to assist the RTS force or swap them out entirely?

>>41014867
Fair enough

>>41014913
If its a bullshit claim like this? yes

>>41014914
Its Okay Anon. I'm sure you tell that to everybody who disagrees with you.

>>41014941
>add marines, if we swap everybody out it would look fishy as fuck or an threat.

>>41014941
So, we gotta practice our dueling maybe?

>>41014941
>These things can take months to sort out
>Not what you wanted to hear.

Well, I guess that gives us more than enough times to catch up to things.

Have Nikolov or Gal'mil leveled up and gained new skills since the last update on them?

>>41014982
Arguing with cops is stupid. They have orders, they aren't judges or lawyers. We'll argue in court like a reasonable person who can afford a shit ton of lawyers.

>>41014471
"You also mentioned our House is currently in a, how did you put it... tumultuous state, could you be so kind and expand on that?"

The Captain gives you and Daska a question look before replying.

"You're aware of the election for the Planetary Governor and other positions on Surakeh? It's been projected that with your interest and ownership of land on Rioja you may attempt to impliment similar policies there. This would mean than an increasing number of worlds within the House would be controlled by officials elected by the general populace not the landowners."

"Your point?"

Daska responds to your question. "The more this happens the more people on our longer settled worlds will want similar treatment. Things out in South Reach or even the Run might allow that to be done rather easily, but the current power base on Dreminth, Loran and Torun would be disrupted for years, possibly decades by such a shift."

Captain Nagel resumes. "There have already been a number of minor demonstrations in the southern cities. So far they've been resolved with threats of fines over illegal protests but there are hardliners out there that can't be bought. If your arrest were to be publicised many might see it as an attempt to curb the growth of democratic movements. Combined with your popularity things could turn bad quickly."

>>41015544
Doesn't J-D already allow for elections for certain low level positions?

>You're aware of the election for the Planetary Governor and other positions on Surakeh?

Yeah, and that's entirely to blame on whoever decided it was a good idea to install a governor who starts murdering nobles the second they get in his way. It's kinda hard to expect new people to follow the basic rules if nobody else does.

>>41015544
I don't see an issue with this and kind of makes me wanna go for it.

>>41015950
Oh man, let's wait until after the war to introduce revolutionary changes.

>>41016064
oh I didn't mean go for it NOW. Just some point before we die.

>>41014722
>I'm more interested in finding out who's backing this, as opposed to what the charges are.

"If there was anyone backing this it would be whoever stands to lose if you implemented the same policies on Rioja as are taking place on Surakeh. Houses that operate as democracies exist but ones that have a mix of policies usually have to pick one side or the other eventually."

>>41014824
Nagel steps outside to check in with his forces while you and Daska continue to talk.

>I think the Earl is actually bound to uphold a semblance of the rule of law when it comes to nobles, especially high ranking ones.

"That sounds accurate. He can't be seen to be playing favorites when it comes to the law right now."

"What about your relative Nyxemi Rna, the former Governor? Were they charged?"

"There wasn't enough solid evidence for murder so they've had to go with the charge of gross negligence. The results were fines, confinement to family lands on Dreminth and banishment from any form of politics. Nyxemi wasn't the most popular in the family."

>>41014836
>Daska can probably upset the Rna family from bugging up things for us too much.
"I could do this for you but it would not be a small favour. You would owe me, and I can't promise how effective it would be."

[ ] Ask Daska to try
[ ] Don't ruin your career for me

>>41016125
>don't ruin your career for me.

>>41016125
"You know, what bothered me the most about this is that no one asked me what I was planing to do or not planing to do. Do I come off as secretive to others?"

[X] Ask Daska to try
"I'll throw my full support behind you for Knight Commander and Baron once I myself become Baron. Sufficient?"

>>41016125
>[x] Don't ruin your career for me

I would like to make peace with her family if possible, though. Or at least go back as close to a neutral state as we can.

>>41016125
>[ ] Don't ruin your career for me

>>41016125
I think we need to tell Daska how much we appreciate that she's so willing to support us. First during the Surakeh incident and now this.

Maybe talk a bit about the planet she managed to liberate from House Fle'rov to pass the time? Or watch the parade and award ceremony on TV?

>>41016125
[X] Don't ruin your career for me

"Daska, I want you to know just how much I appreciate that you've so willing to support me. Not just here but during the crisis on Surakeh too. Thank you, but don't go and ruin your career for me."

"I'm certainly glad for your decision. I wasn't looking forward to the sort of trouble it might have caused. If the situation worsens you could probably get a position with House Ber'helum easily enough but I never could. My family is too inextricably linked to this House."

>>41016172
"You know, what's bothered me the most about this is that no one asked me what I was planing to do or not planing to do. Do I come off as secretive to others?"

"Maybe a bit. Don't worry they'll be asking you questions soon enough I'm sure. First they needed to get you away from that parade route."

>Maybe talk a bit about the planet she managed to liberate from House Fle'rov to pass the time?
Did I actually post that name of that planet anywhere? I only looked briefly but couldn't find it.

>Or watch the parade and award ceremony on TV?
A few channels are covering it, with a substantial delay to censor anything classified or that could be considered inflammatory. You can see the rows of officers and Knights lined up, as they enter the great hall. There are only a few views from inside. As usual the Earl attempt to keep the speech short and to the point before moving on to awards. Five people are Knighted, less than you'd hoped but still a minor accomplishment.

When it comes to other medals they don't hold back. It's a good thing all of the veterans have been wearing the simplified ribbons instead of the full medals or there wouldn't be room to add more to some of them. Everyone in Mike's unit are given a couple awards you haven't seen before, you'll have to ask him later.

>>41015708
>Doesn't J-D already allow for elections for certain low level positions?
Yes, but not the really important ones like those that affect taxes.

>>41017104
>Did I actually post that name of that planet anywhere?

I don't think so, last I remember you said you'd need to come up with a name.

>Everyone in Mike's unit are given a couple awards you haven't seen before, you'll have to ask him later.
Neat.

>When it comes to other medals they don't hold back.

Did the House have the decency to send us a list of medals we'll get, or do they intend to keep it a surprise?

>If the situation worsens you could probably get a position with House Ber'helum easily enough but I never could. My family is too inextricably linked to this House.

Well, there's always options outside the Dominion as well. The Shallans would probably be more than willing to naturalize every capable Knight they can get their hands, and signing on permanently with the FA is also an option. If somebody gets kicked out for pushing democratic reforms even the Terrans might be interested.

Let's hope we'll never have to seriously consider this.

You turn off the projector once the award ceremonies are over.

"I can't believe they wouldn't let me talk to the Earl. I'm not a threat to him, how am I supposed to get a promotion if the guy is dead?"

Daska smirks a bit. "Make sure to tell that to the investigators when they question you."

By the time Daska leaves the marines have been set up with quarters, supplies, and have given you the basic outline of the patrols. Rufaro informs you that a team from the guard is setting up a series of sensors at the edge of the property that will be able to let them track anything. It may even be able to penetrate holographic camouflage but odds are it would only narrow it down to a small area.

"Where did they get those?"
"They're new. I think they're from a modified starship sensor package."

Great. Thank you war time technological advancement.

The lawyers get to work as soon as possible but it's not until the next morning that they're able to get up to your residence. A few of them point out that you do have an office and attached apartment in one of the cities. It's in the same building local RSS assets are working out of. It wouldn't be overly difficult to request relocation there from the authorities.

Being in the city would provide better access to your legal team and might make communication easier but there are advantages to being out in the wilderness at your heavily upgraded lodge. The underground bunker complex allows easier defense and you do have a starfighter.

You're also less likely to go still crazy like you would in the offices.

[ ] Stay out at the lodge
[ ] Request relocation to city property
[ ] Other

>>41017558
>[X] Stay out at the lodge
Let's just pay for priority transportation.

>>41016172
Yeah exactly!

Hell, I would have never argued for democratic governance. Our planet has a mix of different faction races, allowing them all to have their say is a recipe for disaster.

We need a strong governing class of Dominion Knights and Nobles. Maybe refugees from other factions could eventually become nobles and join this class, but only when they prove themselves as loyal to the House and Dominion.

>>41017615
>Stay out at the lodge

>>41017615
Seconding.

As long as we let the Guard know we should be allowed to move back and forth with ease.

Let's limit these trips though, reduces the chances of an ambush.

Most of the lawyers get to work on finding out what evidence the state has against you and a good defense against it.

From what they're able to tell you someone, one of the Knights from the Expeditionary fleet under your command, found files from the Governor of Surakeh aboard the Devourer. Files that had been opened using Alliance decryption to avoid being flagged by House security.


Understandably the investigators would like you to answer some related questions. Those regarding the sort of things you've been up to while the fleet was deployed and your actions during the incident on Surakeh are the ones that are asked about the most. Checking to see if you slip up.
Your lawyer present is helping you out quite a bit. Mostly keeping you from blowing up at the other officers.

As if things couldn't get any more annoying there is going to be a psych evaluation once this is all over. You may have skipped one or two of those over the years.

Before that though is the very important question about what was done with Governor Rna's files after you took control of the planet.

Do you tell the truth, that you did take them but hadn't opened them? Or will you give them another story?

>>41018420
>We hadn't opened them, why would we care?

Aren't we on a kind of time sensitive mission for Berwari's payment from that mission?

We should probably have either RSS folks or personally send him word that we're going to be delayed in getting his ship. Or at least get RSS making a bid for it.


It might be worth having some of our non-lawyers or their assistants pursuing information on who is charging us with treason 'with care not to let this leak by mistake'.

Or just make regular conversation with our various contacts. The guy from Aeon, the South Reach planetary governor/info broker, the Knight from House Pulto, that knight we dueled at the Ber'hulem ball, the FA dro'all that is now a Baron, etc.

Be active, and maybe the odd amount of activity we're conducting after an 'assassination attempt' will cause pressure in our favor.

>>41018420
We took them as part of our investigating into why the Governor was rounding up nobles and killing them in a prison camp, but we didn't do anything with them.

>>41018420
>found files from the Governor of Surakeh aboard the Devourer
Okay, find out who was on our ship. See if log files or security footage has been tampered with.

>Files that had been opened using Alliance decryption to avoid being flagged by House security.
Why would we be so dump to just leave them out in the open if we actually did something like that.

>Before that though is the very important question about what was done with Governor Rna's files after you took control of the planet.
Tampering or decrypting the files is supposed to be illegal, nothing was said about keeping a backup. Of course, just in case these files should miraculously disappear before the whole situation on Surakeh had be throughly investigated.

>>41018516
>Aren't we on a kind of time sensitive mission for Berwari's payment from that mission?
I think we have somebody working on it.

>It might be worth having some of our non-lawyers or their assistants pursuing information on who is charging us with treason 'with care not to let this leak by mistake'.
No.

>>41018420
subpoena the files that were located aboard our ship.

If they can't or won't produce those files, isn't this whole thing a moot he-said-she-said?

>>41018420
>found files from the Governor of Surakeh aboard the Devourer
Uh, didn't we keep the files on a drive in the Devourer's safe?

>>41018420
>Do you tell the truth, that you did take them but hadn't opened them? Or will you give them another story?

And make sure to consult our lawyers before we say anything.

>>41018878
agreed.

These jackasses are here to get us to self incriminate and do their job (put a hangman's noose on our neck) for them.

Our objective is to survive false accusations, when the last people to be falsely accused were slaughtered by Governor Rna.

Demand to know who is charging us, counter-interrogate their version of the events while providing no version of our own.

>>41018878
>>41008852

>Theses

>>41018420

Okay, so we're supposed to have a copy of these super secret files we can't decrypt on any J-D computer system because it's considered treason and intelligence would be informed immediately. So we take them to an Alliance facility to decrypt them, which isb treason. And after decrypting them we put them on a House computer system where some random knight can access them... seriously how dumb do they think Sonia is?

>>41018498
>We hadn't opened them, why would we care?

>>41018516
>Aren't we on a kind of time sensitive mission for Berwari's payment from that mission?
No. He said he'd use the money to put together a team of mercenaries to take his ship if you couldn't. He would have been fine paying you the money instead to get his ship.

>send him word that we're going to be delayed in getting his ship.
Sent.

>Or at least get RSS making a bid for it.
Considering it's in service with an active SRL Warlord I'm not sure the salvage team would be much help.

>It might be worth having some of our non-lawyers or their assistants pursuing information on who is charging us with treason
With the parade over and most people on leave your friends have time to try and look into ways of helping you out.
There seems to be some resistance to this from other anons though.

>>41018560
Counted as a vote for tell the truth.

>>41018565
>Okay, find out who was on our ship. See if log files or security footage has been tampered with.
Most of your Knights have been aboard at one time or another. Tes'us is livid at the implication that someone managed to get past the ship's security and has been keeping most of the Devourer on lockdown since word came in.

>Tampering or decrypting the files is supposed to be illegal, nothing was said about keeping a backup.
You make sure to tell them this.

>>41018622
>subpoena the files that were located aboard our ship.
>If they can't or won't produce those files, isn't this whole thing moot
They'll be made available to your legal team.

>>41018625
Yes, and only a few people know about it.

>>41018878
>And make sure to consult our lawyers before we say anything.
After explaining to them what really happened you're told that while not great it should be okay for you to just tell them.
"Don't give them anything extra."

>>41019016
They're getting your version of events. Your lawyers is there to keep you from screwing up badly.

>>41019178
can we look into the few people who KNEW of where the files were kept, and how they were outside the safe?

>>41019278
They weren't. iirc, only Sonia can access the safe without being obvious by cutting, and we never removed them.

And if they got into that safe, there were far more valuable things, iirc.

>>41019178
>Considering it's in service with an active SRL Warlord I'm not sure the salvage team would be much help.

Wouldn't Tourta's governor be a good place to start?

>>41018560
Seconding this.

Bit of a weird situation. Lets see...

Remember during the investigation we filed a request with House Intel to decrypt those files and they told us no. They also warned us it would be treason to try doing it ourselves, so they know that we had access to the files but can't PROVE that we kept a copy. The accusation is that someone found the files on our ship after we decrypted them using alliance software.

So we have to start poking holes their story.

1. Yes we have a copy, because the guilty party was obviously bent on killing all witnesses.
2. We kept the files in our safe, which is pretty obviously still safe because they didn't set off the Half-Moon security system.
3. We never put the files into our ships computer system, nor would we even if we had decrypted them because that's stupid.
4. Someone found the files on our computer. Who?
5. If they can tell who it was, can we prove they were physically on the ship in a legitimate totally not suspicious capacity and not Full Recon?
6. Where are the files they recovered as proof?
7. What alliance facility was used to decrypt the files?
8. What evidence is there that Sonia was present on that facility?\

This should poke enough holes in the story. The next question is who set us up. It's likely that someone put 2 and 2 together, figured out that we MIGHT have these files and MIGHT have decrypted them using alliance codes and used that as an excuse to arrest us and mess with our parade. Whoever that was must also have access to the files and have had them decrypted themselves. Otherwise or they wouldn't have the means to accuse US because it would be pretty obvious that we didn't.

Happy murrica day btw. We had our party up here in Canada a couple days ago.

>>41019486
Tripling it

>>41019693
That's pretty much the post to end this whole farce. Well done.

The parts we ordered for the Forberance, are they still in transit or have they arrived yet? If they're still being delivered we should have them stopped right this minute.

>>41019693
Yep, definitely seconding this. This isn't a case of treason, it's a case of espionage against us.

>>41019693
Canada you glory son of a bitch, You fixed us in our trying times. I'll side with you on this day, but I won't 1776

>>41019974
technically, if they hand us the files... someone else committed treason.

File: 5487.jpg (83 KB, 504x680)

83 KB JPG

You're sticking to your story that any files you took were not decrypted and were locked away in a vault. There's not chance of them tripping you up on that.

The psych profile done up the next day shows you to be somewhat erratic but indicates a low likelihood of you intentionally committing treason. Low but not impossible.

>>41019278
>can we look into the few people who KNEW of where the files were kept, and how they were outside the safe?

They were not outside the safe. The decrypted files were found in the safe.

The lawyers have been provided with the evidence in the form of access to the files, which they were able to determine had been decrypted by an Alliance hacking module. Based on the time frame it would have been done in the NAV TAC 1 relay shortly after you got back from seeing Versa.

So far you haven't been told who recovered them from your safe, though you've still demanded an explanation.

You, your bodyguards, Tes'us, Linda, Rob Ecord and (presumably) Baron Winifred know about your hidden vault. Not even your family knows. The only reason anyone would have knowledge of it is to ensure its contents are evacuated when abandoning ship. Even those people aren't supposed to know the contents.

If it was one of them you may have to interrogate your people. How do you want to go about it?

Or will you just wait and scream this >>41019693
at the House until they tell you who recovered the data? I'm guessing you guys are less interested in some paranoia.

>>41020732
Why not do both things, just to see if what we find matches up with what the House tells us?

>>41020732
>your bodyguards, Tes'us, Linda, Rob Ecord and (presumably) Baron Winifred
Man, that's a tight list of people.

If anyone on that list betrayed us I'll be so cut!

>>41020732
>How do you want to go about it?
Kidnap them all and put them in a locked underground room with no weapons, food, or water. Provide the occasional mental prodding over an intercom system, like a hilarious sitcom episode of some 90's show.

Don't let them out till they resort to cannibalizing the one who betrayed us.

>>41020732

I was under the impression that the safe's contents were evacuated by removing the entire safe, as was demonstrated when we evacuated the Unnamed Guard? (Correct me if I'm wrong, but I could have sworn that the marines were carrying the entire safe)

If a Knight found the files... that basically leaves it to being one of our bodyguards. Both of them have the means (camo, recon) to potentially steal the stuff needed for this.

But that also results in 3 suspects with no real evidence of who actually did the deed.

Rob, Linda and Winifred weren't aboard during that time period.

Tes'us isn't a knight (and came from another house with Devourer, iirc?)

Is Valeri a knight?

>>41020732
Man, I wish we knew what was in those files so we could interrogate people about them.

I guess we should go over any records of their access codes being used, or determining who was on duty and where they were at the time etc.

We should also get a background check done, see if anyone has financial problems, or if anyone in their close family is having issues that sort of thing.

Interrogating them directly probably won't be useful, but we should be able to narrow it down a bit to from who has access, to who had opportunity.

After that, we should look for motive. We treat our people pretty well, almost excessively so, so either someone is in trouble and being pressured into it, or they've been bribed, or we've unwittingly committed a grievous sin against them.

>>41021027
>>41021070

I agree with this, it's most likely our bodyguards.

Are there any Krath nearby? I imagine just the threat of being interrogated by one would make people crack.

>>41021027
Holy fuck, how are we not worried about the OTHER things we kept in that safe? Fuck me, man, we need to find out who was rooting around in there and put a fucking bullet in their skull. Fuck fuck fuck fuck.

Has anything been stolen from our safe?

>>41021115
What else did we have in there again?

>>41021247
Pretty sure we had a bunch of data on SP torpedo production, Victory Torpedo stats, locations of a couple of ships we had hidden, and maybe some records of our shady dealings? I can't remember exactly to tell the truth.

But pretty sure it was enough to sink us AND our house if it gets out.

>>41020732
Wait what? That's even more confusing. So a knight from the expeditionary fleet broke into our private safe and supposedly found the decrypted files in the safe and stole them as evidence against us.

Check the save and see if our copy of the files are there.

If the copy is MISSING then the prosecution has to prove who broke into our private vault (which is a crime in itself), WHEN they were on the ship and in what capacity. There should be records of this knight coming on board our ship, if there isn't that means he snuck onboard and wiped all evidence of him being there which is shady as fuck. They would have to prove that he was there to find this evidence and not there to plant it on us.

If the copy of the files is still there in an unencrypted state well that pretty much magdumps all over this story as far as poking holes in it.

>>41021247
off the top of my head...

the anti-Vtorp radiation (and longevity + poison) doses we kept
Rovinar isotope tracker thing?
BRBTERRANBLACKOPS
and at least one big diamond from Winifred?

>>41021325
Also have to ensure that the entire thing isn't a setup to gain access to our safe, if they couldn't normally.

>>41021327
There was that piece of the rovinar drone we captured in Watcher space. Is that the isotope thing or did we turn that piece back to the embassy already?

>>41021417
The tracker we used to track the cash we paid for Becka. idk if we returned it.

>>41021327
Yeeeaaah, we might want to hold this back as information so that if someone DID break into our safe, we can get them shot since this could potentially wreck our House.

We should also make sure to have Winifred recommend some kind of booze for the Earl to have at hand if/when we talk to him about it.

>>41020732
seconding >>41021325

>>41021417
The Alliance asked us to keep that drone thing secret right?

Given that we have high-level intel linked to the Alliance in our safe, then a J/D Knight breaking into it, during a time of war, is much higher treason that what we're being accused of.

If I'm remembering events correctly.

>>41021921
Yes, for the alliance, not for the House though. If anything, evidence of us working with the Alliance in secret won't look good here.

>>41021921
Also they are implicating the Alliance in this given that an Alliance general (supposedly) used her credentials to unlock the files. In order to prove we did this they would have to have evidence that we were on that station personally and there would be all sorts of records.

That also means whoever framed us also had to have access to TAC-1 which narrows the list.

See you in the morning.

Answers, and probably more frustration, await.

Is there anything you'd like to do with your down time while on your property?

>>41022124
Attempt gardening.

We can trade plant tips with Versa this way.

-Painting
-Gardening
-Power armour ballet

Fuck around with the cloak scanner/converter.

>>41022318
Sure you want to do that with all the sensors aimed at us? Maybe do it down in the bunker.

>>41022124
Attempt Gardening

Perimeter check, make sure people haven't been poking around here either while we were gone, as well as to confirm they haven't planted any evidence.

Practice dueling, because I hope we get to personally stab whoever did this.

>>41022124
Talk to our family, we haven't since we've been back

Host some events with our loyal knights / allies. Show them and our enemies that we are unconcerned by these charges, as they are clearly false.

Send an encrypted message to Winifred saying 'wtf?'

Also, it might be worth having Mr London move some of our assets outside of House J/D space, just in case.

>>41022927
Discretely move some of our assets. We don't want to look guilty here.

>>41020732
>which they were able to determine had been decrypted by an Alliance hacking module

Can the alliance track which module was used and when without us having to share the actual content of these messages?

>>41022124
>Is there anything you'd like to do with your down time while on your property?
Painting, gardening, physics.

>>41020732
>The decrypted files were found in the safe.
They might have planted there by the investigators if somebody has managed to either buy them or force them to do this somehow.

Also, how did these assholes even get on our ship and into our private quarters without us being informed?

Unrelated questions bump.

How is Captain Jarred Wescott doing?

>>27308438
>experimental Rapier was recovered by Second squadron after it limped most of the way to the taskforce. The ship itself had to be abandoned and there wasn't time to save the weapons systems. Unfortunate as it seemed effective against enemy internal systems.

Has the FA conducted any additional tests with these kinds of weapons?

>>27349155
>CCD battleship

The prototype we came across seemed pretty impressive. Has the design entered full production by now?

>Iratar modified SP weapons - shield scanners

How useful are these against Neeran ships? I'm sure the FA will have conducted field tests by now.

>After launch the decoy inflates to the size of a conventional torpedo. With very little mass the engine doesn't need to be anywhere near as powerful as a real one making them even cheaper to produce. Under ECM and launched alongside a real torpedo volley it would be very difficult to determine which ones were fake.
>Looking at the logo on the bottom you see they're produced by the Aries corporation.

This could be very interesting for fleet deployments, especially if used to draw ships away from V-torp strikes. Does the FA use them?

>Shallan's main shipyard.
>A hexagonal framework with hundreds of slipways and production lines

If that system will be unusable in the foreseeable future, maybe we should slowly begin to relocate small parts its infrastructure? Might be worth discussing as long as there's still a central Shallan government around.

New skills for Nikolov or Gal'mil?

Is our research team still working on the HAG?

Has Jaro Quol ever found? Or is he still MIA?

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73 KB JPG

>>41022124
>Answers, and probably more frustration, await.

Here's a particularly unpleasant idea I've just had:

-Who knows more about the ship's design, specifications, and layout than anybody else?
-Who knows more about the computer systems installed on the Devourer than anybody else?
-Who provided a significant part of the initial crew on the devourer? We kept quite a few of them around, I think.
-Who is desperately to contain House Ber'helum's influence right now?
-Who seems to be in full spec-ops mode following the recent Neeran offensive?

On top of that, the whole situation seems weird. It's like somebody who doesn't really have up to date data on the House Jerik-Dremine's internal situation tried to make a move against Sonia.

My guess is somebody working in the internal affairs division of the Ruling House decided Sonia is becoming a problem.

I also think we need to have the Devourer searched for bugs and other shenanigans left behind. Also, we should probably upgrade our personal computer system to something really unusual. An isolationist Neeran design, or maybe see if the Watchers are willing to sell us something.

Bump

>>41025953
Errant Class vessels are built exclusively by the non-Ruling House big boys (the 7, was it?)

If we had gone the Royal Guard Cruiser option, more of these concerns would be valid.

Something we should probably mention to the investigators.

We're being accused of accessing these files -after- visiting two facilities that no one else in our House could reasonably access. Presumably black facilities that ranking members of our House may not even have clearance to know about.

And for some reason, we accessed the files with an Alliance Hacking Module after visiting those sites. And left the files unencrypted or on a standard J-D encryption?

Instead of accessing those files on an isolated system in an isolated facility that we can presume would be perfectly capable of then applying encryption that would prevent anyone in the House from accessing those files in a timely manner, if at all.

Being accused of taking the stupid path is quite insulting, really.

>>41022549
>Perimeter check, make sure people haven't been poking around here either while we were gone, as well as to confirm they haven't planted any evidence.
Some squatters had attempted to move in along the edges of the property while you were away on deployment but old man Petras had them arrested within the day.


>Attempt Gardening
Roll 1d100

>>41022927
>Send an encrypted message to Winifred saying 'wtf?'
Message sent.

>it might be worth having Mr London move some of our assets outside of House J/D space, just in case.
>Discretely move some of our assets. We don't want to look guilty here.
Keep in mind that many things can't be moved right now. He can move some financial assets and ships.

>Talk to our family, we haven't since we've been back
They're certainly happy to find out you're okay. Mom and Bekka have stopped fighting thanks to the distraction of what's been happening with you.

[ ] Tell them what's going on
[ ] Tell them but ask they keep quiet about it
[ ] Try and stick to the cover story

Rolled 11 (1d100)

>>41029425

Rolled 9 (1d100)

>>41029425
>Roll 1d100
Rolling

>Some squatters had attempted to move in along the edges of the property
Do people like that get sent straight to the colonies?

>[X] Be vague about it until the whole thing has been resolved.

Rolled 14 (1d100)

>>41029425
>[X] Try and stick to the cover story
We can fill them in on the truth after this whole mess has been dealt with.

>>41029425

[x] Tell them what's going on

Family gets to know. This isn't a black op, and is serious business.

>Attempt Gardening
>11
>9
>14
Hahaha

>>41029425
>[ ] Try and stick to the cover story

They do not need to know the ugly business that is Dominion politics just yet. It will just serve to make them worried and serve very little purpose. And knowing mom she will probably arrange a riot or something.

>>41029885
Sonia skins her knee on a rock, breaks a nail in the dirty, a fly flies into her eye, a wasp stings her and finally she digs straight into a ant nest. Growing sick of this shit she gets her Mass Driver rifle and makes her own kind of garden, a bullet garden.

>>41024847
>How is Captain Jarred Wescott doing?
Still working as an alliance logistics and briefing officer. Think he's being transferred to Norune space.

>>27308438
>Has the FA conducted any additional tests with these kinds of weapons?
Yes. About 1 in 5 Heron class Mediums will mount a pair of Phased Plasma Channel Discharge Beams. They're effective for engaging groups of corvettes but they remain high maintenance. They could mount 4 but instead the extras are kept by fleet support vessels as replacements.

>>>27349155
>CCD battleship
>The prototype we came across seemed pretty impressive. Has the design entered full production by now?
Yes they entered mass production early on. They've helped drive up the price of heavy torpedoes.

>Iratar modified SP weapons - shield scanners
>How useful are these against Neeran ships? I'm sure the FA will have conducted field tests by now.
Not so effective. The only ship types they would be useful against the Alliance has captured examples of. Trying to match the phasing frequency of Neeran shields seems to be impractical. They're at their best when used against other faction ships.

>Torpedo decoys
>This could be very interesting for fleet deployments, especially if used to draw ships away from V-torp strikes. Does the FA use them?
There isnt a way to realistically mimic Veckron torpedoes yet though there is probably work being done on it. Crazy ideas page, I'm looking at you.
The decoys are best used to make enemies think you have more SP's than you really do, force them to evade and thus reduce your incoming DPS, or draw off mass driver point defense fire like your ships use.

>Shallan's main shipyard.
>If that system will be unusable in the foreseeable future, maybe we should slowly begin to relocate small parts its infrastructure? Might be worth discussing as long as there's still a central Shallan government around.
They've been working on it.

>Cont.

>>41030073
>New skills for Nikolov or Gal'mil?
Improved Guard for the former, improved engineer for the latter.

>Is our research team still working on the HAG?
No, they've been working on finishing out minor corrections on the 20mm gun. The Alliance has requested a production run of 50,000 of them ASAP.

>Has Jaro Quol ever found? Or is he still MIA?
Escaped from behind enemy lines earlier in the year with a small band of POW's. They've been placed in reserve for the foreseeable future while assessments are done on them.

>11
>9
>14

I don't even.

While it isn't an immediate failure Petras soon informs you that none of your attempts to start a garden will work out.
"Those plants won't grow here because of the Redwood trees."
Oh.

>>41025953
>-Who knows more about the ship's design, specifications, and layout than anybody else?
The original crew of the Devourer who helped build it. 2/3 of those have returned home to House Tujen, some to do more work at the shipyards, others to retire.
Some of the House personnel you have working aboard know it almost as well.

>-Who knows more about the computer systems installed on the Devourer than anybody else?
That's a tie between the command crew, original systems security and House security.

>-Who provided a significant part of the initial crew on the devourer? We kept quite a few of them around, I think.
The shipyard where it was built, though they were made up entirely of volunteers.

>-Who is desperately to contain House Ber'helum's influence right now?
The Ruling House, any of the other Houses that make up the Seven, probably a few people in your House.

>-Who seems to be in full spec-ops mode following the recent Neeran offensive?
Every House. Just about every Faction.

>we should probably upgrade our personal computer system to something really unusual. An isolationist Neeran design, or maybe see if the Watchers are willing to sell us something.
Such an extensive upgrade would take a lot of time and mean pulling most of the ship apart.
Watcher built computers wouldn't be possible because they use a different type of superconductor and other systems that wouldn't survive your room temperature.

>>41029696
>Do people like that get sent straight to the colonies?
No they get locked up or fined for trespassing.

>>41029781
>>41030046
Try and stick to the cover story
>>41029781
Tell them what's going on
>>41029696
>Be vague

You more or less stick to the story that you're out on your property for protection but that you're fine.
"Let me know an hour ahead of time if you're going to visit to help deal with security."

With time available, and gardening apparently being out of the question you get into a routine of exercise and watching things unfold both here and elsewhere. Construction of the new spaceport on Rioja is proceeding quickly. Two temporary habitat modules have been sent to the station to help with the refugee problem. It's not much but it will act as a stopgap for the time being.

>>41029029
You make sure to mention this.

>>41022927
>Host some events with our loyal knights / allies. Show them and our enemies that we are unconcerned by these charges, as they are clearly false.

Security is less than pleased by the parties you're hosting on a semi-regular basis. Your somewhat antagonistic behavior in regards to the House arrest is an annoyance. As far as they're concerned you're just acting like another rich stuck up noble. They do seem to be somewhat accustomed to this sort of thing. Business as usual?

Your Knights and officers still can't believe that you'd do anything but they still agree to keep quiet about the proceedings while the investigation is underway. During one of the visits Lorraine Day reveals she's going on maternity leave which surprises nearly everyone. It's only after this that you and a few others realise her uniform had been modified somewhat during the parade and awards to make it harder to notice any difference.

"So, who's the father?" you ask after everyone has finished congratulating her.

"That is a secret." she replies with a smirk.

Daska seems somewhat confused by her response. "But you're a noble, if you wanted to keep it a secret why not use a surrogate?"
"Because!" She lowers her voice. "It was what most people would refer to as an accident."

Anything you'd like to talk about with Lorraine or any of your other knights?

>>41031854
Mike you dog.

>Your somewhat antagonistic behavior in regards to the House arrest is an annoyance
Being put under House arrest despite our unwavering loyalty to the House is an insult. If they don't like it then they can fuck off.

That aside do invite the guards too a barbeque or at lest bring them some good food. They are just following orders after all.

Also push to speak with the Earl, we aint got time for this shit. We need to become a Baron so we can do barony stuff.

>>41031854
We need to find out about those news medals and who got promoted. Don't forget to congratulate Lorraine. Are people having any problems we could help with?

>>41031854
Congratulations are in order for the new mother. Has she had any thoughts about what names she'll pick?

>>41032919
godmother sonia mode activate.

>>41032072
>Don't forget to congratulate Lorraine.
>>41032919
>Congratulations are in order for the new mother. Has she had any thoughts about what names she'll pick?
"Thank you! I think I'll talk to my parents about suggestions first. Then I can see the records office about the lengthy naming conventions that Nobles supposedly give a damn about. In case my kid ever wants to go a more official dignified route in the future. It won't stop be from coming up with annoying nicknames."

>godmother sonia mode activate.
"Oh, is it a boy or a girl, and could you name me their godmother?"
"I don't know I wanted to be surprised. As for being a godparent, I don't know I'll have to think about it. Thanks for asking though."

>>41032072
>We need to find out about those new medals
They've created a few specifically for afterburner equipped squadrons.

Few Houses have access to ships with afterburners, certainly not in larger numbers. With the newest assault corvettes able to mount them those numbers are expected to rise.

While the House has the equipment to field 4 squadrons there are only 2 in service at the moment, Mike's and another. As more may be added in the future, or they could be a special unit attached to most fleets, the House wants them to be suitably prestigious. Starting up special medals for them before anyone else does could result in other Houses buying or copying them off you.
Either is a win.

There is a basic Dragoons Service Medal which even you could be awarded with due to your time piloting the original EX-K. A few variations of the Pilot's Star are also available to them.

>>41021070
>I guess we should go over any records of their access codes being used, or determining who was on duty and where they were at the time etc.
Everyone was supposed to be on your ship at the time the hacking module was used and their records seem to check out.

>We should also get a background check done, see if anyone has financial problems, or if anyone in their close family is having issues that sort of thing.
There are some minor discrepancies with a few family members of your people but mostly that's in the form of losing money.

>Interrogating them directly probably won't be useful, but we should be able to narrow it down a bit to from who has access, to who had opportunity.
Rufaro and Velari had the highest level of access and opportunity.

>After that, we should look for motive. We treat our people pretty well, almost excessively so, so either someone is in trouble and being pressured into it, or they've been bribed, or we've unwittingly committed a grievous sin against them.
You're not seeing any signs of the usual motives; Family, money, bribery, or blackmail.

>>41021090
>Are there any Krath nearby?
You're a couple days from the Krath homeworlds. Maybe a day with a fast ship. There could be Krath around but you're in Dominion territory.

>>41034101
Isn't Valeri Winifred's man?

old on a tick if the data never left the safe and none of our knights know where the safe is.is this entire claim not false? since it is one of our knights leveling the accusation

>>41034166
>Isn't Valeri Winifred's man?
He was recommended by her for transfer from the Marines.

Write. Delete.
Write. Delete.
I'll get something typed up I'm satisfied with any moment now I'm sure.

All four of your bodyguards are called in to meet with the Earl, along with your legal representatives. You still have your marines so that wouldn't be so bad.

They're hoping to find out how the state got hold of the evidence, and your accuser. You can go in with them but they caution that you won't really be able to speak to the Earl at this time and any kind of outburst would not be ideal.

"Any word on why he hasn't granted me an audience yet?"
"Legal preparations on top of other work the House needs done to keep functioning. These things take time. On some Terran worlds you might be waiting months before a proper trial."

[ ] Go in with them.
[ ] Let the lawyers handle things.

>>41035110
>[x] Let the lawyers handle things.

If we go, hang back, say nothing. Just listen to stuff to get a more direct feel, but right now there is nothing really useful we can personally do.

>>41035110
Let the lawyers handle it, we've nothing to gain by showing up in person.

>>41035110
[x] go in with them

May as well.

>>41035110
>[X] Go in with them.

>>41035110
>[ ] Let the lawyers handle things.
If we can't meet the Earl there is very little point in going there since we lack the knowhow of the law to be of any help there and need to avoid putting our foot in our mouth.

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736 KB JPG

You agree it may be fore the best if they visit the Earl without you. There's no telling what might happen and cause you to say something improper at a bad moment. They promise to bring back recordings and transcripts of events.

It's into the evening when the lawyers return, your bodyguards nowhere to be seen.
"They've been asked to remain in the city to answer more questions."

You're presented with a sealed letter from the Earl. "You may want to see the recordings first."

Heading inside you watch the events over your main projectors.

The Earl and his advisors are once again in the grand hall, most of the larger doors closed off, probably with sound dampening systems in place to prevent anything from getting out.

Knight Captain Fox, who commands the Medium cruiser Comet on your deployments, steps forward.

"Captain we would ask that you restate your previous accusations for the benefit of the accused's legal counsel."

"Very well. When Knight Commander Reynard returned to the fleet and linked up with us in the nearest Terran Relay I was contacted by an officer in House Intelligence. This officer had reason to believe that the Knight Commander may have performed treasonous acts while she was vising Alliance bases.
As such when I arrived on the command ship The Great Devourer as part of our post mission briefings I began a covert investigation into the likelihood of this. Record's from the Commander's bodyguard initially proved this unlikely. At none of the black ops facilities visited had there been sufficient time to decrypt the files."

Well that backs up your claims.

"At this time I used my authority to conducted research on the loyalty profiles of all the Knight Commander's bodyguards."

You ask your lawyers what the loyalty profile entails.
"It's a modified psych profile intended to determine if soldiers will have greater loyalty to their superior officer or the House under certain circumstances."

"Cant they just check mine to be certain I wouldn't commit treason?"
"Why do you think they did all of that testing recently?"

You listen to the rest of Fox's speech.
"I then directly approached one Valeri Fusaro and informed him of my suspicions. Reminding him of his duty to the House above all I told him that there must be a place, a hidden passage or other location where the Commander would keep such sensitive information if it existed. I asked that he search these places and, if no such evidence existed, I would take responsibility for having violated a superior's private property.

The provided video log shows Mister Fusaro gaining access to the Knight Commander's vault, viewing decrypted files that were found within, and copying them for evidence. Evidence which has been verified as having been decrypted by an Alliance hacking module."

"What were in the other carrying cases within the vault? Were they relevant to the charges?" Asks the Earl.

"Mister Fusaro has claimed that any other contents of the safe were not of interest to this investigation. I for one am prepared to take him at his word." Replies Fox.

When permitted to speak your lawyers object, to unlawful search and seizure, theft, and breach of trust among others.

"All of which are superseded in the face of treasonous materials." The Earl responds, then turns his attention to the accuser.

"What it will not do is protect you Knight Fox if it later turns out this evidence was PLANTED."

Everyone in the hall goes quiet. When Fox looks as though he's about a speak up a second later the Earl gestures for him to zip it.

Earl Jerik eventually speaks up. "Reynard's loyalty to the House may be more questionable than some, but not most. Her profiles show that she would go after anyone that would harm the populace. That's not necessarily a bad thing, and can be used to good effect politically with the proper direction.
Would she knowingly break open files and commit treason in the process of what she may or may not see as a quest for justice or vengeance? I don't know. You her representatives claim she says she did not and that this is all a setup.
While the opposition has seemingly legitimate evidence.

This is not a matter that will be resolved as easily as either side would like.

We are in the middle of a war and our neighbours are on the verge of issuing outright threats for the return of the outer colonies. That's on top of the situation throughout the greater Dominion. So I'm going to do two things. First I'm sending you back to Reynard with an offer, and the second will depend on her response."


You look down at the sealed letter and open it.

The Earl has asked that for starters you personally stop looking into anything to do with the former Governor of Surakeh as it would annoy people and make things difficult for him.
You would also pay a fine coming out of your profits from commanding the Expeditionary fleet, equal to a tenth of your earnings so about 100 million.
"Think of it as a charitable donation if you like"

A limited house arrest would remain in effect for at least 10 months but none of your holdings would be touched and you'll be free to conduct any business concerning your property.

In return the council itself is going to begin an independent investigation which would take time. Even if they found you guilty there would be no additional charges if you agreed to the terms now.

"What if I refuse the offer?" you ask.

"Then we continue to struggle against the government. If the charges are later upheld it would adversely impact you position within the House."

>>41037796
Well, looks like the Earl is on our side already.

I told you Anons that you weren't paranoid enough. It's not necessarily that the Earl is out to get us, so much as it is that he might want to turn us to his side and at the same time reign in some of the more ambitious nobles he has under him who created the entire debacle with the Governor. Seriously, that was ham-handed as fuck. Even if the Earl was originally behind it all, his best bet at maintaining the peace would be to reduce the influence of the people who started it.

But us? We're a goddamn wildcard.

>>41038078

[ ] Accept the Earl's offer
[ ] Fight the charges now that you know the evidence

>>41038078
I don't want to accept the offer. Our trust in the house has been violated twice now, once by the Governor going after nobles, and now by someone in IA who planted evidence and tried to frame us.

What assurances do we have that this investigation won't just be more of the same? Especially since regardless of whether or not we're guilty this is what they should be doing in this case.

In addition, there's the issue of the fine. That predisposes our guilt, so fuck that noise. If we're innocent, then we're the victims here and we shouldn't have to pay a red cent.

I'd be willing to back off the investigation about the Governor, but everything else is an insult. They want us to tacitly admit guilt, pay for it, and then hope that whoever framed us doesn't have enough power to influence the results of the investigation? When they were able to pull the strings of the Governor on Surakesh?

Also, I guess we need to get in touch somehow with Valeri Fusaro.

>>41038169
>>41038169
is a vote for

>[ ] Fight the charges now that you know the evidence

>>41037796
... Valeri and Fox you motherfuckers. When this is over and we are cleared of charges those two motherfuckers and their entire family with find that life is suddenly a lot harder in the Dominion. Murder like never before. Murder to make the Red Wedding look tame. My Jimmies are rustled!

>>41038078
>stop looking into anything to do with the former Governor of Surakeh
Not like we're even doing that to begin with: Deal.

>about 100 million.
Not really pocket change but something we can afford many times over so yeah: Deal.

>A limited house arrest would remain in effect for at least 10 months
Wait wait wait. They want us to sit on our ass for 10 months doing jack shit where as we could launch another campaign to bring more wealth and glory to the House or otherwise to Dominion stuff. No, screw that. We are not paying just so we can have our ass free to wander in the wilderness. It's a waste of time and this should be dealt with right now because this aint okay.

>[ ] Fight the charges now that you know the evidence

Now, they've shown Valeri pick up the stuff from our safe. Can they however prove that we put it there? We are not the only person having access to it as this clearly shown so unless they can prove we actually know about it they have nothing on us as far as I see it.

>>41038169
>[x] Fight the charges now that you know the evidence
There's literally no point accepting considering it's going to lock us down for 10 months as it is.

We have so much better shit to be doing than dealing with all this. There's another crusade to command, Versa research to spin to the alliance, plasma pistol to pick up, gotta go get our lightning gun from the good Neeran.

>>41038169
>>41038169
I have a few questions about the offer:

1. Do we get the 100 million back if the charges are proven false?

2. If we a proven guilty, do we at least get a copy of the files because, you know, we already know what's in them...

3. Does this deal impact our promotion?

4. House arrest. How is this handled?

>>41038078
>"Then we continue to struggle against the government. If the charges are later upheld it would adversely impact you position within the House."

One thing we have to consider is if we don't manage to find out who put the data in our safe, and the Earl feels annoyed because we declined his offer and finds us guilty, we might as well switch Houses, or go full FA.

I know a lot of people want to see justice done without this shady deal but we really have a lot to lose if things don't work out.

I think we should leak this entire happening to the media. I'm particularly peeved about the 100m 'donation', since we undertook the Veckron mission on our own personal risk yet we gave the house nearly 600m in parts from that. That's what I'd call a 'donation'.

>>41038918
I think we never decided how much of that stuff actually goes to the House. In the various surveys it was grouped under Sonia/House.

>>41038282
>Wait wait wait. They want us to sit on our ass for 10 months doing jack
So, what if we're too dumb to figure this out? Or if we fail an important roll? We'll spend quite a bit of time in house arrest regardless of which option we choose.

First thing first

Seize all of Valeri's stuff we can get a court order for. Everything he had on our ship is potential evidence, and iirc we own his camo and PA.

Can we file an espionage charge again Fox and Valeri? They appear to have committed crimes against a FA officer on a FA active duty vessel.

They're at the very least security threats. At worst, spies in FA jurisdiction

>>41039584
I'd prefer to consult our lawyers about these actions before we do any of them.

surveymonkey com/r/ JVRQBGK

SURVEY

>>41038228
>Also, I guess we need to get in touch somehow with Valeri Fusaro.
It seems that most people want to get in touch with him by punching him.

>>41038469
>plasma pistol to pick up, gotta go get our lightning gun from the good Neeran.
Those can be shipped to you.

>>41038557
>1. Do we get the 100 million back if the charges are proven false?
No, it's probably going to things like war bonds or the funding the House gives to the Alliance.
>2. If we a proven guilty, do we at least get a copy of the files because, you know, we already know what's in them...
Why would you?
>3. Does this deal impact our promotion?
It does not. Once you're out you'd be very publicly promoted.
>4. House arrest. How is this handled?
You'd have to stay on your property much like before but the scanning equipment and guards would largely be removed. You wouldn't have to worry about any coms monitoring. It's more to keep you out of the public eye while things blow over.

>>41038918
>I think we should leak this entire happening to the media.
That is an option.

>>41039584
Your bodyguards left all of their power armor on your property when they were taken to be questioned. Any of his stuff you owned is there.

>Can we file an espionage charge again Fox and Valeri?
If it's possible your lawyers will do so.

>>41038282
>They want us to sit on our ass for 10 months doing jack
>>41039302
>We'll spend quite a bit of time in house arrest regardless of which option we choose.

You could spend the time planning out development of Rioja and letting the company implement it. It does need quite a bit of work.
Or you could request a time skip.

>>41039856
>Why would you?
If we're guilty we've commited treason by decrypting those files, just putting them in our vault without reading them wouldn't really make sense.

It's probably not an argument that will hold up.

>It seems that most people want to get in touch with him by punching him.

I don't want to do that. I think it's probably best not to speak with him for a bit until Sonia/people had a chance to cool down a bit.

>>41039856
>Survey
>3. If you refuse the Earl's offer and the investigation drags on too long, or you're found guilty,
will you leave the House?

>Yes, go to House Ber'helum
The Duke is pretty bro so i guess that's our best option in the worst, I repeat, WORST case scenario. Who knows, perhaps he could help us take over JD in a coup or something and set us up as a vassal/close allied to Ber'helum if it comes down to it.

None the less if the Earl convicts us of treason then staying in the House is no longer an option. We just take all our assets and bail to someone who will appreciate us more.

But hopefully it wont come to that.

>>41030339
>The Alliance has requested a production run of 50,000 of them ASAP.
Yessss, I knew that would pick up sooner or later. Have we got the factory capacity to keep up with the order?

So, while we're waiting for that survey.... any ideas how to get Berwari's ship back?

>>41039856
My first instinct is to say fuck the deal and let the court discover the truth, but at the end of the day we need to remember that we're in a feudal society and the Earl himself is trying to give us a hint. I think we should back down from this fight and accept the deal. Ten months standing around without much to do is going to sting, but the Earl is the Earl and at this point we should do what he wants us to do.

We knew when we picked a fight with the Governor of Surakeh that there would be severe diplomatic ramifications, and we accepted that risk. We need to take our lumps. I would also recommend sitting down and writing a letter (the really old fashioned way, pen and paper and junk) to the Earl, briefly explaining Sonia's actions and motives, and saying that while Sonia dislikes being punished for trying to work for the good of the House, she's willing to do what the Earl wants.

>>41037773
>At this time I used my authority to conducted research on the loyalty profiles of all the Knight Commander's bodyguards

Why had Sonia never heard of these before? Some random Knight has access to vital information but not one of the Houses Knight Commanders?

>>41038282
>
Thats a bit excessive. Valeri and Fox actions, although disappointing, is due to loyalty to the house. They are pawns unwittingly directed by higher powers in the house to get at us.

Still, I'll suggest removing Valeri as our bodyguard and transferring both away to someplace as far away from Sonia as possible.

Honestly, this sort of political skullduggery thing seems like a normal day within the Dominion that I'm surprised that some of us acted all surprised when it happens.

The real persons we should really go after those people who decrypted and planted those data (i doubt Valeri planted it, i may be wrong tho). the up coming investigation, either by the house or by us personally will help. Its not like we have too much to do in the next 10 months anyways.

so:

> [x] Accept the Earl's offer

The upside of joining House Ber'helum would be that the Duke would probably throw money at us to reverse engineer the Cooling Laser.

>>41040611
The Vault had been compromised before Valeri even checked it, so it would probably be a good idea what check what we stored there.

I think Winifred took the SP torp data and buried it somewhere, so we don't have to worry about that.

But the cooling laser...

>>41040044
>If we are found guilty staying in the House is no longer an option.
Agreed, and I'd even have to expand on that. If we're found innocent but Fox isn't censured heavily or outright convicted of treason, we'd also fall under a similar situation.

At this point, it is Fox planting the stuff vs us being guilty. An outcome where neither party is charged is basically "ha ha, extorted 100m from you and nothing!" That simply creates a situation where we can't trust the House we're supposed to die for and represent.
Hell, we should probably look at starting up a part of RLS/RSS under Ber'hulem jurisdiction. It may be possible to put various assets into a protection mode of sorts, if they have the option to fire up a Ber'hulem IFF. Just like that guy that tried to escape on the Feron IFF civilian ship with the kidnapping money and we couldn't stop them.

And Ber'hulem would probably have a field day defending a chance to poach both Reynard and Reynard's assets from J-D.

If they're able to determine what was used to decrypt the files, why can't they determine the time the files were decrypted?

>>41040797
see
>>41020732
>Based on the time frame it would have been done in the NAV TAC 1 relay shortly after you got back from seeing Versa.

I'd guess the process doesn't leave an exact time stamp.

>>41038169
>[X] Accept the Earl's offer

I'm of a mind to accept the offer, as the terms are fairly lenient and this is the risk-free way.

If we did fight it however, couldn't we just submit to a lie detector test? As we don't know what the files contain, we will truthfully be unable to answer what they are.

wait, can we access those loyalty files? Perhaps there was another turned before Valeri was sent to collect the evidence?

I literally don't know what to pick since we have no proof we didn't decrypt and he has no proof we did.

This is just going to be down to some shitty little piece we miss since we've failed this kind of stuff before.

And to all those who thing of moving to house Ber'hulem, What makes you all think like will be easier ?

This is and even older and established major house. One of the 7 even. the nobles there will not treat us with kid gloves esp since we are new blood from a up jumped minor-middle house.

Life might even be hell with and even bro Duke will be one of the many Dukes there. So he can't even full time watch our back.

>>41041043
I really only see Ber'hulem as a temporary option that may allow us to keep some of our company.

The ideal situation would be to go full megacorp status, but I don't think we are quite ready for that, or could survive J-D deciding to seize our shit.

>>41040413
Why do you have to be so rational AFTER I vote on the survey?

>>41040602

If one of them DIDN'T plant the fake evidence, then who did? But that's okay, our reach is far and I'm sure they have families.

Who will live out their lives generously compensated for Fox and Valeri's death.

"Was there a time limit given on the offer?" you ask.

Most figure you'd be fine waiting a week or two before responding if you wish to think it over. A message can be delivered to that effect.

You consider contacting the media and generally throwing a wrench into things but once you've had an hour to go for a walk and cool off decide against it. Either your PR branch or your many other contacts would be perfect but doing so is out of the question. A lot of civilians could get hurt if you were careless.

>None of the above
>Pirate Sonia
Dread Pirate Sonia?


>>41011546
I did say more on this later.

The entire system of giving a Knight a Light Cruiser or Knighting someone when they get hold of an equivalent ship has sort of been thrown out atm, especially within your own House. (You helped!)
Light Cruisers are increasingly not being assigned as front line warships. It's why they were being sold to the PCCG as patrol ships.
It is expected that Knights will still own as ship, but more recently its become rare for Knights of your House to take said owned ships to the front.
Ships from the mixed wings that are becoming outdated tend to be sold the most so that the House can make some money off of them and pay for replacement with newer more heavily upgraded craft. The Knights of your House potentially have a good reserve of slightly outdated warships.

But! (and this is where your plan comes in) there are still some people who haven't bought any yet, desperate to invest their funds in worthwhile ventures that will return a profit.

Did you want to send this idea to Winifred? Or to your other Knights here in the capital?
I supposed you could send the proposals to the other Barons yourself but a response from them might be delayed given your current position.

>>41041302
>Why do you have to be so rational AFTER I vote on the survey?
poor sonia, always making angry decisions before the rational parts of her brain catch up

>>41042368
While House Ber'helum certainly is an option I would say that instead of switching houses if things go south we look to take up the offer long ago to see if the Knights Errant still has an opening. We already have an in since we have a pretty good relationship with the person who tried to recruit us last time and we know they are on the level since they helped us get in touch with that hacker for the triad bank heist.

I would say send the idea to Winifred as i'm sure she wouldn't be surprised that even in our current situation we think of something like this

>>41042368
Winifred, Mike and Alex.

Could we possibly obtain security footage and tag everyone heading in the direction of our safe. Then cross reference it with all the cameras to ensure that there are no breaks or loops in the footage to narrow down the potential suspects?

The video does show Valeri opened the safe and found the evidence but how does it prove that he Valeri did not open the safe first then decrypt it then proceed to reopen the safe.

Whatever happens we need to have Valeri and Fox killed now. They've seen too much of the safe and it's highly destabilising contents.

>>41043233
How would you like them dead? Bounty? Krath? Ordering them to death in battle? Personally assassinating them? Destroying their social life? Getting the Alliance to detain them? Defecting to another faction and waging war against J-D?

>>41043325
I figured personally taking care of them would be the best idea.

Does anyone remember how much dirt we have on J-D? Like SP torp research locations and the clone we faced during Bekka's kidnapping?

>>41043416
We could really fuck them over.

>>41043379
We could try to start duels with them, probably. Though we'd probably get rekt by Valeri, I don't think we know how skilled Fox is in hand to hand. If we really wanted to, we could challenge Valeri to a starship duel, and Fox to a hand to hand duel, but that would probably be seen as unsporting.

As least hold of on the murdering till we are totally sure they have taken money to betray us and not some miss guided idea to thinking that Sonia is a traitor.

>>41043416
>>41043542

Don't forget J-D has violated that treaty on who can reclaim V-torps in this latest episode.

Even if we just put it out there that turning over a V-torp was 'strictly off the record but we will kill you for treason' treason, it would probably be damaging, and they'd likely have to hand them over to the Alliance for free.

>>41043416
>Like SP torp research locations
If there are any you don't know them.

You know about the cloaking research and could find it's location thanks to your supply ship drops. That's one of Winifred's projects though. If you wanted to burn all bridges behind you going after it would be a good start.

>and the clone we faced during Bekka's kidnapping?
That would probably get the House in some trouble yes.

>>41042878
>>41043123
Sending the plan to Winifred as a start. The next time Mike and Alex are over you fill them in on it. Both are in favour of it and Mike suggests it could be tied into the Expeditionary Fleet Social Club but that would be extremely limiting. After all the entire point was to help all of the up and coming Knights, not just those in your social circle.

[ ] "It could be a good starting point."
[ ] "We shouldn't restrict it just to them."

>>41043690
>[ ] "It could be a good starting point."
Might as well. They are new enough that most people haven't being tainted by other groups yet.

>>41039856
I would like to get in touch with Valeri as well. Simply to rule out that he planted the evidence. I personally do not blame him for what he did because in his position we might have done the same in order to protect the house.

I still trust him even with what has happened for the simple fact that it doesn't appear that he gave them any information of what else was in the safe and I would just like to confirm that is what he found.

Maybe even straight up ask that it wasn't him that planted said evidence.

Because if it wasn't our bodyguard who we entrusted our life with then someone else has been tampering with our shit.

>>41043690
>[X] "It could be a good starting point."

>>41043416
Yeah we have a ton of dirt on them.

But people already consider us a somewhat unstable element. If we start letting secrets loose, especially publicly, what House or faction in their right mind would trust us again?

>>41044336
Through our bribes of course! We still have stuff like the cooling laser. The main thing to do is promote the fact that our house did not appreciate our earnest efforts for them which netted them quite alot of things.

>>41043755
>I still trust him
Bad move

Our bodyguard should be loyal to us above all else.

After this is done, we're putting all of out bodyguards and men-at-arms though a psyc evaluation. They need to be loyal to us before the House!

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Not sure how well this is going to work. I have a computer course tomorrow so I won't be able to resume until after 3PM EST tomorrow. I know threads have been kept bumped before but it's been awhile. Everyone okay with that?


The Spaceport on Rioja is nearing completion of the main structural work. The HLV's have been hard at work getting prefabricated segments set up. There is still plenty of work to do in regards to getting all of the systems operational like the power generators, shields and tractor beams. Some of the smaller pads are now capable of allowing landing and the attached sections are habitable. It's going to suffer from "New" smell for a bit.

Once it's reached full operation the spaceport will be able to support several thousand people just on it's own, not counting it's ability to house temporary refugees.

To properly expand the site it would be best if you settled on a development company to build habitats before the port is finished so things can be set up quickly.

You are a major shareholder in an infrastructure development company in the Republic. This could be their big chance to finally start doing work beyond that market.

There is also the company on Surakeh you've previously had good relations with for development on Tourta. With the recovery of Lady Ainsley she's helping to manage the company until such time as family of the other owners can step up.

There may be similar companies already within the Run that could be hired instead.
Where do you interests lie?

>>41043755
I'd prefer to let Valeri go after this is all over with. With a very public commendation for how great his love was for the Dominion that he was willing to spy on his employer and break into her most protected vault.

>>41044967

Gonna have to go with the Republic company.

It is probably cheaper and easier to have the mobile construction company head to Rioja than it is to deal with the logistics of shipping stuff from Surakeh to the Run.

That said, we could also involve the Surakeh company as a minority partner, subcontractor, or even as liaison for the Republic company.

>>41044967
Supporting this >>41045157.

The Republic company would be more prepared to handle this compared to the Surakeh one. It may also open up options for the future since we have such a vast amount of land under our name.

>>41044967
Republic company sounds like a good idea.

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>>41044967
Still taking votes on this.

>>41045157
>That said, we could also involve the Surakeh company as a minority partner, subcontractor, or even as liaison for the Republic company.
A republic company may be unfamiliar with some laws and regulations within the Dominion. They could probably provide consultants.


Given the location of the spaceport and future city on your land there will need to be a bit more work done on repairing and rebuild the old infrastructure to link it to the main city. If you were willing to pay the central development companies a few million, or even contract it, it would allow them to add more teams. Key bridges could be completed months ahead of schedule if they started now.

[ ] They'll get to it eventually (Don't pay them)
[ ] Contract 3 million for infrastructure
[ ] Contract 5 million for infrastructure (Improved relations with central colony)

>>41045073
and then have him quietly killed for probably looking through the rest of the shit in the safe

>>41045535
[x] 5 million

For shits and giggles, we should start code-naming projects on Rioja like soviet states. Especially if we take the Earl's deal.

"Project Elective Results" for the power grids
"Project Democracy" for the Housing plan


... speaking of that, I have a crazy idea for how we should pay that 100 million extortion.

>>41045535
>[ ] Contract 5 million for infrastructure (Improved relations with central colony)
We have the money.

>>41045535
I also agree with>>41045157 . The consultant idea is pretty good since it helps both the company and provides a little work to the people we are already friendly with.

>[X] Contract 5 million for infrastructure (Improved relations with central colony)

5 mill to improve infrastructure AND increase relations with the central colony? Talk about a win win in my book.

Having some time to cool down I know I voted to fight it on the survey, but i've actually had a change of heart and would like to take the deal thought I do have a question.

If we take the deal and they find us not guilty will the people who tried to set us up still get punished or will they get a free pass due to us taking said deal?

>>41045885
Does it involve stealing a portion of the money from the Triads since they keep on trying to set up shop? Because I would be all for ruining their day.

>>41045950
Actually, I was just going to suggest we repay the House partially with the war bonds (iirc, we hold 50k+ worth of the early ones)

and the difference we recoup by dropping the small discount I think we give the House Admiralty on ships we produce, until the money is made back.

If they won't take the war bonds, we can always just ask if they'd rather we move to sell them, which would probably look really bad for the House.

In the end, taking the bonds as payment should be better for them, though. They'll probably avoid paying some or possibly all of the interest due, and we save much more valuable liquid credits which we can invest.

I look forward to the day we can throw another ball and invite Fox with a card that says "Lawyers advise me not to kill you, but said nothing about maiming. Come if you've got the jaw"

>>41043690
>[X] "We shouldn't restrict it just to them."

>>41044967
>[X] Lady Ainsley

>>41045535
>[X] Contract 5 million for infrastructure (Improved relations with central colony)

>The Earl’s offer
I like neither option on the survey. For me, and from the discussion several others, the only part of the offer we don’t agree with is the 10 months of house-arrest. Therefore, we should negotiate.

The reason for the house-arrest is supposedly to keep us out of the public for a while. Maybe we could negotiate an exception to the house-arrest for missions for the Alliance. We still need to visit that Dyson sphere, for example, and we could convince the Earl how incredibly important that is. Maybe even brag that some of the other projects we did with the alliance are considered to be on the same level as Vecron Torpedo research and that we think this project is at least as important.

We could also try to shorten the house arrest to a more palatable length.

Outright refusing or just accepting are not reasonable options, in my opinion.
>>41045535
[x] Contract 5 million for infrastructure (Improved relations with central colony)
Improved relations have always been considered more important by us, so this is a no-brainer.

>>41047905
I don't mind the house arrest, we have plenty of things we could do in the meantime from our house.

It's paying the 100 mil that bothers me, because it implies we're guilty regardless of what they eventually find. If we do pay it, there's always going to be the question in others minds that it may have been a bribe.

>>41048396
The 100 million does not imply we are guilty. At least it wouldn’t IRL and I don’t think it would be different in the Dominion. Even full settlements for bothersome accusations are normal, even if the courts would rule in your favour. This is even a level below that. Don’t forget, there will still be an investigation.

I’m really sure it would not imply we are guilty any more than having those charges brought against us at all already does.

>>41039856
>You could spend the time planning out development of Rioja and letting the company implement it. It does need quite a bit of work.
>Or you could request a time skip.

We should use this as a chance to finally start doing our homework on House politics. We need to get to know the various political factions in our House, who belongs to them, what's their powerbase, etc. Not knowing much about this has already managed to bite us in the ass, so let's do our best to learn from it.

We should also look into some investment on other planets in the House, like Plateau or Frostback. Maybe the neighbouring Houses as well.

Do we know who's being considered as Baron for the other planets we didn't pick?

>development of Rioja

I've been rereading some older threads and it has been repeatedly mentioned that Shallan colony infrastructure design is extremely resiliant and places a large emphasis on civilian defence. Would it be possible to incorporate some of their policies on Rioja? I'd guess it shouldn't be too much trouble if we start with it while the world's settlements are still new and subterran transport lines don't have to be built under existing buildings.

>>41045535
>[ ] Contract 5 million for infrastructure (Improved relations with central colony)

It's money we have, and developing Rioja as quickly as possible is in our best interest. People getting along on our planet is easily worth the additional 2 million.

>>41043690
>[ ] "We shouldn't restrict it just to them."

We need to expand our influence beyond our current sphere of friends and allies. The idea behind my suggestion was to support all new knights who require help, regardless of who's their commander. Limiting it to our club wouldn't really do that.

>but more recently its become rare for Knights of your House to take said owned ships to the front.

If that's the case, perhaps we should pick a cruiser design that's especially effective against pirates, raiders, and other Dominion Houses?

>>41037773
This trial. All of my dafuq. This is a fucking setup. We know it's a setup because barring a Clone Sonia/Krath/SPOOPY MIND CONTROL we know we never decoded the files. If we are found guilty or forced to admit to guilt the House loses another star. If we are not guilty Knight Fox get's thrown in deep shit for being a cat's paw, same with Valeri. If they want to get out of this they have to work with us.

I'm beginning to think our secrets are more secure than we thought. Because frankly anyone who actually knows how hard we could BURN THIS HOUSE TO THE GROUND would never dream of antagonizing us this much, they would just try to kill us and steal our stuff.

>contacted by an officer in House Intelligence
We made a request to decode those files, which Intel rejected. So they obviously know that we had access to the files and could have made a copy. So the question is, who figured out that we could have had the files with us and decoded them at an alliance facility? Junior officers don't just get to declare people traitors without mountains of evidence. There would be a chain of command and a paper trail involved. If they backtrack and find out that this whole thing happened because of an "anonymous tip" along the chain then this whole thing becomes SHADY AS FUCK.

>At none of the black ops facilities visited had there been sufficient time to decrypt the files
This raises a point, Valeri goes with us everywhere. To the point that we sometimes forgot about him even before we upgraded to holo camo. If he has footage of us visiting the research station and footage of himself accessing the vault then what about all the other times?

cont-

>>41049484
Fact: WE didn't decrypt the files. In order to prove this we can just stitch together all of the shipboard footage of ourselves, our eye implants, and both our and Valeri's helmet cams documenting all of the days where we had access to NAVTAC-1 where the files were supposedly hacked. Did we set foot on NAVTAC-1? If we did, is there any period of time when we were out of Valeri's or the station security system's sight? The footage from the station and our personal footage should prove that we didn't do it.

If there are gaps in the footage then it raises further questions. Who deleted the footage? To make a case against us the prosecution either needs complete footage of us committing the deed. Or partial proof that we deleted both our ships and NAVTAC-1's records of us spanning a time that we could have used to commit the deed.

>I told him that there must be a place, a hidden passage or other location where the Commander would keep such sensitive information if it existed.
Grill the shit out of Fox on this one. Who told him that we had something hidden in our quarters? What was the EXACT conversation he had with the "intel agent" real or fake? Did he just guess that we had a hidden safe in our room or did someone plant the idea in his mind? THIS IS IMPORTANT, no one outside of our inner circle is supposed to know that safe even exists. If Fox didn't make a wild ass guess then someone with prior knowledge put him on this path and set him up.

And more importantly, what did Fox stand to get out of this? Did he do this out of sheer patriotic duty? He must have realized that if that person lied to him, or we had never made a copy Valeri would find nothing and he would be in deep shit. Someone convinced him that the documents existed and that they were not just making a wild ass guess, the more prior knowledge that someone had the more this looks like a setup.

cont-

>>41049492
>The provided video log shows Mister Fusaro gaining access to the Knight Commander's vault
Starting with the obvious, what does the security footage show? Are there any gaps? Modifications? Do they show Valeri entering the room? Did Fox go with him?

We need to question Valeri. Did he know what was in the vault? How did he know the files were even digital? How did he read the files? Did he bring a PDA or something into our room knowing he would need one to read the files? Were the files already decrypted? Did he read all of the files to ensure that they were actually treasonous?

-

There are two possible scenarios here. Someone or something snuck onto our ship, into our private quarters, opened our secret vault and either decrypted the files within or (even more ridiculously) removed the files and decrypted them on NAVTAC1 and then put them back in the safe. All without leaving a trace.

I find this one very hard to believe given that anyone who could pull off a heist that good would have looted the vault, sold the contents to the highest bidder and drowned in cocaine and bitches for the rest of their veckron-protected immortality.

The other possibility is that the files were never decrypted until they left the vault and the timestamp is faked. Valeri is no intel expert, nor is Fox, neither of them would be able to tell who or what decrypted the files let alone at what time. Something that possesses the original encryption key could do the job instantly instead of crunching numbers on a supercomputer. So it could be that Valeri (or us for that matter) had a bug on him that decrypted the files as soon as he picked them up.

There should be one way to solve this quickly, or at least absolve us of guilt. Take the files from our safe, pack them up with all the other evidence we have and give them to the Alliance for analysis. Ask them to confirm that we never used their decryption computers and or who did. Normally the Alliance stays out of faction politics but in this case they would have to get involved because:

1. They have to have to figure out if we really did decrypt the files in order to decide what our punishment is for misusing alliance resources.
2. If it wasn't US, someone out there has an unauthorized hacking module with alliance codes or the capability to fake timestamps, either of which is no bueno.
3. This cloak and dagger shit went down almost right after we visited several ultra security research bases, that will get them worried if nothing else does.

>>41046247
>I look forward to the day we can throw another ball and invite Fox with a card that says "Lawyers advise me not to kill you, but said nothing about maiming. Come if you've got the jaw"
The social responsibilities of host and guest would make it incredibly improper for you to act so during one of your own events. That hasn't stopped people before.

>>41047905
>Maybe we could negotiate an exception to the house-arrest for missions for the Alliance. We still need to visit that Dyson sphere, for example, and we could convince the Earl how incredibly important that is. Maybe even brag that some of the other projects we did with the alliance are considered to be on the same level as Vecron Torpedo research and that we think this project is at least as important.
So 5 months house arrest followed by what is effectively 6 months exile is your counter offer?

>>41049007
>Do we know who's being considered as Baron for the other planets we didn't pick?
Daska is the next runner up. Alex is a few down the list along with the likes of Knight Captain Saputo, and others who serve with the other expeditionary fleets when your group is back home.

>Shallan colony infrastructure design
>Would it be possible to incorporate some of their policies on Rioja?
They always build within set radius of a contracted planetary shield if possible, then fortify the boundary. More cities are added across the planet and linked. It sounds more organised than it actually is and only works well on planned colonies. Hasty development on plenty of their worlds means it didn't always work out.

Dominion cities will set a maximum limit to their expansion so that they're not building over too much good farm land, then they'll add shields as necessary. Still, most dominion population centers will spread out along coastlines without careful attention to urban planning. This may sound a bit more chaotic than it actually is.

Got to go or I'll be late for my class. See you after 3PM

>>41050940
>So 5 months house arrest followed by what is effectively 6 months exile is your counter offer?
Something like that? Maybe "5 months house arrest → exile however long that stuff takes, promise to keep out of the house for that time → coming back and staying under house arrest until the 10 months or so are up"

Also a question: Someone claimed that accepting this offer would basically mean admitting we are guilty (>>41048396). I don’t think that’s even remotely true but I would like some Word of God if possible.

Bump.

>>41052092
It's an out of court settlement.

A fine and time with you kept away from the general populace is seen as the easiest way for the Earl to appease rival political factions within the House. Or that's what your lawyers tell you.

>Can we pay the fine with warbonds?
No. There is a reason the Earl specified it would come out of money you would get from leading the expeditionary forces.

>@Starshadow
The Alliance will send a forensics team to pick up evidence for analysis.

>We need to question Valeri. Did he know what was in the vault?
Of course Valeri knows what's in the vault, he was on the Vieona Mission.

What he doesn't know would be easy for him to piece together if he really wanted to. He knows you and the then Knight Commander Winifred met in secret on a planet in the Run where you gave her information, and that was only days after the incident aboard Wayward Treasure with the SP Torpedo manufacturing block.

See you in a few hours.

bump

>>41053457
>It's an out of court settlement.
I know, I was hoping for a clear confirmation on whether this would be considered a sign that we are guilty, like that other anon was hung up about.

Also: bump

Also also (because I forgot to vote on those things previously):
>>41043690
>[X] "We shouldn't restrict it just to them.


>>41044967
>[X] Lady Ainsley

Can we involve the FA in the trial?

I imagine all the Alliance Hacking Modules leave a fingerprint. This way people could track down any stolen modules, surely. Can't we just pay for an Alliance intrusion specialist to look over the data and confirm what was used to decrypt the data, and then back-track from that position.

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>>41056008
>I know, I was hoping for a clear confirmation on whether this would be considered a sign that we are guilty, like that other anon was hung up about.
In terms of guilt it would still remain unclear for the time being, but as far as most of the House is concerned the situation would be resolved.
Anyone read those bastardized Dune prequel novels? I don't recommend them. Reminds me a bit of that time the Harkonnen blow up a Tleilaxu ship making it look like Leto did it.

Survey results.

Accept the Earl's offer = 11
Fight the charges now that you know the evidence = 7
Things have remained consistent since the survey was put up, surprisingly.

Do you intend to leak information about your case to the media?
Combined Yes options = 4
No= 12

>>41050940
>The social responsibilities of host and guest would make it incredibly improper for you to act so during one of your own events. That hasn't stopped people before.
Btw if you're really determined accidents on the way to or from a ball could always happen.

>>41056558
>Btw if you're really determined accidents on the way to or from a ball could always happen.
I for one am firmly against acting violently against people who betray us out of loyalty. We should instead use this opportunity to improve their loyalty towards us by showing them they were wrong, which should place us far higher on their trust scale, which should make them feel indebted to us and which should make them far less likely for them to believe further accusations against us (even if they should be true).

>>41056901
I agree that we shouldn't do anything more than dismiss Valeri (but keep the camo & recon armor, as we own them). Don't blame him for what he did, ask him to sign a legally binding NDA to not talk about ops and secrets learned during his time with us, but he's broken a trust that really can't be repaired. Offer to write a recommendation for a transfer, thank him for saving our life from that assassin, and generally be obviously wounded by his actions. If he is still loyal, he may cause trouble on his own for the other party.

Now Fox... was never our man to begin with. We should take full aim at him, as he is the most likely person to have compromised one of our people to betray us. Hit him with anything we can, short of assassination (unless we absolutely must)

>>41057381
They both did nothing wrong if they didn't set us up with that data. It's for House and Dominion, not Sonia and Salvage.

I'm not exactly happy about it either but at least we know the two persons who were the weakest links around us, or the intelligence guys would have approached somebody else.

Also, what's it with these loyalty reports? Why hasn't Sonia seen them before, or at least heard of them?

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>>41056324
The Alliance are investigating on their end. It has been confirmed that a missing hacking module was used to decrypt the data. The hacking module is still missing.
Daska's opinion is that it has most likely been destroyed by now. A starship fusion drive would do the trick and a fleet like yours would have had plenty. It's why you've considered using the reactors on the Devourer to dispose of evidence several times before now.

>>41056008
>Lady Ainsley
Was that our first vote for her company? Still seems there is more support for her to provide consultants.

Everyone still seems fine with 5 million for infrastructure.


I had some other questions regarding city planning and the like but have realised there could be more basic things to work on. Your spaceport will help shape the city. Did you want it built closer to the river mouth so that incoming and outgoing ships are spending more time out over the water instead of the city?

Or do you want it on the opposite side of the city, out closer to the plains?

Another option, just smack dab in the center and use it to divide the residential sectors from the more industrial districts?