>>3294246

[X] Allow some line cutting for a price

Put some hard limits, similar to how Aries ACRS were purchased by J-D and then unavailable during the early warlords campaign.

And possibly limit precisely which Houses can line cut, in coordination with say the Ruling House or Helios? A sort of 'does this benefit the Dominion?' extra check.

>Ferrigold is offering double
Ferrigold both entertains and worries me, but that seems far too low of an offer for the risk.

>>3294246
I'd be in favor of auctioning one off occasionally, like the Republic does with plasma pistols. We should also ask Helios, it's partly their technology.

>>3294288
>We should also ask Helios, it's partly their technology.
It's your production license. As long as you dont start selling them directly to pirates, the Warlords or the Terrans they dont care.

>>3294285
>line cut, in coordination with say the Ruling House or Helios? A sort of 'does this benefit the Dominion?' extra check.
Interesting idea.
Any support for this?

>>3294246

For House and Dominion! Super sized warship war games!

>Siege Weapons

Can we shorten the time it takes by increasing the pay and hours of the workers who are willing to work the increased hours.
What is the upper most we can charge on these increased priority orders?
What would be a realistic cap for how many increased priority siege weapons we can have built along side our normal speed siege weapons. Without affecting the time scale of our normal siege weapon production.

>>3294325
>pay and hours of the workers

Unless we're only running a single shift, which doesn't make sense in a war-time situation, we'd likely have to cut into the production line's equipment maintenance time. Plus fatigue management issues like we recently saw with our ground troopers.

>>3294325
>Can we shorten the time it takes by increasing the pay and hours of the workers who are willing to work the increased hours.
It's not currently possible to increase production speed. Or not without breaking safety standards.

>What is the upper most we can charge on these increased priority orders?
As much as you can mange to wring out of them. Some will be willing to pay more than others. I doubt many will be willing to fork over 3 times the cost.

>>3294371
>[ ] Allow some line cutting for a price

Then as >>3294285 suggested, does it benefit the Dominion to let the House skip forward a little.

So some occasional/selective line cutting if they're willing to pay enough. Possibly auction one of them.

Go with this?

>>3294449
Sounds fine as long as we don't go overboarx with the special treatment.

>>3294449

If the seven and RH want to step in front of their allies that's up to them and it's their responsibility to explain it to them. But yeah sure limited/ selected line skipping allowed. So long as said line skipper takes it upon them to take the heat.

>>3294449
Yeah. Ferrigold is a house friend after all

You make arrangements with the administrator to reserve occasional upcoming weapons being produced for special sales. That should keep people from getting too mad when you allow line cutting.
The first one that hasn't already been prepurchased is publicly auctioned.

Even with all of the training and planning you're still making time for family. At worst it's one day a week if you're taking part in exercises too distant to make it back in a couple of hours. One outing is made to the resort to try out more surfing practice.

"You dont appear to be getting better." Troy carefully observes.
"The gravity was different on Tourta!" you complain.

In South Reach the teleport deep search and recovery project is making progress. Explosions are happening but less frequently. That's probably good. It's hard to tell sometimes. Fortunately when they do happen the collateral damage is minimal.

RSS is working on refitting an incomplete South Reach Fast Battleship to specifications provided by Uller. It's expensive specialised work requiring plenty of non-standard components. Some of the needed parts are being stripped from a Neeran Battleship RSS salvaged and hadn't completely scrapped yet. It should be ready by the first quarter of next year.

Kavarians recovered from an old Super Heavy have completed their debriefings and medical checks. The majority of them being clones will require some medical assistance. Cloning tech used by the Kavarian Union wasn't always top tier.
The majority are headed to the Kavarian Protectorate in Watcher space. Many who are not clones are making plans to visit the Imperium. Back pay is unlikely, though family connections may still exist.

A small number have submitted job applications to RSS. One is an officer who has requested permission from the Protectorate to act as a contact representative. They'll assist with negotiations with any other Union survivors found in faction wars wreckage.

>>3294246
>In the few images you've seen since he killed the assassin he doesn't seem very pleased with the situation. There is little reason to; based on previous conversations it looks like Falix may have had to kill his uncle.
>Part of you remains suspicious about the entire thing and of Caius's possible involvement.
I don't want a repeat of the Surakeh situation where he slips, proceeds to fall down the stairs and is unfortunate enough to land in front of a black ops hit squad. Can we get him a bodyguard or two?

>>3294246
FOR HOUSE AND DOMINION

>>3294602
>They'll assist with negotiations with any other Union survivors found in faction wars wreckage.
Neat.

>>3294602

>Kavarians

I am surprised any of them thought to sign up with RSS considering they were at war with the Dominion before they went under. But if they pass the screening and are willing to work with Dominion personnel than awesome welcome to the team.

And the one who wants to be the intermediary for any additional recovered Kavarians. That's also good new, make it that much easier to deal with such issues in the future. Pretty sure there is a "small" cities worth of Kavarian's floating around out there in stasis somewhere.

>>3294246
Can we tour the Anti-matter station? Is it worth visiting yet?

>>3294639
>>I am surprised any of them thought to sign up with RSS considering they were at war with the Dominion before they went under.
Weren't they at war with every other faction back then?

>>3294651
Speaking of tours, can we get one of the huge FA vessel while it is still in the Run?

>>3294658
>Weren't they at war with every other faction back then?
>>3294639
Technically the Dominion remained neutral during the second war, with some Houses going mercenary and actually assisting the Union. It wasn't until the Union began to collapse in the final weeks that the Dominion actively began to attack the Union and take battle sites to secure salvage.

>Pretty sure there is a "small" cities worth of Kavarian's floating around out there in stasis somewhere.
Undoubtedly.

>>3294604
>Can we get him a bodyguard or two?

You call up Felix on a secure channel and ask if he's alright. It's fairly obvious to you that things didn't go as he'd planned.

"No they didn't. Things were worse than I could have possibly imagined."

Oh.
"I dont know if you can tell me safely but was Caius involved?"

Felix laughs in response. "No, he didn't have a clue. I've got information on him now but if he ever planned to kill his father he abandoned it years ago.
Actually I have info on a lot of people now. I know certain things you've done. You or your bodyguard."

You frown. "I hope you're not trying to threaten me."
"Oh! Sorry, sorry, no I'm just letting you know. We may need to trade favours some day. Just let me know if you need help with any political opponents."

"Not right away." you reply. "I was more wondering if you needed any protection. I dont want you to suddenly fall down a flight of stairs because of you knowing things about the Count or others."

Felix shakes his head.
"I'm too high profile right now for anyone to try and kill. Especially after avenging the Count. I might still take you up on that eventually. For now I'm just coming to terms with changes."

You wish the Knight luck in figuring out their potential new career options.

>>3294749
Just saying, I'm still interested in a spin off dealing with the investigation.

File: Torrent_Rough2.gif (9 KB, 1290x310)

9 KB GIF

It's been a few months since EC personnel and ships were transferred to Shallan space to replace the reserves there. Now some of them are being rotated to the front lines. They'll soon find out how angry the other Barons are with them.

A film produced by your recently acquired terran movie company has released, largely to critical and viewer acclaim. It follows the crews of 3 corvettes in their valiant but futile struggle to stop the fall of Rioja's moon. Audiences liked the departure from usual fare provided by Halide or its Dominion competitors.

Not everyone is so positive. Despite using fleet sensor records from old House Posat archives there are claims of historical inaccuracies. Typical. Most negative reviews are from critics with a history of bashing Halide, which acted as the distributor.

>>3294651
Not really but I'll add it for later.
>>3294658
After the incident involving construction aboard the Alliance's Torrent class mobile base you decide that a tour in in order. When your ship arrives you can see that a few more Run Alliance patrol ships are keeping an eye on it than before. Not that they stand out much next to the enormous vessel.

The Alliance Foundry Ship on station is currently docked within one of the two super heavy refit bays on either side of the Torrent. Despite this there is more than enough room for mining barges to fly in and dock to offload materials.
Some of the barges and Dominion transports arriving from out system dock on the larger ship's now completed cargo handling facilities. Along with them are high density fuel tankers carrying hydrogen or helium 3 intended for the drives and reactors.

A quick orbit of the ship shows that all but a few parts of the exterior have been sealed. Those still open are where siege weapons might later be mounted. Most visible activity is concentrated around the docks and slipways.

When your LST docks a small honor guard of Alliance officers and soldiers have been assembled. A Rovinar lieutenant commander greets you and welcomes you aboard.
"The captain extends their welcome Viscount and regrets that they were unable to meet with your personally at this time. The project is still running behind schedule but our departure is still expected before the end of the year. I've been assigned to show you around."

>Questions or areas you want to see?

>>3294981
>Questions or areas you want to see?
Does the ship have AI support like Terran supers have? Did they invent some new super sized teleporter capsules to properly evacuate the insane number of crew this ship must have? Can we see the C&C deck?

>>3295049
>Does the ship have AI support like Terran supers have?
It was designed to take advantage of AI support, though it can operate fine without it. One wont be installed until they pass through Terran space. The admiralty wanted to be absolutely certain that it could carry out operations if the AI needed to be disabled for whatever reason.

Despite the AI capability it is not intended to act as an AI enhanced command ship. Though they do intend to equip it with more than enough siege weapons to defend itself, it's a logistics ship first.

>Did they invent some new super sized teleporter capsules to properly evacuate the insane number of crew this ship must have?
No, there are standard crew teleport capsules, just more of them. Newer systems that allow ship to ship and even inter-ship capability have been put in.

>Can we see the C&C deck?
That can be done, though you're informed that the command crew are extremely busy. You're asked not to interrupt them and to keep your party to a minimum.

Unsurprisingly the command center is buried deep in the heart of the ship. The main deck is divided into sections for different types of operations. Docking and flight control, production, defense, navigation. An additional command deck is situated above this area where the Admiral and a number of senior officers are located. Apparently the bridge layout was copied from Kavarian Dream then modified as needed.

There must be a few hundred people here many of them are working hard at terminals, assisting trainees or making adjustments.

>>3295107
Neat. Do they have a gift shop?

>>3295115
They do actually. Or shops in general in the various promenade zones. Fortunately it doesn't take long to locate one closer to traffic from the docks. Transport crews have occasionally been looking for similar mementos and a few of the merchants aboard have capitalised on this.

Green areas for crew relaxation also exist even if they're currently a bit lacking in the green department.

If there's nothing else?

surveymonkey com /r/ RFRGQX8
I'll be making posts about each of the survey questions and answering any questions people might have about them. This is the same one I put up the link to on monday. You can still find it on the wiki front page or on twitter.

>Rioja budget time!
The new Count wants to reduce the amount of money the House is spending on Rioja so that it can be redirected to development of other worlds. Preferably before they have to dump more Billions into Rioja's twin.

As the new year approaches so to does the need to determine how much of Rioja's assets can stand without the financial backing of the capital. Fleet maintenance alone costs more than 4 Billion S. Better than what you feared it might be but much worse than you had hoped. The rest isn't terribly surprising with the exception of the army.

"I had no idea." you tell Fadila causing the other woman to shrug.
"The problem of having a large standing army; the need to pay them."

You're beginning to see why mercenaries can be a preferable option of some.

"I've looked at 2 options for payment rates to the army. The basic payment rate is the Dominion average. It's not very good end encourages volunteers for more dangerous but better paying jobs. Marines and special forces for instance."
"And the higher option?" you ask.

"Army pay for more affluent Houses. Oh it's still not much but the rank and file will notice it."

"If they're being paid that well they wont have any excuses for slacking off." comments General Rna. "I suppose morale would be a bit higher too."

You'll have to consider it.

Rioja can pay 1.5 billion S yearly, anything more you'll have to pay yourself. Sonia has roughly 24 billion S of personal funds to work with at the start of 4043. That may not always be the case in the future when figuring out House budget cuts for Rioja.

What do you tell the Count you can handle at this time?

>>3295163

Question for you TSTG, aren't Foss and his Super deployed out in the field?

Also, what ships are we getting as part of our request to the R'H for assistance in tackling our area of deployment? While I've mostly made my choice I am left wondering if we should be getting more Supers or if we should stick with mass medium deployment and remain mobile.

>>3295163

Is that 24 billion 100% Sonia's, or is it including RSS profits we can direct to be invested?

>>3295163
>If there's nothing else?
I'm tempted to ask for a visit to their repair and fabrication sections but I'm not sure if Sonia would be willing to leave.

>Sonia has roughly 24 billion S of personal funds to work with at the start of 4043
What I'd like to know is how much of that is from Rioja and other income associated with Sonia's position, and how much of it is from her private enterprises.

>>3295174
>Question for you TSTG, aren't Foss and his Super deployed out in the field?
At present yes, though most of the mercs are operating on shorter contracts allowing them time to rebuild between invasion waves.

>Also, what ships are we getting as part of our request to the R'H for assistance in tackling our area of deployment?
I believe the majority wanted a Sovereign class Fast Super. That way it could be paired with Forbearance.

>>3295187
>>3295183
That is Sonia's income from all sources including RSS.

~9 billion of that is from RSS
10 billion from industry investments, mostly gravity well & weather terraforming
3.3b from shipyards
~500m from loan repayments and a few other odds and ends
Anything missing would be from interest earned

>>3295192
>That is Sonia's income from all sources including RSS.
Aren't we supposed to get taxes from the planet?

>>3295200
>Aren't we supposed to get taxes from the planet?
Yes. You have 1.5 billion in tax money to work with.

See:
>>3295163
>Rioja can pay 1.5 billion S yearly, anything more you'll have to pay yourself.

>>3295192

Cool then I'm fine with my own vote on things.

>>3295204
Ah, okay. I thought that were separate funds.

>>3295192
>~9 billion of that is from RSS

Damn, are we still only taking that 10-15% of RSS profits and making ~9 billion? Viscount of fucking Industry, ho!

And to confirm, the 1.5 billion from Rioja is after cutting back the growth-related spending mentioned a few threads back?

>>3295208
>And to confirm, the 1.5 billion from Rioja is after cutting back the growth-related spending mentioned a few threads back?
No.

The House central government is currently funding an Economy boost of 539m annually for Rioja. That has not been removed yet because the Count is still waiting to hear from you first. Because of this bonuses are still in place so you've got 1.5 billion in surplus tax money.

You can choose to put your tax money into that and take over funding that boost yourself if you want. Your surplus was previously being used to fund certain upgrades and day to day needs of the military so that the players were not bothered with ten thousand questions about minor spending.

All of the following are currently being paid by the House Jerik-Dremine central government and these are how much it would cost you to take over funding them.

Rioja Main Fleet = 4,365 million
Sector Station maint = 669 m (This is low because the stations are making money.)
Rioja Economy boost = 539m
Knight's stipend =19.7m
Rioja Ship Crews=1.1 billion
Army = 3 billion (Basic)
Army = 6 billion (Improved morale)

>>3295163
also, on the survey the first option for this says
"4,365 million"

Is that supposed to be 4+ Billion?

If so, is there possibly a split option for that where Sonia takes over costs for her personally owned warships? (iirc, we've got that mixed BS/BCRS squadron and have personally bought a squadron or two of other ships?)

Or some other fleet maintenance split option. I could probably think of a few.

And if we use RSS-sourced profits, can we legally wrangle them into a tax break for the Company beyond just Sonia writing off these expenses personally?

I'm personally thinking that a focus on paying the Fleet & Army (basic) wages might be our best option, with Rioja's funds covering the Stations & Knight stipend before dropping the remainder into the Army's wages.

This hopefully secures loyalty of the Riojan armed forces, as they're now on local payroll rather than Homeworlds.

Hopefully the Count sees the wisdom of continued fleet support, and the Economic boost.

Sonia can then optionally spend the extra 3 Billion on the army as a 'bonus' for their loyalty/conduct during the crisis, gaining some morale benefits while not setting a precedent of that increased amount being their standard wage.

And Economic boosts can be revisited by Sonia if the Count withdraws them, or she has extra credits after preparing her fleet for the coming deployment.

>>3295246
So the House is currently paying the army the premium salary option which is 9 billion total?

>>3295264
>also, on the survey the first option for this says
>"4,365 million"
>Is that supposed to be 4+ Billion?
Yes 4,365 million or 4.365 billion.
I went with the million because there would have been a lot of numbers after the decimal point with billion.

>>3295269
They're paying them just barely above basic at present.
I considered having Fadila say as much bust suspected the extra information being thrown around would cause further confusion. And I really REALLY didn't want a debate about paying the slightly above basic when the survey was already up and cant be changed.

>>3295279
If possible, I'd go with paying them basic while at home and premium when on deployment.

>>3295246
Okay, so in total that's either:
9692.7 m with basic army pay
12692.7 m with premium pay

That's pretty cheap for a decade old newly colonized world, isn't it?

>>3295284
If they're shot at they get combat pay.

>>3295313
>That's pretty cheap for a decade old newly colonized world, isn't it?
Given its current level of development? I thought it was quite a bit, especially in light of the tax surplus only being about to pay 1/6th of it.

>2) Mercs
Augmenting your fleet with mercenaries seems like a cheap and effective manner to ensure you dont lack in firepower. Forbearance and that Sovereign class are fast enough that you should be able to stay ahead of most enemy fleets large enough to pose a threat. As long as you want it to stay that way it will mean taking only the faster merc units.

All of the Supers fielded by the SRL are too slow to keep pace with you. They could be used as a reserve or fallback point you suppose. It would be expensive though.

The PCCG does have their own fast Supers which aren't quite as expensive to field. They also have a newer Heavy Escort, the Moradin Class.

You could request additional ships from the Alliance for the campaign, though that will mean giving them a bigger cut of whatever you find. You're already going to owe them a chunk of salvage rights to pay for their SP Torpedoes you'll be armed with. Then there's whatever sphere tech you find to consider.

Any questions about the mercenaries available?

>>3295344
Are the PCCG super and heavy fast enough to keep up with the dominion supers? Do we have anything that can repair our medium cruisers in the field? Or do any of the mercs have a ship that can?

>I thought it was quite a bit, especially in light of the tax surplus only being about to pay 1/6th of it.
We're still at not quite total war and Rioja isn't a fully developed world. I'd consider it pretty good for the circumstances.

>>3295344

These are merc choices for our attempt to secure diamond tech from the Neeran, correct?

Are there any besides the Dominion Knights that would be considered more likely to maintain OPSEC?

Or any that would be more viable to utilize as detached 'distraction' forces due to either superior/experienced leadership or raider training/experience to avoid pursuit?

>>3295385
>These are merc choices for our attempt to secure diamond tech from the Neeran, correct?
Nope!

You're headed to a Sphere builder facility. Other conspirators will be going after the SP weapon tech.

>>3295392
Terran spies can't know what Sonia is going to do if Sonia doesn't either!

Neat. I think my 2nd question on detachment suitability stands, and are there any combinations that would have positive/negative interactions if hired together?

Like say Mezan & other shallans, Berwari & Foss, Berwari & PCCG

>>3295367
>Are the PCCG super and heavy fast enough to keep up with the dominion supers?
Yes. (Though the heavy will need some slight adjustment.)

>Do we have anything that can repair our medium cruisers in the field?
The smaller repair ships and even repair scarabs are getting better at field repairs. Forbearance can help with repairs to some Mediums. For instance it should be possible to dock one of the Eclipse mediums on the spine of the ship, though this would block some coverage of the big guns.

Rioja's fleet still has a Kilo. It would be ideal. RSS could help with some minor modifications to make it a better repair platform for medium cruisers.

Really the best choices for medium cruiser repair would be the Cage class or Talos E. Your House now has a Talos E iirc or it will soon. I doubt House leadership would want to risk it and Forbearance in the same OP though.

>Or do any of the mercs have a ship that can?
The Supers should be able to do some medium cruiser repair.
The SRL guys could tack an additional Kilo onto the fast groups to help with salvage and repair.

>>3295417
>are there any combinations that would have positive/negative interactions if hired together?
There is certainly some animosity between Berwari and Foss, especially given the fact that Berwari captured a super from House Bonrah that Foss had previously lost to them.

The Krath mercs might not get on so well with either of your own Krath agents. Especially Jan /Eldal. As long as they didn't have to work together it should be fine.

In theory the Shallans should all get along well enough as they share similar long term goals. They wouldn't be terribly happy taking orders from SRL mercs though.

Everyone is professional enough that most other interactions should be fine.

>>3295450
>Everyone is professional enough that most other interactions should be fine.

And thus began iteration 50 of Reynard's Boxing Ring Dispute Settlement System and Moon Base.

>3) Older Assault Corvettes
These would be expensive to upgrade. Selling or placing them in Reserve seem to be the top two votes.
Worth considering is hiring those PCCG ace pilots and putting them in these corvettes if they're placed in reserve. Just an idea.

>4) Fire Drake
The expensive bastards.
Top votes are either 2 Squadrons (24) or a full sized Wing (72).

>5) Old Knights
A number of older Knights nearing retirement have requested transfer to your fleet during the upcoming deployment.
While everyone is willing to accept there is a tie over asking them to look after some of their own logistics.

Questions about any of these?

>>3295554

By placing them in reserve we save money on their up keep? And we can take them with us to replace any losses our corvette pilots suffer in the field? Or sell them to people who need the extra corvettes or even to locals who are on our side?

As for the fire drakes... I'm not gonna be happy with them at their current price. So either they prove themselves as a full wing and show their worth. Or they prove that spending a shit ton of money on expensive things is not always the best idea.

And the old knights. When you say looking after their own logistics. Do you mean they have to provide their own logistics capabilities? Or that they are to be kept in a logistics role and not risked being shot at?

>>3295554
Will any of these knights cause problems for the house or Sonia if they die instead of continuing to do their job until retirement?

>>3295554
>older knights

They're all willing to sign 'non-sabotage/assassinate/frame for treason' agreements, I hope? And none of them are associated with groups that have tried to sabotage/assassinate/frame for treason us before?

Or have relatives that served Governor Rna on Surekah?

>Fire Drake results so far
These things are barely out of prototype stages, cost 20 million a pop, are potentially hangar queens and people want to buy squadrons of them? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx5qtnQuFmE

>>3295586
>By placing them in reserve we save money on their up keep?
Yes.

>we can take them with us to replace any losses our corvette pilots suffer in the field? Or sell them to people who need the extra corvettes or even to locals who are on our side?
That can be done, or you could sell them now to other Houses running a bit low on corvettes.

>When you say looking after their own logistics.
Paying part of the costs for another transport full of stuff basically.

>>3295588
No more than any other Knight under Sonia's command that gets killed doing their job. Of course if you're getting modern battleships blown up you probably have larger immediate problems.

>>3295611
>sign agreements
You could demand they formally swear fealty while under your command. Your House hasn't traditionally done this with the need to frequently transfer Knights and crews between regions. Given the fallout of the uprising odds are good they'd agree to this.

>And none of them are associated with groups that have tried to sabotage/assassinate/frame for treason us before?
Most are old guard and a few are related to such families by marriage. None directly served Governor Rna.

>6) Future Nocturn
Last from the survey.

Nocturn 3rd generation development, or current gen upgrade. There are positives and negatives to both. You could throw a billion at either program to get them rolling. That should attract other investors in the House.

RSS has been looking at a cheap alternative to both systems for use in the short term. A Hybrid HAG/LST with improved stealth features. It would mount only 2 big guns firing stealth projectiles. It would also be equipped with the usual drop chutes along with stealth drop pod launchers on its spine. This would let it use the guns or drop pods while still docked to the Nocturn, safely concealed within its cloak.

-3rd Gen is the most expensive and the longest to develop.
-Current gen upgrades will still be expensive and could take a year.
-Stealth Hybrid HAG could theoretically be ready before 2nd quarter 4043, though only in very small numbers.

At the moment we're looking at a 3 way split.
I've also rather belatedly added a "none" option.

>>3295806
I'll be honest, I was going to vote for option 2 but option 3 just sounds hilarious and I want to Crazy Has'Anne sell one.

Gotta be up early to take my car to the shop. Resuming when I get back.

Way I have been voting is to spend Rioja tax money on Stations, Boost, Crews and Stipendium and then even out the differences. Then ofcourse we add our own stimulation pack to that.

For Mercs we should ONLY get independant Mercenaries and under absolutely no circumstances get other factions with us. Since as explained before getting others in on this means they get part of the claim to the tech we find and salvage from the site. Something we especially want to avoid with the Terrans and the Alliance most of all. Like Mezan and Krath mercs should be enough for us.

As for the Fire Drakes. A one wing investment of 1.44 Billion S isn't THAT bad considering the fire power. Then we get a full wing of elite among elite pilots to which test out the new ships. And since we got plenty of money to spend, even if we paid for literally everything on Rioja it aint that bad. More so since we are running out of other cool shit to buy.

Then ofcourse in true Sonia fashion I voted for all three Nocturne options. I want all of them.

>>3296717
>As for the Fire Drakes. A one wing investment of 1.44 Billion S isn't THAT bad considering the fire power.

I mean, we could effectively hire enough mercs to add another Knight Commander worth of forces to our fleet with that amount of S, rather than a wing of first-generation ships.

>>3294981
A bit late but the engine areas would have to be pretty impressive? Are they using cooling lasers to keep thing smaller and more efficient?

Regarding fire drake deployment, I was worried deploying them in their own separate squadron/wing would cause the enemy to focus on taking them down. It would probably work at first until they realised either the price/power of them, so maybe it's worth mixing them into regular ACRV squadrons? A ship for each squadron spread over a wing might be pretty effective and up their firepower.

>>3296988
>we could effectively hire enough mercs to add another Knight Commander worth of forces to our fleet with that amount of S
True.

>>3297001
More efficient yes, not really any smaller. Even with the best improvements a ship that size tends to use a lot of fuel.

That's part of the reason why the class was built with an experimental gravity drive. They're mounted in the cones at the front and back. They're similar to the grav focusing systems but not powerful enough to act as a true gravity well generator.

>>3297126
The survey is only asking how many you're acquiring, not how you intend to distribute them.

>>3297197
Is that ship class small enough to use the Neeran wormhole gate stations?

>>3297204
Theoretically yes but nobody is going to chance it.

File: 341710c60b6db4677af696029(...).jpg (160 KB, 514x1024)

160 KB JPG

>>3297206
Sounds pretty sensible.

>>3295554
>A number of older Knights nearing retirement have requested transfer to your fleet during the upcoming deployment
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bYmjJK00XA
Can we get our existing Knights refurbished instead of retiring them? With J-D's rise in the ranks over the past two decades, the relatively good relations with all factions, especially the Terrans and the Republic, the addition of House Aries to the Dominion, and the liberation of the Nai homeworld, this would be the perfect time to go shopping around for more advanced medical tech. With the recent fuck up of parrt of the youngest generation of knights, we should even be able to convince others to spend money on this. It would also very likely help the average citizen, eventually.

>>3297216
>Can we get our existing Knights refurbished instead of retiring them?
I'm sure some of them would actually like to retire but the offer can be made.


A few weeks later the Torrent mobile shipyard is at last departing the Run. Advance warning from the Ruling House informs you that an escort will be entering the Run to ensure the Alliance force leaves on the Dominion's timetable.
Any concerns the Alliance might have had about the lack of escort are quickly shelved. An Archaster class heavy with Ber'helum markings along with mediums from each member of the Seven jump in. While easily dwarfed by the enormous vessel they're a powerful force. Especially with the Torrent still lacking siege weapons.

As you find out the entire force is permanently assigned to its defense, whether the alliance wants them or not. Apparently your concerns regarding the Alliance were taken seriously by those up top. The Dominion invested a great deal of resources into Alliance projects like the Torrent. The Ruling House and the Seven are not about to let the Alliance exploit the safety of Dominion space while undermining local manufacturers.

For their part the Alliance halted production before reaching the number of ships they had estimated would be needed. Apparently the system checks proved easier than anticipated. The Foundry Ship has also completed its field mining and training mission. They're redeploying to the front to assist with logistics support for the big fleets.

Sitting down with your advisors and a few of the regional ambassadors you have to ask the question;
"Does anyone else feel that allowing the Alliance to build ships like the Torrent was a terrible idea?"

The Ruling House Ambassador attempts to reassure you that plans are being made by the Factions. There is talk of mothballing many of the ACS series at jointly controlled facilities after the war.

"If the war ends." you mutter. "They could recover and push us back."

>Do you have anything to suggest about a partial Alliance disarmament post war?

>>3297234

If the Alliance is to be partially disbanded after the war. Then those Torrents would be better used as stations either somewhere in the space between Galaxies so we have a way into Neeran space without going through Shallan Space in case that place turns out to be the next faction to experience another civil war and either side threatens shipping to colonies that cannot be reached without passing through their space. Also I am pretty sure that the factions are going to be arguing over who gets how many of those supers that were made. And what to do with all the old supers that are ancient but still in use. I say we use those old supers as additional defense platforms for the capital of the Dominion. Make another giant ring around the world with them

What is going to happen to the Dominion personnel who signed up with the Alliance or were banished from the Dominion or were forced to join the Alliance due to political reasons? Are people who willingly signed up with the Alliance and return going to be recognized with knight ranks or be awarded similar officer ranks? Are those who were banished or forced out going to be welcomed back or will they be made to continue wandering? Or could we use those people to look after Dominion interests across the stars? Keeping them far from the Houses they wronged but still be of use to the Dominon?

>>3297234
>Do you have anything to suggest about a partial Alliance disarmament post war?
Refit the more easily built ships for civilian use. Transports, mining or construction vessels, that kind of stuff. No matter how this war ends, at least the vassal states of the Empire will need reconstruction. And the Shallans and Terrans do as well. The medium escort and the escort carrier series are probably good ships for that treatment.
Can the materials for SP torps be recycled? I'd rather have only the raw materials lying around in a depot somewhere than the actual torpedoes, considering how many ships come with launchers.

>There is talk of mothballing many of the ACS series at jointly controlled facilities after the war.
Park them in the sphere.
No matter what the Factions agree on, I would insist on storing the siege weapons and ships at separate locations for something like 90% of the vessels. A super without the long range firepower is still scary but manageable in many situations.
>jointly controlled facilities after the war
If the ships are spread equally between different storage locations, I'd only have 6 out of the 7 factions know about each individual location. That way even if something devastating like an AI rebellion happens in Terran space happens, there'd be some ships to fall back on for the remaining factions. Basically, very light compartmentalization.

>I'm sure some of them would actually like to retire but the offer can be made.
That's fair. I feel we should generally make it an option for knights. Either to extend their ability to serve or simply out of gratitude for their deeds.

>>3297264
>Make another giant ring around the world with them
Well if you get hold of 8100 supers you could make a geostationary ring with them.

>Dominion personnel who signed up with the Alliance
There's bound to still be demand for personnel in the Alliance, especially as many leave or retire. The option to stay on will still be there for many.

>recognized with knight ranks or be awarded similar officer ranks?
Officer ranks are highly probable as their training programs were top notch.
Some Dominion officers who joined the Alliance have been Knighted by their home Houses in recognition of their achievements. Also in the hopes that they come back and help their House after the Neeran war is over.

It's less likely that they'd be Knighted after the fact, but who knows Houses may try to attract good commanders and officers.

>Are those who were banished or forced out going to be welcomed back
Unlikely. If they were exiled it was for a reason and that doesn't change overnight. The Knights of the Dominion will probably be interested in recruiting many trying to return.

>>3297272
>Can the materials for SP torps be recycled?
Not really. The casings can be broken down but there's not much else they could be used for. The Terrans will probably just cut production rates to minimum and rely on stockpiles that have already been built.

>No matter what the Factions agree on, I would insist on storing the siege weapons and ships at separate locations for something like 90% of the vessels.
>very light compartmentalization
These are good ideas.

>>3297331
>Ring of supers
We could repurpose super heavy cruisers as stations, like people did with Forbearance. Move them into positions where large stations are required, like navigator guild jump locations between galaxies or deep space beacons, then remove the engine section and most of the heavy weapons.

Dominion intel update: Several of the Torrents that have been built are making stops in Shallan space on the way to the front. They're assisting with final evacuations of personnel and equipment from systems soon to be cut of by veckron weapon damage caused at the start of the war. Subspace there is becoming unstable despite the guild trying to keep traffic in those areas to a minimum.

The Guild will soon begin sector quarantines of the affected areas. Any unauthorized entry will result in hash fines and legal action.

Troy has acquired a new holographic recording system that can be used to send recorded messages to the kids while you're on deployment.
"They're not going to forget what either of us looks or sounds like while away, and the file size is compressed enough that it shouldn't impact coms bandwidth."

That brings you to a question you've been putting off though it has been present for awhile. Are both you and Troy going?

And then there's the question of where the kids will be staying. You already have staff and tutors lined up for them on Rioja for several years. Then again it might be better if they were with family.

1A) Both going
1B) Force Troy to stay

2) Where are the kids staying?
2A) On Rioja
2B) Sonia's mom on Dreminth
2C) Troy's parents on Loran
2D) On Rioja if Troy stays

>>3297361
>1)
Ask Troy if he'd be willing to stay. Forcing him to remain behind won't result in anything but headach in the future. Asking won't hurt, though.

>2)
What about Winifred? She's hopefully far enough away from both Rioja and Dreminth to keep the children safe from the usual idiocy. Bekka would also be roped in to help.

>>3297361

Discuss with Troy if he wants to stay with the kids or come with us. While it would be ideal if he stayed, if he wants to come with I am fine with that. Just means we'll need to step up security to protect the kids and ensure their playmate parents are somehow planning to kidnap and ransom our kids or kill them while we're away. Woe to the fool who thinks to harm a hair on their head for political gain for themselves. For they will find naught but death.

>2) A/ D

"Troy I've been avoiding asking this but would you be willing to consider staying on Rioja during the deployment?"

Troy sighs.
"I've been working hard to build up the jet bike units into a respected fighting force. It's true we can't take the bigger targets head on or hold ground, but there's a niche there for them to fill. I owe it to my people to go along. And I owe it to you to make sure someone who's been to the sphere is there to help when things go to hell. How much of that mission went according to plan?"

>>3297361
>1
Ask him to stay. Both of us leaving will confuse and upset them even more than if just Sonia does. And it also risks them being orphaned by one single battle or fight.

>2
A. Rioja is their home, our stronghold and one of the safest worlds in the entire House.

>>3297234
>Do you have anything to suggest about a partial Alliance disarmament post war?

This has a bit deeper meaning depending on how we approach things in the years to come. We all know there is a VERY high chance the Dominion will be at war with the Terrans following the Neeran war. The question put before us here is, do we want to neuter the FA as a organization capable of interfering to much in what is about to go down? Or do we instead want them around to act as the guy with the big stick telling the two unruly children to stop fighting, or else? Personally I want the war with the Terrans as a final fuck you to them and to help establish the Dominion as the leading force among the Faction. Also if it was all peace from here on out it would be kind of boring.

Regardless, as anon suggested disarming the majority of all FA Supers and storting their weapons elsewhere is a good idea. Some of the Supers can maybe even be converted into something more civilian. But a large stockpile of maintained Super hulls would help for any eventual invasion from another outsider power that strikes the Factions.

I also feel that the FA standing fleet should be scaled back a lot as well. Their standing peacekeeping fleet should not be stronger than any one Faction. So if the FA where to turn on a single faction with their full might they would not be able to overrun them.

A lot of those hulls can probably be turned into something else while a lot more can be stored for a rainy day like the Supers. Even if that holds it's own risks.

If anything I would like the FA to be turned into a more humanitarian organization post war. It would still have it's peacekeeping branch in the fleet but also doctors and the like. Going to be needing a lot of that in the Empire after we're done with it.

Also this is just something I am randomly throwing out there. FA Explorers League? Was going to reserve that for Sonias retirement plan once she get a personal cloning device so she can endlessy explore the universe with her personal fleet and industrial might.

>>3297379
>How much of that mission went according to plan?"
"Well we got there on a ship and didn't crash into it."

>>3297361

>1A) Both going

We're both commanders in J-D and the Dominion. Asking Troy to sit it out is a disservice to his unit.

>2)
Consult Troy

That is a serious talk, considering we could both end up, you know, dead.

Does Troy have a preference, considering the recent coup?

Do our kids have god parents?

Will we be leaving say, Rufario behind to watch over the kids?

>>3297379

"Aside from being in a time vault for several years and having to repel an Empire Neeran strike team in the control center. Most of it went as planned. Of course, we've had years of intel, old intel, on the Sphere. This place is new and dangerous. And if the sphere builders had made the Sphere to be one giant stasis container to last beyond the heat death of the universe. I am certain there will be time fuckery of some kind going on here as well.”

But in all seriousness, if he wants to go then we need to determine what will happen to the kids if we do not return with the fleet. Do they stay on Rioja raised by caretakers. I want them to remain on Rioja, but now I’m thinking of if more time fuckery happens and we get lost for another several years. Do they go to his family or ours while waiting for our return?

>>3297412
>Does Troy have a preference, considering the recent coup?
"I don't want them in the homeworlds, especially not Loran. My parents would try to protect them but there are too many dangers there. Too many people who would want them out of the way. I think your mom would be a safer option but do you really consider Dreminth safe?"
Those are some good points.

>Will we be leaving say, Rufario behind to watch over the kids?
Yes. Rufaro is not interested in any of the crazy missions and sphere tech stuff any more. Normally she'd be helping to manage your personal guard aboard the Outer Heaven, but staying on Rioja can work too.

>Do our kids have god parents?
Not really? Though I think Rufaro or Verilis would be a good candidate.

>>3297442

Drake/ Daska for god parent?

>>3297361
>1A) Both going
>2A) On Rioja

>>3297448
Objections?

>>3297462
I have no idea what would be appropriate. Wouldn't Daska be likely to outlive them? I'm not sure if that's useful or horrible.

>>3297448
Would prefer Rufario, Alex or Mike desu

>>3297361
>1A) Both going
He wants to go, and it does a disservice to him and his unit to not allow him.

Make sure he updates his local memory backup before leaving though.

>2A) On Rioja
This is their home and they will rule it someday

It is also a hell of a lot safer than the homeworlds.

Task Rufario and our spymaster with their safety. Also maybe leave behind 15% of our personal guard.

>>3297448
>>3297462
Drake is a solid choice.

What about Lorraine Day? Already a mother, dynamite with a plasma beam, and a solid loyalist for J-D.

Or Pozzi? Nat 100 survivor from the Lat'tham coup, and a solid knight with some loyalty to Sonia, iirc?

>>3297442
>Rufaro

Also a good candidate, really. Especially if she is going to act as their guardian while Sonia deploys

I wonder if Bekka will be insulted or relieved at the prospect of not being the godmother to Sonia's kids

On the phone with WSIB. Expect delays.

>>3297361
1A
Troy really wants to go and we should not stop him. It would only harm our relationship to prevent him from going.
2A
Rioja is home, Rioja is safe. If anyone tries to touch them we're going back with a fleet to wipe their puny planets from orbit.

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You'll both be going. Contingency plans are made and memory backup up for clones quietly done. More for you than him. Troy doesn't exactly have info on beyond secret weapons programs bouncing around the inside of his skull.

Rufaro will remain on Rioja with the kids, acting as their god parent. You send a message asking Drake about taking on a similar responsibility. If she declines there are still some other options. Alex or Lorraine for instance.


It's the new year and word reaches you that rebellions in Neeran space are proving effective. Details are scarce and predictably the civilians want more information from media outlets. From what little you get from intelligence reports it sounds like the Empire is pulling back to more defensible positions.

The J-D fleets and armies are serving with distinction by all reports. Casualties are believed to be up to 10% among the ground forces. 2 million confirmed dead, many more wounded or awaiting confirmation of status.

Logistics are back to normal levels with most civilian trade being back to where it was before the offensive. That doesn't mean there isn't plenty of demand for cargo shipping to Shallan space or the occupied regions.
RLS is back to full cargo capacity which is good for the company. It's taking less of a hit to its logistics finances now. RSS continues to clear out sites despite competition from the SRL who are trying to go after others in the area.
Linda seems to be enjoying her job as chief navigator of the Crate and has been working with the engineers to optimise the ship's FTL.

Was there anything you wanted to take care of before the upcoming deployment?

>>3297234
Turn the Torrent classes into mobile terraforming platforms? Send them out into the galaxy to chart space, so that a situation like the Neeran war can never happen again by building up a buffer zone?

>>3297702
>Was there anything you wanted to take care of before the upcoming deployment?
Will the other barons be back before Sonia leaves?

>>3297702
>Was there anything you wanted to take care of before the upcoming deployment?
Quick check up on the Veritas bribe/superweapon funding?

>>3297702

If we have funds remaining, I'd like to at least get the ball rolling on that 'invest profits into retraining' stuff talked about during the ball in regards to lvl 4 yards.

That, or get something like an RSS apprenticeship program set up to help support that lower class schooling initiative, and possibly then populate a new or expanded shipyard?

And oddly enough, I kind of want to see if we could give some of the non-salvage RSS employees a bonus. It should give us breathing room vs Union formation while we're gone, and hopefully double as a local stimulus as our workers put more money back into the local economy of their workplace?

>>3297742
Some of them should be but not all because of the way the fleet rotation needs to be staged.

>>3297745
The bribe was fine. The superweapon's development not so much.
House Veritas and Helios are doing work on it and contributing their technical specialty, but the entire project is woefully underfunded. Mostly because it's felt the other factions would find it threatening and they want to keep it quiet.

A scaled down prototype has been built and is undergoing testing. It has shown that the concept is sound, just difficult to implement.

>>3297788
RSS bonus will be added barring objections.

>>3297788
And I'm suggesting these things specifically because I have this nagging feeling we're going to see another gravity well time skip, and they're mostly longer term deals.

Proactive, not reactive.

>>3297702
Was the advanced dro'all medical facility able to help the former knight we met during the quagmire on the homeworlds?

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>>3297835
Retired Knight Devante Cu'paher was eventually able to get things back under control using his own medical systems at home. Enough so to travel and visit the "spa" and treatment center you set up. He's far too old for even those medical systems to have any permanent effects but it has probably added another 2-3 years to his life expectancy.

>>3297702
Have our investigators managed to find a cure or treatment for the disease Sonia's mother has?

>>3297873
Well, it's not perfect but still an improvement, I'm glad that investment is helping people. We should allow him to schedule yearly visit if refreshing the treatments will help.

Would it be possible to implant a micro tracking chip on the kids that would warn us if they leave Rioja?

>>3297882
Yes, quite easily. It's just a matter of making sure your enemies cant use them to track the kids.

>>3297874
It's usually picked up before birth when it's still possible to cure. The Terrans have a number of complicated treatments and procedures that could mostly correct the problem in an adult. One uses cybernetic augmentation that has to remain in place. The other should allow a person to live normally afterwards but there is a chance it may cause changes to their personality and other things.

After hearing about this Jan mentions that Krath bio sciences should be able to cure the condition, though he's not a doctor. They dont share a lot of that with anyone but the Rovinar and even then it's limited.

"Sounds like it could be worth a favour." you comment.
"It certainly would be."

>>3297917
>They don't share a lot of that with anyone[...]
Why?
We could also check with the Nai, they seem to be more willing to work for money.

Rioja and Sonia will be taking on the following from the budget

Sector Station maint = 669 m
Rioja Economy boost = 539m
Knight's stipend =19.7m
Rioja Ship Crews=1.1 billion

Fleet and army maintenance remains the purview of the House at this time. Though any additional equipment and last minute upgrades will have to be paid out of your pocket.

For additional support you've approached the Knights of the Dominion. Your mission is of importance just just to the war effort but to the Dominion as a whole. They're glad to be of assistance, especially with you paying their deployment costs and repairs.

Admiral Mezan is a must. You trust her and the addition of another Eclipse to your fleet is a welcome one.
Krath mercenaries from South Reach have also been picked up. They have a reputation for versatility though their commander warns they'll avoid a straight up fight, preferring surprise attacks. Some of their ships and equipment have been stolen from the Krath or Rovinar governments over the years.

Older model assault corvettes are being sold to help pay for the latest replacements. A little bit of money has been lost in this but not much.

72x Fire Drake Assault Corvettes have been purchased even though production and delivery dates are looking a bit sketchy.

And it looks like you're tossing money at the various Nocturn upgrades and alternatives. A lot of money.
After that plus your usual annual expenditures you're left with 8,029.7 million (or 8 billion.)

Given the expansion RSS has seen over the years it wouldn't be hard to spend a billion on the bonus for employees.
1) Objections to the RSS bonus?
>Y/N?

2) Was there anything else you wanted to get? More mercenary support? Or would you rather hold off on spending in case you need money for a lat minute item?

>>3297943
>1
No objections.

>2
I think the discussion about the heavy carrier we bought never really went anywhere. It's not exactly useful for Sonia's fleet, and if the ship is more or less permanently deployed elsewhere, wouldn't selling it to the house make more sense?

>>3297943

1) RSS Bonus
Have to vote to support my own suggestion.

2) Anything else

Were we at least close to getting those PCCG aces with no ships? If we're going to end up reserving the fire drakes due to limited parts/numbers in the field, we'll need to offset our ace pilot losses to that massive number of Fire Drakes.

>>3297943

>1 no objections
>2 nothing else springs to mind

>>3297966
>BCW
>It's not exactly useful for Sonia's fleet
192 small berths and Rioja's mixed wings might have about 150 attack corvettes. I suppose some of the berths could be modified for Frigates. I think someone mentioned doing that. Take 48 corvette berths and modify them into 24 Frigate berths.

But yeah you could sell or trade it to the House for another ship.

>>3297967
>Were we at least close to getting those PCCG aces with no ships?
They'd be the next highest voted to get in. Even so there wasn't a lot of support for them. Just slightly above 1/4 of the players voted for it.

>>3297998
>just above 1/4 voted for them

that is disappointing. I just really hope we're not going to go into this under-strength because we're getting greedy over sphere tech. Svidur put too much trust in Sonia for that to be acceptable, imo.

>>3297998
>Just slightly above 1/4 of the players voted for it.
They cost significantly less than 1/4th of the next most expensive option that got in, though.

>I suppose some of the berths could be modified for Frigates.
Give me a sec to edit the picture from the wiki.

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>>3298032
>Give me a sec to edit the picture from the wiki.
Would it be possible to modify the central berths into fewer large ones to handle attack cruisers?

>>3298032
>They cost significantly less than 1/4th of the next most expensive option that got in, though.
True.

>>3298048
At that point you might as well just get a different ship. Besides the docks along the spine of the BCW can handle attack cruisers, hell even a couple battleships.
Forbearance also has repair capacity.

Currently available J-D heavy carriers.
BCW
2x Qlippoth
2x Talos
Talos E (Too slow!)

Keep in mind the Count will probably insist on taking one of the other Barons with you if asking for any of the Talos carriers.

You may want to consider just selling the BCW and buying a Cage class. It would also have the medium cruiser repair capacity that was being asked about earlier.

>>3298076
I mainly mentioned it because Sonia doesn't really use attack corvettes in her fleet, so bringing it along might not be useful unless there will other Dominion fleets in the area who can make use of the repair berths. Do we know who is scheduled to for that region alongside Sonia?

>>3298076

>Trade in the BCW
Lets get some use out of the thing before we trade it in. Either to the House or to an Ally. See how it handles and how it performs in the field.

>>3298095
>Sonia doesn't really use attack corvettes in her fleet
There are 4 mixed wings in the Rioja fleet. They're made up of a mix of attack cruisers, corvettes and the occasional frigate. Mostly Firestorm variants but sometimes a few other types.

>Do we know who is scheduled to for that region alongside Sonia?
Not really, though some SRL units should be doing deep raiding.

Mezan makes contact with you a few weeks into the new year. Her unit took a beating but they'll be rebuilt and ready for action in a couple months.

The Dominion Knights who will be accompanying you have started taking part in fleet exercises with your units. Some of them have a checkered past but are looking to leave it behind them.

A few weeks later more information starts to be released

Latest reports show Alliance forces now moving rapidly through their target regions. The first invasion wave is on the verge of completing their objectives. All second wave units have been alerted to begin assembling for deployment in the next 4-12 weeks. An alliance briefing officer will arrive in a few days to discuss the Rioja fleet's target and bring with them the most recent intelligence.

We need a resolution on the Heavy Carrier situation.
[ ] Use BCW as is
[ ] Modify BCW with Frigate berths (minor)
[ ] Modify with Frigate and ACRS berths
[ ] Sell/Trade to House for Qlippoth
[ ] Sell/Trade to Ceres for Cage
[ ] Request another J-D Baron to support you

>>3298242
>Frigate berths modification

>>3298242
>[ ] Use BCW as is

Ok, got some stuff written up, will post tomorrow night. I have been up too many hours today.

>>3298242
>[ ] Modify with Frigate and ACRS berths

>>3298706
Just saying that it's not the best idea:
>>3298076
>At that point you might as well just get a different ship. Besides the docks along the spine of the BCW can handle attack cruisers, hell even a couple battleships.

Have we figured out how to switch the Grav Well generators into reverse yet? Make . . . Negative gravity?

Have we even tried?

>>3297702
Did we free Versa as part of our Terran concessions?

Just saying, AI godmother might be a good plan.

>>3298242
> [ ] Modify BCW with Frigate berths (minor)

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>>3297702
>Was there anything you wanted to take care of before the upcoming deployment?
Considering Dayton died from vacuum exposure when his armor wasn't able to maintain atmospheric integrity following damage to his ship, I'd like to start a programme to upgrade the armor provided to knights and men-at-arms by the House. If people want to keep their old or own stuff, force them to have it upgraded to more modern standards.

With the advanced medical technology, stasis fields, armor production capacities, and small repair drones available to the House at this point, there's pretty little excuse to die to anything that doesn't cause instant critical damage to the brain. Well, unless people keep shooting at your armor afterwards. It seems like a worthy thing to invest in.

>>3298242
>[ ] Sell/Trade to Ceres for Cage

>[ ] Sell/Trade to Ceres for Cage

>>3298242
>[ ] Modify BCW with Frigate berths (minor)

>>3298242
>[ ] Modify BCW with Frigate berths (minor)

I want to keep the flexibility to use it in the field for salvaged ships.

>>3297798
>the concept is sound
What's the concept? 100-linked phase cannon?

>>3299026
>I'd like to start a programme to upgrade the armor provided to knights and men-at-arms by the House.
The vac suits issued to starship crews are largely Marine grade. Anything more would get in the way. There are companies that sell custom pilot suits that have a slightly higher armor rating but aren't as bulky as dedicated armor. These are a bit on the expensive side.

Houses need their crews to not die if their ship gets hulled because space battles are important. Otherwise the issued suits wouldn't even be that good. With the introduction of hard plate armor for special forces and ground troops there isn't really an equivalent in the pipe for starship crew use. Plenty of crews already complain about how their suits get in the way.

More stasis upgrades to ship crew stations would certainly help though. Obviously that still wouldn't do much for older training ships that if anything have been stripped of non-essentials.

>>3298959
The attempt has been made. Probably wont happen while the war is on.

>>3298940
Sort of.

>>3300219
(Small) Death Star style multi linked siege weapon.

>>3300581
>The vac suits issued to starship crews are largely Marine grade.
>Plenty of crews already complain about how their suits get in the way.
Could we petition the FA to use the research done by the various factions to create a type of armor specifically for ship crews? I would guess most combat armor research is focused on trying to find ways to negate complicated penetrators and extreme heat caused by fusion or plasma damage. Armor for ship crews would have to focus on deflecting shrapnel, maintaining or repairing vacuum protection and solving several problems that are not as important during infantry combat. Maybe the bio armor programmes could be of use in that regard?

The BCW is going to be modified with Frigate berths. It requires the least time and effort to make happen and wont compromise as much of the ship's structural strength. A few of the wing commanders will also be docking some spare attack corvettes to the exterior that will be used as a reserve. Assault Corvettes can be assembled in the field fairly easily using spare components, but the same cant be said for the older and larger ships.

The Alliance has managed to develop a new type of experimental power armor largely thanks to work by the Dominion. It should be able to largely ignore Neeran energy draining tech, in part by doing much the same itself. It's effectiveness remains questionable.

Aside from the energy vamp system it's a fairly unremarkable medium grade suit. It does have some limited repulsor jump jets but they're nowhere near as powerful as those with dedicated jump backpacks. Worse the experimental tech makes them prohibitively expensive to produce.

"Power armor and their support equipment costs 10 million apiece. How much more could they cost?!"
"Right now? Double." Levi Nxesi informs you. "But I have some good news for you."
"Is it a mail in rebate?"
"I can modify these suits to interface with those artifact devices like the Relic Armor I made for you."

That... would be really handy.
"The Relic Armor, is it immune to the energy drain too?"

The old power armor tech shakes his head. "No. Or not entirely. This one will do it better, but I can't promise it will work quite as well with the artifacts. That's not what it was intended for. Maybe in the future."

>How many "Ambient" suits did you want to acquire if any?

>>3300681

How many medium power armor users/specialists do we have?

Grabbing say 5+1 for Nxesi to dissect/mod/cannibalize for a Sonia Custom seems reasonable, and gives us a decent fire team option, imo.

We'll want to use some proxies to secure them, though. Don't want any Neeran spies finding out that the Sphere Raider is grabbing more suits for dealing with sphere tech...

>>3300681
>How many "Ambient" suits did you want to acquire if any?
A squad worth of them?

>It should be able to largely ignore Neeran energy draining tech
Does that mean we can also equip our buggies and the tank prototype with that technology?

>>3300693
>How many medium power armor users/specialists do we have?
Thanks to the amount of power cell armor available? Quite a few.

>>3300702
>Does that mean we can also equip our buggies and the tank prototype with that technology?
Not at this time unfortunately.

>>3300681


I'm going to say go with this anon says >>3300693

>>3300715
>quite a few

In that case, I'm open to a few more such as >>3300702 if others are.

I'd still like the +1 for Nxesi tinkering & proxy purchases, though.

>>3300681
I kind of want to get 20, that would give us some room if we end up raiding the facility and needing more people.

How old is Nxesi now?

>>3300782
>How old is Nxesi now?
In his 70's.

>>3300693
>>3300767
>>3300702
>>3300781
>>3300782
All over the map here.

10 suits? That would cost 200 million.

>>3300797
Sounds good to me.

>>3300797
Yes

>70
Didn't realise he was that old. When does he plan to retire? Is there any kind of crazy ideas for PA he's never been able to do that we might be able to acquire from the sphere?

>>3300797
sounds good

A Kavarian officer with the alliance arrives to work out a flight plan and provide intelligence in your target area. You and your senior staff are present to welcome him and go over operational planning.

"Due to the questionable stability of Shallan space Fleets are being assembled in the Pandora cluster or occupied territory. The Shallan State are making sure refueling stations in their territory are fully capable of handling your fleets. They'd like us to pass through as quickly as possible. No non-essential stopover at their worlds.
You can of course ignore this but you'll be fully responsible for any diplomatic incidents that result."

Mike is the first to question these conditions. "They're not letting any Alliance ships look around their space?"

"There are Alliance ships and personnel on assignment in the State but they're expected to file a flight plan before going anywhere. A state authorized representative is required aboard fleets larger than 20 ships."

You speak up.
"Given the nature of our mission I'd like to visit there Sphere before hand. Maybe recruit some specialists."

"The Sphere is an Alliance controlled high security zone. It shouldn't be difficult to get you access. I would recommend you take only a small unit with you, separate from the main fleet."

That should be easy enough. A fast moving command squadron for escort. Or maybe a Nocturn depending. Then again it might be best to stay the main fleet to oversee operations. Especially if you end up going a different way, like across the Crystal Sea.

[ ] Quiet visit with cloaked ships
[ ] Fast command squad
[ ] Don't go yourself, send expedition vets
[ ] Bring the fleet with you (If headed that way)

>>3300864
>[ ] Fast command squad

>>3300864
>[X] Don't go yourself, send expedition vets

I'm personally not thrilled by the possible negative events that could revolve around Mezan and the Shallan Government if we depart the fleet.

>>3300864
>[ ] Fast command squad

>>3300864
Illya is coming along for this one too right?

>>3300938
Yes. They've been getting ready and will arrive at Rioja before the fleet departs.

>>3300864
>Don't go yourself, send expedition vets

File: MAP_U_4043_CrystalSeaRoute.gif (25 KB, 1232x666)

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Next is the issue of selecting a flight plan and fleet assembly point. There are 2 routes to your target zone. One is through Shallan space as you'd anticipated. The other is via the Lighthouse which is a gravity well station built by the Neeran at the edge of the Crystal Sea.

"Will it make much of a difference?"
"If you plan to visit the sphere first, expect that to impact your travel plans. You may also run into issues with State forces if you include certain Shallan Mercenaries in your fleet."
"Which ones?" you have to ask, hopeful they just mean those working for House Medel.

"Admiral Mezan is a high profile deserter and her unit is listed as being attached to your fleet for its deployment."
"She was wrongfully imprisoned."
"Viscount I', not here to debate policies or war crimes of the Shallan State. The reality is that many of the Shallan mercs you've helped will be treated as enemies of the state. They'll be arrested if they disembark. Until then, as long as they remain aboard ship and with your fleet, they should be safe."

Admiral Tama asks if there are other factors to consider when weighting the two routes.
"Yes. The Alliance will be launching offensives into that cluster this year and the Neeran are preparing defenses. Most of our forces will be coming in from the cluster closest to Shallan space. They will have fleets ready to attempt interception of invasion forces. This is why we're attempting to saturate their defenses with raids by autonomous units. Mostly SRL and PCCG mercenaries.

If you time it correctly they may be able to open a hole for your fleet to get through. Or you could conduct a few raids yourselves to draw enemy forces away while passing. It would certainly help us out."

"What about the other route?" you ask.

"If you approach via the Lighthouse we wont have as many friendly units available to back you up. At the same time their concentration of force shouldn't be as heavily focused. We've had a number of units cross the crystal sea and conduct raids away from the lighthouse navigation route. Because of this they've spread out their defenses on the side of the cluster."

"Is there anything stopping us from crossing the crystal sea ourselves?" wonders Lyas.

"Current safety procedure is that every fleet performing a crossing must have its own gravity well generator. Even those fleets with the standalone subspace focusing systems. We dont have a spare generator to budget to another fleet right now."

You could make use of the newer gravwell you own that's being used for orbital correction terraforming. It was built for this sort of thing. That would mean a drop in profits and a few angry customers but the war must come first.


A) Shallan State route
B) Lighthouse route
C) Crystal Sea route

>>3301075

Which route will bring us to our destination sooner? Which route has higher pressence of heavily armed and ready Neeran forces?

>>3301091
>Which route will bring us to our destination sooner?
A) Shallan State route = 8 weeks
B) Lighthouse route = 7 weeks
C) Crystal Sea route = 6 weeks

>Which route has higher pressence of heavily armed and ready Neeran forces?
A has the most enemies but also the most friendlies

B & C are a bit up in the air because enemy forces are spread out. You might avoid them entirely. You'll have very little support from friendlies here though.

>>3301075
>>3301117

Well then if we're going to be making a stop by the Sphere may as well go through Route A.

If we're not going to the Sphere and just sending a representative there. Then lets go with Route C.

>>3301075

I'm thinking we go Shallan Space, and contact some of our SRL folks to see if any of them plan to send deep raiding forces to the same galaxy we're looking at.

If we can coordinate a breakthrough or even hire some SRL forces to act as decoys/breakthrough escorts before they return to more front-line areas, we can likely boost the success rates of several or more deep raiding groups by avoiding initial damage.

>>3301075
>C) Crystal Sea route

File: Map-795.png (371 KB, 1000x500)

371 KB PNG

Probably going to be putting the last 2 questions to survey looks like.

"Any intel on our target?"

"Yes. It's in a dwarf galaxy that suffered a collision at some point. It's been designated the Yang dwarf galaxy for now. There are at least 60 inhabited systems in that galaxy. Krath ships conducted a thorough survey of the region but we sent them back to double check systems near the coordinates. This is what they found."

The main projector lights up showing what appears to be a fairly habitable world.
"A somewhat rocky planet, inhabited by the Empire and one of its client species. We suspected its dense crust was making it difficult for sensors to penetrate the interior. After your report the sensor readings were gone over again in greater detail."
"What did they find?"
"The planet has an equatorial bulge, but the area our sensors were unable to penetrate was spherical."

>What say?

>>3301375
"How big is it? Obviously not a Dyson sphere but maybe a prototype for the real thing?"

We're going to need some kind of digging equipment to get through, I bet. Could we drill through with a phase weapon?

>>3301375

What are some of the Alliances speculations as to what could be causing it? And how far down does anyone believe we need to dig? Will we receive digging/ excavation equipment?

Since J-D isn't planning on conqueoring this planet. What is the word on who gains control over it when we finish our deployment? A Dominion house or one of the other Factions?

Word on whether the population of the planet is loyal to the Empire Neeran or have insurrectionists been active here?

Who will be our Alliance contact for that region? And what is the word from the Alliance on any salvage found buried in the planet?

Some starter questions.

>>3301375

Technically speaking, that makes this a massive, camouflaged, artificial space station, not a planet?

Asking for a friend, but does that mean we can pummel any entrenched Neeran Empire defensive facilities built upon the camouflage's surface?

And that we could potentially say fire starship grade weaponry out of or through the station's atmosphere at any Empire counter-attack?

Are there any signs of excavations or tunneling efforts?

>>3301375

They hid the facility in a planet!

>>3301415

I like the gusto but since we plan on eventually integrating these people into our society, it might be best to look for non war crimey options first.

>>3301429

>non war crimey options

I mean, if the Factions Treaty doesn't apply to artificial orbital constructs... it technically wouldn't be a war crime.

Plus, we're dealing with an enemy that has literally blown apart habituated planets. If we can legally blast things on this construct from orbit and save lives among our fleet/army in the process, I'd at least like to keep that an option.

Not the first option, but an option.

That's piqued your curiosity.
"What's the Alliances speculation as to what could be causing it?"
"The sphere taskforce asked that we look for signs of builder facilities near this system. It's unusual to find a planet that our sensors cant penetrate. This would seem to fit the profile of what we're looking for.
As for how its deflecting sensors it could be physical material like with the sphere itself, or a type of jamming or energy field, maybe even stasis. Probably not stasis but I was told we're not to discount that possibility."

"How big is it? Obviously not a Dyson sphere but maybe a prototype for the real thing?"
"It's a planet roughly 14,000km in diameter with approximately standard gravity. The area we cant penetrate is obviously a bit smaller. Oxygen nitrogen atmosphere on the surface, perfectly breathable hence why it's been colonised."

You look between the image, Rufaro and then back to officer.
"How far would we need to dig to reach it?"
"Only a few kilometers at the poles. There are ruined structures at different points around the planet. Two of them appear to have been set up as museums or other public areas."

"Signs of sphere tech?"
"Some of the ruins have similar sensor returns but not identical. We wont know more until ground teams and specialists can secure the area and take the time to analyze it. Our followup sweeps did ping buried ruins around the equator. They wont be easy to reach."

"Any chance we'll receive digging and excavation equipment?"
"It can be arranged. We'll need salvage craft equipped for planetary operations. E-beams modified for digging, transports to help evacuate debris... I heard you own a salvage company?"

"You heard that did you? Wouldn't hiring my own company be a conflict of interests?"
"Not when you're funding half of the expedition yourself, and we have a need to maintain operational security."

"Any word on whether the population of the planet is loyal to the Empire, or have insurrectionists been active here?"
"Intel is still collecting data. They'll have additional reports for you when your fleet reaches its forward staging area. The entire region is in flux but some worlds are extremely loyalty to the Empire."

"Who will be our Alliance contact for that region?"
"Captain Gaben Wilson will be taking the Suvorov taskforce to the area as soon as possible, though we dont know exactly when. You'll be provided with a list of contact times and locations. You can work out any details regarding salvage with them."

>>3301375
Also what do defenses look like both in system and around the yang galaxy? How many city ships and super weapons are here and is there a confirmed presence of a worm hole gate here?

What is the Empire Neeran Commander here like? Do we even have any intel on whether there is a commander here or not?

"Aside from salvage we can walk away with, who gains control over it when we finish our deployment?"
"It? You mean the planet?"
"Yes. A Dominion house or one of the other Factions?"

"The occupying forces will maintain overall control while a Collaboration Government will be set up. The Factions are still arguing over the best manner of supporting new regional puppet states or full annexation of some systems. I know the Alliance is comitted to providing replacement worlds to the Shallans, Terrans and the Dominion as reparations for those lost."

You're more worried about who will end up controlling a builder facility than whatever civilization sits on top of it.

"I don't know. Maybe your Ruling House will try to take control of it?"

"I-" ...shit. They're going to have a brand new fast super along with your fleet. That's going to give them a good claim to whatever you find and be in position to tell the other Factions to fuck off.

>>3301539

>RH coming into possession of Sphere Tech base and telling other factions to fuck off.

I don't know. That sounds like a good reason to me. Especially if they tell the Terrans to fuck off. And we could use then gaining control of the planet as leverage for more favors or benefits for JD. And the other Barons and nobles of JD don't trust we have the good of the future of the house in our goals. It just so happens all our expeditions just so happen to end up garnering our house more support from the RH and so long as we don't run out of that use of RH protection. Other houses can suck on vacuum.

Also I'm falling asleep. back tomorrow

>>3301539

>RH will try to take control of it

shocked! shocked I say! How dare they accuse our Ruling House of the most logical possible move! So if the planet were suddenly depopulated and 'colonized' by J-D & Ruling House armed forces that just happened to bring along pre-fab buildings, how much stronger would that plan be?

>>3301539
I'm a little worried now.

>>3301443
I mean, if the Factions Treaty doesn't apply to artificial orbital constructs... it technically wouldn't be a war crime.

> Technically not a war criminal!

>>3301583

I think this could be a good plan. After all, don't we have all those people offered to be terraforming workers that we had to put somewhere? Why not on this world for "excavation"?

>>3300797
Is he working on a dreadnought style life support power armor yet?

Taking the natural longevity of certain parts of the Dro'all population into account, and how they often seem to end up reliant on stationary medical systems in the last decades of their life, maybe a armor design that offers mobility, protection, and still provides the necessary medical technology could prove popular in the Dominion? The way the Dominion society works would make it the ideal place to have the nobles and knights pay the premium for the earlier models while the design is perfected and production costs are still high. Power cell setups would prevent the problem of having tens of thousands of miniature fusion reactors running around in Dominion cities.

>>3301873

I feel like what you're proposing is just inches from suggesting that Dro'all nobles and knights should have the option to become military grade cyborgs.

I agree.

>>3300581
>>3298940
>>3298940 #
> Sort of.

How did reversing a Grav-well generator end?

Could we use one to "strip" the planet crust of of whatever is inside?

>>3302064
I'm thirding this.

> TWINS, THEY WERE!

>>3301873
>>3302064

Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you suggesting that armor be developed for soldiers in the end stages of their life cycle?

Why? By that point, they should be well past retirement age and combat effectiveness?

>>3302093
Partially.

The idea is to develop an autonomous mobile life support system that allows the wearer to still easily participate in most facets of society while maximizing health benefits between stationary treatments. Or even make stationary treatments mostly unnecessary because the patient would be treated by the system installed in the suit at all times.
Adapting power armor for that role is based on the fact that people in H&D have gained experience with this kind of technology for centuries, and that a supporting suit of armor has minimal impact on the way the wearer interacts with their environment unlike a wheelchair or something similar.
Doubling as actual armor would mainly be a side effect of being marketed to nobles and knights and the requirement for the suit to carry equipment and support the wearer if they have trouble walking.
If you're leaving the House in a suit that can effectively walk on its own and comes equipped with a small fortune of medical equipment, you might as well put a layer of armor on it.

Overall, the general idea is more about the walking hospital suite that is 40k dreadnought armor and less about the size and usage.

>By that point, they should be well past retirement age and combat effectiveness?
Yes. I didn't say anytwhere that they should rush off into combat in these things. I guess some will but it's not really the intended use.

>>3302147

I guess I get the sentiment and intent.

There will likely be a massive debate among Dro'all society regarding the impact of further extending their already long lives or just allowing extended participation periods in society. They already seem fairly stagnant to begin with, imo.

They could be a serious security issue, as well, if you're basically making it a societal norm for Dro'all nobles/knights (and presumably, eventually middle class?) to walk around in modified power armor.
Sonia's paranoia to carry the plasma pistol at balls would be more justified, though.

>>3302208
>long lives
They only live 65 years on average.

>>3302208
>They already seem fairly stagnant to begin with, imo.
I wouldn't agree with that. They seem to handle change differently; with short burts of drastic change followed by a longer period of stability.

While it's been a couple of centuries by Sonia's time, the Dominion managed to successfully integrate Humans into their society. A few centuries before that they scrapped the whole clone culture that had lead to an extended period of stagnation. Meanwhile, even the Terrans have kept their state separate from the Rovinar, and that despite being best buddies for centuries.

>could be a serious security issue, as well, if you're basically making it a societal norm for Dro'all nobles/knights (and presumably, eventually middle class?) to walk around in modified power armor.
I'd guess it mostly depends on how things are handled by the government and society. Every bulldozer is a week or so of dedicated work away from being a rudimentary tank and yet people actually trying to pull that off are exceedingly rare.

Thinking about this, I'm concerned about any one single faction controlling a Sphere facility. Whilst we don't know what it is yet, if it has even a tenth of the databases available on the actual Dyson sphere, it could majorly upset the balance of power.

>>3302396

True, and that may be precisely the reason that we need to secure this sphere 'for the Dominion'.

Claiming it will be a massive attention-grabber, and possibly a key to distract from some other diamond-level things happening around the same time. Or for securing concessions to related to those things.

>>3302396
Balance is already upset regardless of how things go now. Best thing we can do is ensure that the Dominion comes out ahead of any conflict it is faced with post second Neeran war.

>>3302396

Chances are an initiative similar to what was going on with the Sphere will happen here post Neeran War. But before said initiative happens it would be best if the Dominion had a head start on figuring out its secrets. Especially if it means we can build tech that improves the Dominion and isn't solely weapons tech. Though it would be nice to have weapons that simply disintigrate supers like wet tissue paper.

One of the infinity gems or their in universe mcguffin equivalent is hidden within.

>>3302396
This facility will probably have its own keepers, so it is pretty unlikely the Dominion will manage to gain full control anyway.

"I dont suppose we could consider the planet to be an artificial construct for the purposes of classifying it outside the Factions Treaty?"

"It's still a planet, it's habitable with normal atmosphere that supports life. Treaty stipulations apply barring some compelling reason."
"Like if the entire thing is a weapon?" you ask.
"Yes."
"Or a world engine!" suggests Hera, drawing a few glances.

>>3301873
>Is he working on a dreadnought style life support power armor yet?
Not specifically? Mainly seeing what can be done to enhance current power armor for the war effort with minimal development time.

>>3302088
>How did reversing a Grav-well generator end?
For the first generator they tried it with? Badly. Despite reinforcement it eventually flew apart.
>"Tragic. But informative. Or so I'm told."
From the collected data they figured out how to use gravity focusing to do much the same thing, only outside the ship. Supposedly it's part of what helped finish development of the gravity drives for the Torrent class, though those are still considered experimental.

>>3302088
>Could we use one to "strip" the planet crust off of whatever is inside?
Unknown. More data is required. Doing so would likely alter the orbit of the planet on top of destroying the biosphere.
Or who knows, something worse could happen.

>>3303025
>"Like if the entire thing is a weapon?" you ask.

Didn't we learn that the sphere was capable of acting as a massive weapon, and potentially able to destroy the Neeran fleet that was above it? Potentially being destroyed itself in the fight, but still a massive weapons system?

>>3303043
There sphere also has the equivalent of +500 million planets worth of habitable surface area and they knew a lot of it was occupied. If it's absolutely necessary to wipe out 1 planet because its a serious enough threat they'd be slightly more willing to consider it.

>>3303025
>Or who knows, something worse could happen.
You damn kids! Stop vaporizing my lawn.

There are no signs of tunneling efforts by the Empire but that could change as a result of the scans by intel. There is a non zero chance their sensor emissions may have been noticed.

"What are the defenses like?"

"Planetary shields with full coverage. 4 to 5 million PDF spread between ten major population centers. One platform in orbit capable of heavy cruiser and battleship construction. They've started construction of a second station but it wont be completed for some time. There are also smaller defense platforms with guns similar to the Quattro."

Probably meant for killing Battleships and Mediums. With luck their effective range wont be very good. Provided they're the same mass produced weapons most of the Quattro's were built with.

Next an image of a small spherical station appears on the display. It looks like it's entirely coated in a phasing lattice except for its poles.

"Wherever you go, keep watch for these smaller defense platforms. We call them Rudraksha."
"What are they?"
"Antimatter missile launchers platforms. They're new and haven't been built in large numbers yet."

You try not to smirk. "I imagine the Terrans are having fun popping them."
"Less than you might think."
"Why's that?" Asks Tama.
"The Terrans have only built a small number of their V-beam projectors so far. The only alternatives are Veckron torpedoes, which I'm sure you understand we prefer to avoid, and conventional engagement.
Besides, the platforms do not keep a large AM stockpile aboard. If threatened their crews will simply launch any loaded missiles and halt AM production. Their substantial power reserves can then be diverted to conventional weapons."

You make a note to capture one of these or steal their production data.

>>3303193
Is there other infrastructure scattered across that system?

>>3303193
>It looks like it's entirely coated in a phasing lattice except for its poles.
Solar panels or actual phase beams?

>>3303201
Basic hydrogen and helium refining. Not much as it's cheaper to ship in from one of the other nearby systems.
Some mining operations on other planets, and com arrays scattered around.

>>3303224
Phase cannon turrets. They'll be more powerful due to the larger surface area.

>>3303193

>Orbital Platform that builds Heavy's and Battleships. Already sounds good, lets hope we can capture it with some construction data intact.

>Anti Battleship/ Medium defenses
Better hit hard and fast going to need to rely on our corvettes and fast attack craft if there are a lot of those things. Also maybe peppering some super and heavy fire power in. Just speculating right now but we could be hitting the anti-Sonia planet if they got enough defenses to repel mediums and battleships.

>Rudrasksha
Interesting idea but once the Terrans have enough of those V-Beams. Those things will be bad news for defenders.

>Limited V-Beam supply
Sounds like either the method to make these things is either long and super intensive to make sure whatever planet or station they are made on. Doesn't end up being radiated with Vekron radiation. Or maybe the resources and costs are just that prohibitively expensive?

All in all I think this should be a decent target to hit. And so long as we can repurpose that station to repair our ships. We shouldn't need to worry about having to send any of our own out to be repaired.

File: Yang_Rough.gif (18 KB, 1004x794)

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"Securing the entire plant -or not- is of course your own decision. It could be weeks until you're relieved and there is always the risk of enemy reinforcements. Keep that in mind."

The planet may not be the easiest target but with orbital superiority you're confident the army can get it done.

"When your fleet deploys you'll be provided with the most up to date information possible regarding enemy movements and any rebellions being staged by the client states."

"How bad are the rebels hitting them?"
"It's very widespread in a few regions. The Empire appears to be pulling out of some clusters and relays to regroup. It's only temporary. Eventually they'll retake those breakaway states if we let them."

You glance to Fadila.
"Should I bring diplomats to strike deals with rebels?"
"We'll assign an ambassador to your group along with the regular observers. Feel free to bring some of your own if you think it's worthwhile."

The Yang dwarf galaxy features a region of much denser stars as a result of a collision. It would make a good hiding place for the fleet if it were necessary to evade detection. Bases and long range sensor facilities are located around the outer rim to track incoming ships and fleets. Nothing you haven't dealt with before.

More concerning are 3 shipyards on that side of the galaxy capable of super heavy construction. They're not small enough that you could take them on yourself. At the same time they're valuable enough that it's unlikely the Neeran will risk leaving them vulnerable by detaching too large a force. Intel believes their locations were chosen to keep the yards isolated from client state populations that might rebel and attempt to seize them.

*=Target

>>3303395

>Three Super Heavy Yards
Awah come on gotta tease with those juicy targets? Well I know what we're doing when we aren't playing excavationists or fending of Neeran counter attacks. Getting any one of those yards would be a massive gain for us and J-D. And cripple Neeran counter response once they decide to mount a counter offensive. I wonder if those two super heavies that fled during our last deployment are still around or if they are already captured/ destroyed.

>>3303395
> Intel believes their locations were chosen to keep the yards isolated from client state populations that might rebel and attempt to seize them.

We should then focus on destabilizing those relevant areas to prevent reinforcements from coming while we make hit and run harassment attacks on them.

Those yards might not be capturavpe, but we can mission kill them by crippling their logistics train since I'm certain they don't have the resources to maintain steady production on hand for such a large industrial centre.

I've got a few more items to deal with involving Jan, and your staff.

Any other questions for the briefing officer?

>>3303395
Any info on what's currently in the Yards and how far along they are?

>>3303532

Is communications equipment being made available for raiding forces to potentially make contact once behind enemy lines?

>>3303545
They're focusing on production of Executioners but some Super Carriers are being built. Each yard has 6 active supers guarding it, some of them are older models. Production is staggered so that at least 1 new ship is completed every couple months.

>>3303547
Yes, though even it has range limitations. Once the Alliance has a beachhead in the cluster they'll set up more powerful communications arrays.

>>3303600

That seems obsured and is highly disturbing that they are building them that fast and have that many. But they really are that valueable.

Jan has sent a request for funds. Apparently he's been engaged in various forms of training for the upcoming campaign. These have proven to be a bit more expensive than planned.
"What did you do?" you ask.
"I trashed a few holobooths."
"Those are expensive!"
The maintenance bills make them far less profitable than some of your other business ventures.

"I know. I used the remaining projectors to build a larger training space inside of an empty warehouse."
"Huh, good thinking. I wish you'd told me sooner, my special forces could have made use of that in your off hours."
"Eh... I mostly burned it to the ground."
"Oh for- Fine, just tell me nobody dies."
"Nobody died."

You take a moment for a sigh of relief. You wouldn't have expected Eldal to endanger civilians, even criminals that might happen to stumble on what he as doing, but he's been a bit different since becoming Jan.
"Good. You didn't nuke the site or anything did you? I think the forensics people might be able to learn a thing or two from looking at a krath kill zone."
"I'll send you the location. It's in the South City."

With luck the RSRIU might be able to develop new procedures.

Roll1d100

Rolled 24 (1d100)

>>3303900

So is Jan an arsonist Krath now?

SURVEY!
Crucible deployment.

surveymonkey com/r/ T8RVFZ2

Links are up on the wiki and twitter.

>>3303914
>So is Jan an arsonist Krath now?
No because it was mostly accidental.

Rolled 72 (1d100)

>>3303900

Rolled 81 (1d100)

>>3303900
Panic?

TSTG, something is off with the calculation of Sonia's finances on the wiki. The listed items only amount to 9029,7m, while 17342,7m have been deducted from the starting funds for 4043 after taxes. (The last power armor purchase not included)

>>3303532
>Any other questions for the briefing officer?
Are there any fleet bases or similar installations in that galaxy?
How important is the region to the empire aside from the super heavy shipyards?
Is one of their wormhole gates nearby?
How long do reinforcement take to arrive from other parts of the empire?

>>3304364
>something is off with the calculation of Sonia's finances on the wiki.
k, I'll take a look. Probably misplaced a decimal point.

>>3304364
Right so that was significant. You really have 15,342.7 million left.

>>3305555

Should we have London start doing a review of RSS's accounting branch? Someone over there is not doing their job.

>>3305555
Shit, let's buy 500 Fire Drakes

>>3304364
>Are there any fleet bases or similar installations in that galaxy?
Most good sized bases are located near habitable worlds with the exception of a few that support patrol fleets. A high resolution map will be available before you get there.

>How important is the region to the empire aside from the super heavy shipyards?
That particular dwarf galaxy isn't a high priority when compared to other locations in the cluster. It is semi-close to the edge of the cluster allowing fleets from the shipyards to quickly reach one of the other Empire nav relays.

>Is one of their wormhole gates nearby?
No.

>How long do reinforcement take to arrive from other parts of the empire?
Less than a week inside the cluster. 4-5 days from that one nearby relay. 10-16 days from major strong points deeper in the Empire.
It's 3.2 weeks travel from the center of the Empire.

>>3305631
Do they even have that much fire drakes around

>>3305555
Ok, I never thought this whole ID system on /qst/ would be of any use but I'd like to claim the PCCG aces without ships as a reward for finding that.
and depending on what percentage is customary in Dominion or your local law, whichever is higher, also
2. Funding for the mobile medical support power armor
3. One Earl class medium cruiser
4. PCCG Heavy Escort mercs
5. 75% of what remains to the Kavos L'va memorial fund
6. 25% other Anon's awful ideas

>>3305631
>>3305842
There are not that many available for any 1 fleet. DHI is going to pulling out all the stops to get you the 72 you've already paid for.

"We're going to cross the Crystal Sea. I'll call back the newer gravity well generator from terraforming duties."

"Some of your terraforming customers may want refunds if this causes excessive delays." Fadila reminds you.

You shrug.
"Then we'll pay them back. I have money to spare right now and we don't have many competitors with the war on."
"A valid point."

"We have time while the fleet is staging for the crossing launch point. I'll make a side trip to the sphere with a few cloaked ships to pick up our specialists."

While arrangements are made for the ship you send a message to London telling him to ask for volunteers for a hazardous planetary salvage mission with full hazard pay. Once that's done you look back to the available mercenaries.

"The Alliance is hiring mercs to help with raiding right? Can you put me in contact with a few that haven't decided on their entry route yet?"
"What did you have in mind Viscount?"
"I'll pay for a few to enter into enemy territory at the same time as us. They can benefit from the fleet's gravity well generator to strike at targets that aren't as accessible. See how many you can attract with 200 million."

"There are a few that might want to pay us for the opportunity." says Tama.
"Then they have plenty of money to make sure it stays quiet."

>>3305852
>PCCG aces without ships
This is so minor I'm going to allow it.
Better news is that under their contract the pilots wont have any salvage claims unless you feel they've performed above their already high expectations.

>>3305877
So to be clear, they're going to be given ships we salvage?

>>3305904
If you want? Or they can be reserve pilots.

>>3305914
I'd put them in ships they actually have experience in.

>>3305904
>>3305925
Reserve pilots for the assault corvettes then. People need to sleep. Or you should just draw ships from the J-D reserve ship stockpile you've paid a couple billion into. That would probably be the easiest.

Any last minute purchases?

>>3305975
>Any last minute purchases?
One Earl class medium cruiser, if it's available yet. And a dedicated hospital ship.

>>3305987
>>3305975
Supporting.

Are there any partially built or decommissioned supers we could get to slap siege weapons onto?

We always seem to end up with a bunch of salvage behind enemy lines we can't use right away, it might be more effective to be able to just take the weapons systems off them and plug them into ships capable of keeping up since we target drive systems to keep our loot from escaping.

A raw frame or two for plug and play ability might be useful.

>>3305975
>>3305987

Definitely supporting getting a dedicated hospital ship. Help keep our troops healthy and if there is some sort of Neeran bioweapon we've not encountered yet. It would be nice to have on hand to help cure it. Not sure about the Earl class though, isn't that sill in proto type stage?

>>3305987
I've been meaning to redesign that one a bit. Each sketch actually looks worse.
1x Earl class
1x Hospital ship

>>3306063
>Not sure about the Earl class though, isn't that sill in proto type stage?
Eh, I'll say its in limited production with some hull variation from the prototype.

>>3306017
>Are there any partially built or decommissioned supers we could get to slap siege weapons onto?
No those are in rather short supply.

You can requisition an engineering team and construction/repair ship kitted out specifically for partially rebuilding captured Neeran equipment. Your House has that much experience from refitting captured mediums and heavies. It wont be enough to fully refit captured ships but it would be enough to make use of them.

>>3305975

minelayer/factory group?

Did we ever get that list of "shit the emperor wants prioritised if we can only get a few things"

>>3306105
Or even some modular station or Alliance Cloaked Base cores?

In theory, we could build some hidden salvage/repair bases.

>>3306102
> You can requisition an engineering team and construction/repair ship kitted out specifically for partially rebuilding captured Neeran equipment.

Yes please. We're gonna be swimming in it.

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>>3306114
>>3306105
Why not bring a couple of these alliance mining/fabricator modules for forward bases?

>>3306102
I'd also like to bring at least one siege platform that's medium cruiser sized. Purely because I'm hoping that there will be few enemies that are going to be effective against both a super heavy and the much smaller medium.

>>3306114
Modular base added.

>Alliance Cloaked Base cores
Not really feasible atm with current deployments.
Was going to suggest bringing a couple of these since they can be camouflaged easily enough.
>>3306154

>one siege platform that's medium cruiser sized
You have an AM Torpedo version of the Helios class.

>>3306177
>You have an AM Torpedo version of the Helios class.
Yeah but it doesn't leave enough salvage. And if I remember correctly, is also pretty problematic to use close to inhabited planets.

>>3306185
The upgraded weapons on your fleet's Quattro have fairly good range.

The Eclipse II can swap its various spinal mount guns for 2 light siege cannons.
Monitor class ships could probably do the same with their turrets, though it would be a substantial reduction in firepower.

Aside from the Raven Class (which has serious structural problems and was nearly withdrawn from service) the Helios class is the only medium cruiser that mounts a full sized siege weapon.

There were suggestions for a medium that combined the firepower of the Helios with the mobility of a faster ship but everyone wanted to focus on the Regency and Sovereign classes.

>>3306242
Didn't Ber'helum use a modified house transport as a siege weapon platform during the civil war? And Nasidum had their own long range medium too, if I remember correctly.

>>3306276
Oh yes, the House transport frame with the modified quattro gun. That's a budget siege craft if ever there was one and they're not too quick. I have to wonder if they'd be able to keep up with Forbearance without an upgrade.

>Nasidum had their own long range medium too
The old Jupiter heavy transport with the light siege guns?
They were also using ships that had a lot of spinal heavy phase cannons.

>>3306108
>Did we ever get that list of "shit the emperor wants prioritized if we can only get a few things"
Subspace tech seems like a promising tie-in to SP weapons.
Converter tech also looks incredibly valuable.

The Emperor is giving you carte blanche to nab whatever you think would be most valuable for the Dominion.


Normally fleet deployment is funded by loans or money provided by the House which needs to be paid back. You've been quite good about making that money back with a bit extra. As there's always the risk of salvage not adding up in your favour you've been saving money specifically to pay for this deployment.
2.7 billion is in the reserve. With the addition of Forbearance and her escorts to the fleet that works out to about half the deployment cost.

Your fleet has gotten a bit big with all of those Medium cruisers.

Pay deployment costs up front?

>>3306430
>Pay deployment costs up front?

Yes

>>3306430
Let's pay.

I hope this thing is worth it and it's not just an empty sphere. Maybe something worth picking up is an AM-cutting tool? If we find certain places sealed off by sphere material (is there a working name for the stuff yet?) we can melt our way through.

>>3306430
> Pay deployment costs up front?

Yes. It's good for our reputation.

Will get some stuff written up for tomorrow night.

>>3306430
Pay it. We probably gonna run a profit on this regardless of deployment costs. I mean once we have secured space around the planet we can then start raiding the shit out of our surrounding. Securing logistic stations and smaller yards and whatnot.

However i cba to care about getting a Earl Class.

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Took a look at the wiki and realized the LRBS II looks a lot like the ATF Vidar (M6 Corvette) from x3: Terran Conflict. (ATF: AGI Task Force, branch of the Terran military dedicated to wiping out artificial general intelligence based life)

>>3306336
>The old Jupiter heavy transport with the light siege guns?
I was thinking about the one mentioned here:
>>1416384
>As for your interest in the Wasp Medium Support Carrier, they may be able to sell you a production license for a lower end version once you're cut off from Lance hulls. They'll probably take your suggestion and try mounting smaller siege guns on one of the Wasp hulls for use in fire support.
Though why you would want that when you could be trying to salvage those newer mediums Nasidum is working on is beyond them.

>A quick check shows House Intel is not currently aware of Nasidum or its allies working on a new medium.

>>3306430
Yes.

>>3307036
AIs in House and Dominion are for interfacing and module swapping.

>>3306526
>I hope this thing is worth it and it's not just an empty sphere.
Even a planet's surface area worth of sphere material would be invaluable.

>>3307043
Except for those AI that tried to kill us all back at the end of the civil war you mean?

>>3307057
Ok, that one probably either needs therapy or to be put down. I'd say it mostly depends on what Aries did to it and if these things can be undone or repaired.

Should we get another planetary assault platform or two?

>>3307036
If you say so. I think that looks more like the Saber fighter from Halo Reach. Or vice versa since X3 came out first.

Pretty sure I got the original idea from the Gaplant. When I didn't care for the look of the bow on the first attempt I searched through every Zeta Gundam era MS until I found it. (Since I'd forgotten the name.) I then looked at the Gaplant Kai for the more sloped bow section.

>>3307043
Nasidum built the Illustrious class. It has 2 of the guns used on the Quattro. I didn't think the range on them would be that great but they're supposed to be the same model used by those Ber'helum siege craft. Clearly I remembered wrong.

>>3307085

Get any of these?
[ ] Illustrious class
[ ] Planetary assault platform

NOTE: 75 million S will be added to each medium to pay for deployment costs.

>>3307094
>[2] Illustrious class
>[1] Planetary assault platform

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>>3307094
>[ ] Planetary assault platform

>>3307094

>Neither

>>3307094
[x] Planetary assault platform

I might be willing to support an Illustrious, but I'm wondering if we have the skilled manpower to crew them? Or would we be pulling those resources from other J-D forces?

And on the subject of manpower, is it possible for us to secure some sort of Aries tech automated resource collectors or automate those alliance base things here? >>3306154

Being able to seed some hard-to-detect unmanned mining drones/platforms in a random asteroid field might be key to keeping our fleet restocked in the face of a prolonged deployment or heavy Neeran hunter-killer taskforces.

I'm not sure if a mining barge would be a good option to take with us behind enemy lines, though I guess we could try to capture a Neeran mining vessel?