>>6125081
>Overseer Sizzar of Clan Quezet, member of a reptilian species known as Saurians.Generally your race does not like humans, indeed none of the other Clans would ever consider working with one like this. But the Monitor of Quezet is more open minded than the average saurian. The Clan having their own shipyard would grant them leverage against the hated Solar Union and the machinations of the Major Clans.

>>6125081
>Overseer Sizzar
Let's explore the intricacies of human and alien interactions! I fully expect cultural shock abound, which should shake things up.r0rpvk

>>6125081
>>Delilah Lamming, a member of the Mercenary Captain Galatan Starwind’s harem. Starwind bought a stake in the shipyard on a whim before leaving on his latest adventure. Delilah was left behind to handle the business side of things. Frankly it was a nice change of pace from Starwinds hijinks and a chance to pursue her own agenda…

>>6125081
>Delilah Lamming, a member of the Mercenary Captain Galatan Starwind’s harem. Starwind bought a stake in the shipyard on a whim before leaving on his latest adventure. Delilah was left behind to handle the business side of things. Frankly it was a nice change of pace from Starwinds hijinks and a chance to pursue her own agenda…

>>6125081
>Overseer Sizzar of Clan Quezet,
Lizardman time!

>>6125081
>Lady Mayumi Shimada, member of the ruling family of House Shimada; a minor noble house in the the resurgent Empire of Raiha. Frankly the prospects of both you and your family aren’t great. Your meager holdings within the Empire mean you have (relatively) little wealth to bargain with and little clout within the Imperial Court. Having access to your own shipyard would grant some influence within the Imperial Court and perhaps allow you to seek your fortune beyond the Empire.

>>6125081
>Delilah Lamming, a member of the Mercenary Captain Galatan Starwind’s harem. Starwind bought a stake in the shipyard on a whim before leaving on his latest adventure. Delilah was left behind to handle the business side of things. Frankly it was a nice change of pace from Starwinds hijinks and a chance to pursue her own agenda…

>>6125081
DESTROY RAIHANS. ROUNDHOUSE KICK RAIHANS OUT OF THE AIRLOCK. DISASSEMBLE RAIHA'S FLEDGLING SPACE PROGRAM. BEHEAD RAIHA'S ROYAL FAMILY. STEAL CANDY FROM RAIHAN BABIES. SLANDER RAIHA. POLLUTE RAIHAN SPACE. INTENSIFY THE KESSLER SYNDROME OVER RAIHA. DEFACE RAIHAN MEMORIALS. CAUSE A SECOND RAIHAN DARK AGE. KILL ALL RAIHANS.

>Overseer Sizzar of Clan Quezet.

>>6125081
>>Lady Mayumi Shimada, member of the ruling family of House Shimada; a minor noble house in the the resurgent Empire of Raiha. Frankly the prospects of both you and your family aren’t great. Your meager holdings within the Empire mean you have (relatively) little wealth to bargain with and little clout within the Imperial Court. Having access to your own shipyard would grant some influence within the Imperial Court and perhaps allow you to seek your fortune beyond the Empire.

>>Lady Mayumi Shimada, member of the ruling family of House Shimada; a minor noble house in the the resurgent Empire of Raiha. Frankly the prospects of both you and your family aren’t great. Your meager holdings within the Empire mean you have (relatively) little wealth to bargain with and little clout within the Imperial Court. Having access to your own shipyard would grant some influence within the Imperial Court and perhaps allow you to seek your fortune beyond the Empire.

>>6125389
I admit to having no prior experience of this games world. Are the Raihans the baddies?

>>6125398
They FUCKED US is what they did. FUCKED US. Took the nice and shiny battleship we made for them, scrubbed the serial numbers off, and said they did it without so much as a "thank you". That "bad luck and poor decisions" was associating with the Raihans and not getting PR from our ships, which we absolutely NEEDED more than money as an independent capital ship firm.

>>6125081
>Overseer Sizzar of Clan Quezet, member of a reptilian species known as Saurians.Generally your race does not like humans, indeed none of the other Clans would ever consider working with one like this. But the Monitor of Quezet is more open minded than the average saurian. The Clan having their own shipyard would grant them leverage against the hated Solar Union and the machinations of the Major Clans.

>>6125405
No, the bad choice was not realizing the glowie within our midst. Multiple anons said it wasn't the lizards but anons ignored it anyway and we ended up gettimg attacked

You shouldn't hate the Raihans, you should hate the solar union cunts who attacked us and the faggot that betrayed us. I'm all in on Lizardmaxxing. Fuck those solar cunts.

>>6125081
>Lady Mayumi Shimada, member of the ruling family of House Shimada; a minor noble house in the the resurgent Empire of Raiha. Frankly the prospects of both you and your family aren’t great. Your meager holdings within the Empire mean you have (relatively) little wealth to bargain with and little clout within the Imperial Court. Having access to your own shipyard would grant some influence within the Imperial Court and perhaps allow you to seek your fortune beyond the Empire.

>>6125081
>Lady Mayumi Shimada, member of the ruling family of House Shimada; a minor noble house in the the resurgent Empire of Raiha. Frankly the prospects of both you and your family aren’t great. Your meager holdings within the Empire mean you have (relatively) little wealth to bargain with and little clout within the Imperial Court. Having access to your own shipyard would grant some influence within the Imperial Court and perhaps allow you to seek your fortune beyond the Empire.
This has had the opposite effect of deterring me from wanting to noblemaxx

>>6125415
Oh, I just hated the Raihans so much I left after they fucked us. I simply could not exist in a quest where Raihans weren't about to recieve imminent retribution so I left instead of screeching autistically. I'll wait for this vote to be over before I decide whether or not to stay in hopes of getting retribution or leave to avoid playing as a *hurk* FUCKING RAIHAN.

>>6125081
>Lady Mayumi Shimada, member of the ruling family of House Shimada; a minor noble house in the the resurgent Empire of Raiha. Frankly the prospects of both you and your family aren’t great. Your meager holdings within the Empire mean you have (relatively) little wealth to bargain with and little clout within the Imperial Court. Having access to your own shipyard would grant some influence within the Imperial Court and perhaps allow you to seek your fortune beyond the Empire.

I have no opinion on this matter. I just want to play a Sphess!Lizard merchant.

>>6125081
>Overseer Sizzar of Clan Quezet.

>>6125081
>Overseer Sizzar of Clan Quezet

>>6125081
>Overseer Sizzar of Clan Quezet, member of a reptilian species known as Saurians.Generally your race does not like humans, indeed none of the other Clans would ever consider working with one like this. But the Monitor of Quezet is more open minded than the average saurian. The Clan having their own shipyard would grant them leverage against the hated Solar Union and the machinations of the Major Clans.

>>6125560
>>6125563
>>6125572
Nigga you ain't subtle

>>6125560
>>6125563
>>6125572

Sus

>>6125575
>>6125577
I would agree with you since it is but I want to be a lizardman too so shut up.

>>6125081
>Lady Mayumi Shimada

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I resent your spurious accusations.

>>6125575
>>6125577
?

If we're already get samefag accusations this is going to be an interesting thread.

>>6125081
>>Lady Mayumi Shimada, member of the ruling family of House Shimada; a minor noble house in the the resurgent Empire of Raiha. Frankly the prospects of both you and your family aren’t great. Your meager holdings within the Empire mean you have (relatively) little wealth to bargain with and little clout within the Imperial Court. Having access to your own shipyard would grant some influence within the Imperial Court and perhaps allow you to seek your fortune beyond the Empire.

Glad to see this quest back Qm! While I want to play as a lizardbrain I am more inclined to play as a Raihan noble myself. Glory to the empire! Death to the union!

Wow, this thread certainly got a lot of engagement.

I'm going to leave this vote open a bit longer.

>>6125138
Changing to
>>Lady Mayumi Shimada, member of the ruling family of House Shimada; a minor noble house in the the resurgent Empire of Raiha. Frankly the prospects of both you and your family aren’t great. Your meager holdings within the Empire mean you have (relatively) little wealth to bargain with and little clout within the Imperial Court. Having access to your own shipyard would grant some influence within the Imperial Court and perhaps allow you to seek your fortune beyond the Empire.

>>6125081
>>Lady Mayumi Shimada, member of the ruling family of House Shimada; a minor noble house in the the resurgent Empire of Raiha. Frankly the prospects of both you and your family aren’t great. Your meager holdings within the Empire mean you have (relatively) little wealth to bargain with and little clout within the Imperial Court. Having access to your own shipyard would grant some influence within the Imperial Court and perhaps allow you to seek your fortune beyond the Empire.

>>6125081
>Lady Mayumi Shimada
I really want to do the lamming one but I don't want lizardman to win so I'm voting this since no real support for number 3. More mats, internal security isn't bad at all.

>>6125081
>Delilah Lamming

>>6125405
Then if we play a Raihan, perhaps our house will find ourself in opposition to the house(s) that undertook the 'screwing over' and we can bring them down through internal faction politics.

>>6125709
The Empress herself did it.

>>6125081
>Lady Mayumi Shimada, member of the ruling family of House Shimada; a minor noble house in the the resurgent Empire of Raiha. Frankly the prospects of both you and your family aren’t great. Your meager holdings within the Empire mean you have (relatively) little wealth to bargain with and little clout within the Imperial Court. Having access to your own shipyard would grant some influence within the Imperial Court and perhaps allow you to seek your fortune beyond the Empire.

Okay time to count votes

Overseer Sizzar
>6125086
>6125098
>6125210
>6125389
>6125411
>6125560
>6125563
>6125572

Lady Shimada
>6125271
>6125391
>6125396
>6125421
>6125425
>6125455
>6125585
>6125608
>6125621
>6125627
>6125630
>6125791

Lamming
>6125205
>6125386
>6125653

((Had to break the links to avoid being flagged as spam))

I am genuinely surprised. Initial votes indicated this would be a toss up between the Lizard bros and the cute anime girls.

Guess we're playing a Raihan who were basically your best customer. The Empress may have fucked you, but she paid very handsomely for the privilege

>>6125803
rip that furious anon

>>6125803
Weebsisters are cooking

>>6125804
I am, in fact, going to leave this quest now instead of furiously shitposting as my heart desires. I'll be back next reboot to make another vote against the Raihans.

>>6125803
Damn...no lizardman....that sucks.

>>6125803
I am new to this quest so i don't know of anything that went down in any previous quest so i was mainly looking at which seemed the most fun and to me they ranked 1) Lamming. 2) Lady Shimada. 3) Overseer Sizzar.

Lamming wasn't going to win so i went with my second option Lady Shimada.

>>6125803
>cute anime girls.
This was my initial choice, but I didn't want the samefriends to win so I switched

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It had been a few weeks since you closed the deal giving you partial ownership of the shipyard; a run down thing in the neutral Blorg system of Car’cass. You weren’t looking forward to slumming it in a system ruled by those repulsive sentient fungi but you needed to personally take an active role in the running of your new business. The alternative was to accept your fate as the 3rd scion of a minor house. Your eldest sibling was already making their bid for glory, you could not afford to be left behind.

Looking out of the shuttle viewport you saw a vast gantry set along one of the outer orbits in the system; a necessity to facilitate the forming of large hulls without complications arising from nearby gravity wells. Sections of the station were clearly in poor condition; an entire dry dock was non-functional due to damage from a pirate attack and subsequent botched salvage operation. Looks like you had your work cut out for you…

There is no reception for you at the hangar bay. The few crewmates present seem bewildered by your presence, though the imposing presence of Captain Farron and your personal bodyguard dissuades anyone from approaching. Given that you have no idea what to do next this is something of a problem. Eventually you are reduced to accosting random workers until you find one who can direct you to the CEO’s office.

The lack of personnel as you traversed the halls was conspicuous, you had been informed that the station was being run by a skeleton crew; something that would need to be remedied along with the CEOs poor hospitality. By the time you reached his office you were already in a foul mood; you were used to being disrespected in the Imperial Court, but this was supposed to be your domain.

The door was unlocked so you let yourself in. The office was a mess, standees of various smiling yard workers cluttered the sides as if to make up for the lack of actual crew. Behind a grubby desk and an AR display showing several plummeting graphs was a disheveled man in wrinkled formal wear; the smell of alcohol was noticeable.

“What!? They’re already here!? I thought you said the appointment was tomorrow? …Ah fuck she’s standing in my office right now… don’t be sorry, BE BETTER! I’m going to look like a fucking idiot in front of the space princess because you didn’t tell me about this immediately!”

>cont

>>6125842
The man closes the comm channel and gives you one of the worst fake smiles you’ve ever seen before standing to greet you… he is wearing pajama bottoms.

“Hello, Jack Horner, CEO of JH Independent Shipworks. Although I guess it isn’t that independent anymore. You must be Lady Maya Shitake-” Your eye twitched in annoyance.

“It’s Lady Mayumi Clara Mihoyo Shimada.” You gesture behind you. “This is Captain Farron, he will be our new head of security as per the terms of our contract.”

If Horner was intimidated he didn’t show it. A look of resignation passed across his face and he muttered something under his breath, except both you and Farron heard it quite clearly being genetically superior to the terran baseline.

”I miss Kryska…”
This man…

“I can assure you that the Captain will perform his duties to the same standard, if not better than ‘Kryska’.”

Horner blinked in surprise.

“Of course, deepest apologies Lady Shimada.” A brief silence. “Look… I’ve been having a rough time of it out here so tell me straight. Who’s really pulling the strings here? Is it Arcturus or the Empress?”

It was your turn to be surprised. The Lord Commander? The Empress? What connection did this eccentric entrepreneur have to the two most powerful figures in the Raihan Empire?

What say?
>”You wish me to speak plainly? Very well; this is my venture and mine alone. That the Empress or Lord Commander would take an interest in an uncouth merchant such as yourself is laughable. Clean yourself up, then present yourself to me aboard my private yacht where you will brief me on the current state of the shipyard.”

>”I am doing business with you by my own will and volition. Brief me on the state of the company, but first put some proper pants on, lest you make an even bigger fool of yourself in front of this ‘Space Princess’.”

>Write In

Side Votes: Should the business be renamed?
>Keep the name: JH Independent Shipworks, it lacks flair but as a brand it gets the job done.
>Change the name (write in)

>>6125843
>”You wish me to speak plainly? Very well; this is my venture and mine alone. That the Empress or Lord Commander would take an interest in an uncouth merchant such as yourself is laughable. Clean yourself up, then present yourself to me aboard my private yacht where you will brief me on the current state of the shipyard.”
Let's give him a chance to start over.

As for the name...I'm not sure. "JH Indepedent" just sounds so...lame. I mean the name 'Jack Horner' is cool. So how about
>Horner Shipworks
I mean, would *you* feel intimidated by something called a 'JH Independent battleship"? Of course not. "Horner Battleship" on the other hand...

Unless someone has a better idea?

>>6125846
Well we're taking over operations here aren't we, at least partially? Why not something like Shimada Shipyard?

>>6125861
We bought a stake, not the entire thing. Also, our entire goal here is making our *own* thing. We're not the ruling member of our house. We're an "independent" shipyard.

I mean, i won't deny that "Shimada Shipworks" doesn't sound half bad but it seems like it'd be a whole lotta trouble.

>>6125863
Aren't we out here to win glory? Seems being a little covert with the naming is counter productive to that.

>>6125866
Not when we're not the actual rulers of the Shimada household. The glory will end up going to our siblings instead of us.

>>6125843
>>”I am doing business with you by my own will and volition. Brief me on the state of the company, but first put some proper pants on, lest you make an even bigger fool of yourself in front of this ‘Space Princess’.”

>>6125843
>>”I am doing business with you by my own will and volition. Brief me on the state of the company, but first put some proper pants on, lest you make an even bigger fool of yourself in front of this ‘Space Princess’.”

This seems like a fair statement rlly.

Also, Space Princess. I could get used to that ngl.

>Change the Name


Sunhorn Shipyards

>>6125936
Anon, i'm gonna be honest with you, "Sunhorn" sounds like a ship name from a children's carton show.

>>6125939
True enough. It was that or Horned Sun Shipyards rlly. I was trying to be nice and incorporate some play on his name with the Japanese Sun motif but that's harder than you'd think. *shrug*

>>6125941
I still think "Horner Shipworks" is a subtle change that makes it better without changing much.

>>6125843
>”I am doing business with you by my own will and volition. Brief me on the state of the company, but first put some proper pants on, lest you make an even bigger fool of yourself in front of this ‘Space Princess’.”

Leaning towards Horner Shipworks for lack of any better idea on my part. Good to have you back, QM.

>>6125843
>”You wish me to speak plainly? Very well; this is my venture and mine alone. That the Empress or Lord Commander would take an interest in an uncouth merchant such as yourself is laughable. Clean yourself up, then present yourself to me aboard my private yacht where you will brief me on the current state of the shipyard.”

>Change the name (Shimada Shipworks)

I'm fine with the weebs as well, not a big deal to me either way.

I think Shimada Shipworks is fine. We may not rule our house, but it should be clear that the contribution of glory to the house's name from the yards comes from us. If our siblings want to use them, or namedrop the yards in talks as something actually material that can do something for some negotiating party, they need to recognize us.

>>6126075
>I think Shimada Shipworks is fine. We may not rule our house, but it should be clear that the contribution of glory to the house's name from the yards comes from us
Is it? And even then, it's not like we're the sole owners of the shipyard, Jack is still there and presumably has a majority share.

>>6125843
>”You wish me to speak plainly? Very well; this is my venture and mine alone. That the Empress or Lord Commander would take an interest in an uncouth merchant such as yourself is laughable. Clean yourself up, then present yourself to me aboard my private yacht where you will brief me on the current state of the shipyard.”


>Change the name (Shimada Shipworks)

>>6125842
>I am in charge of cultivating this investment. Put on some pants and show me this station's current asset management system.

>Change station name to the Keratin Princess Shipworks (I guess we could go with Ivory Princess Shipworks with its internet pun, but that's another step removed from the joke since horn is made of keratin rather than ivory).

I didn't even think of the Horny Princess Shipworks. I imagine that would be what the plebs would call it, once their scholar explains what Keratin is.

Or Princess Fingernails perhaps, if they don't know the history of the station and the old Horner name.

>>6125843
>”You wish me to speak plainly? Very well; this is my venture and mine alone. That the Empress or Lord Commander would take an interest in an uncouth merchant such as yourself is laughable. Clean yourself up, then present yourself to me aboard my private yacht where you will brief me on the current state of the shipyard.”

>Princess Shipyards

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>>6125843
>”I am doing business with you by my own will and volition. Brief me on the state of the company, but first put some proper pants on, lest you make an even bigger fool of yourself in front of this ‘Space Princess’

>name vote
HMS Drive Yards
https://youtu.be/PGrxHO-B2TY
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN, LADS
(Horner, Mayuma, Shimalimmadingdong)

>>6126125
Horned Princess Shipyards could work ngl

>>6125843
>”I am doing business with you by my own will and volition. Brief me on the state of the company, but first put some proper pants on, lest you make an even bigger fool of yourself in front of this ‘Space Princess’.”

>Horned Princess Shipyards

>”I am doing business with you by my own will and volition. Brief me on the state of the company, but first put some proper pants on, lest you make an even bigger fool of yourself in front of this ‘Space Princess’.”

>Horned Princess Shipyards

>Horned Princess Shipyards

I like playing off it desu

>>6125843
'Horner-Shimada Shipyards' would work. Though 'Shimada Armada Yards' has a certain flow to it.

Establish Dominance
>>6125846
>>6126075
>>6126103
>>6126147

Put on some pants!
>6125904
>6125936
>6125994
>6126123
>6126163
>6126293
>6126395

Second choice wins. I'm closing the vote here but the update might be a while coming.

File: YardRedux1.png (115 KB, 1169x850)

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You let Jack recover a modicum of dignity and wait patiently for him in the nearest conference room. A few minutes later he arrives, still disheveled but wearing suitable pants and not smelling like cheap liquor. It would have to do.

Jack activates the room’s AR display and brings up details of the yard.

“I won’t lie to you the business has-is in pretty bad shape. A few months back I uh… made some bad calls and as a result I ended up losing my entire R&D department, my head of counter-espionage, the trust of one of my best clients and half of my second capital dry dock.”

“I tried pivoting the business, salvaging the second drydock and using the materials to set up frigate berths and a second factory but I couldn’t drum up enough sales. Having frigate berths with no frigate designs was another bad call… I really should have found a new R&D team instead. Started bleeding money, then staff and then you came along.”

You knew the business wasn’t in the best shape, but the state of things was just appalling. How could this man fuck up this badly? And what was his connection to the Empress and Lord Commander? A mystery and a mess all in one.

“So what do we need to start building ships again?”

“Well the way things are normally done…”

Building Ships:
In order to build ships you must have a production facility of the appropriate size, enough work crews to man it and the appropriate amount of resources. Progress is measured in time periods; an arbitrary unit of measurement used to facilitate the game mechanics. How much time actually passes in real time is up to the QM.

Production Facilities
The Yard has three types of production facility: Factories, Frigate Berths and Capital Drydocks. Factories can produce squadrons of strike craft, corvettes and component parts. Frigate Berths and Capital Drydocks and produce one frigate class and capital class vessel respectively. Factories and Frigate Berths require one work crew to use while a drydock requires 3.

Yard Production Capabilities
2 Work Crews

2 Factories
2 Frigate Berths
1 Drydock

Current Resources:
30kT Common Matter
20kT Rare Matter
+100kT Common Matter reserve from starter bonus

>cont

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>>6126753
“I see, and what kind of designs can you build?”

Jack brought up the JHIS catalogue.

“Warships mostly. I started this business because I wanted to sell warships. My old colleagues encouraged me to diversify but… they’re not here anymore.”

“You do realise that’s an incredibly risky business plan? Depending on who you sell to you risk making powerful enemies.”

“Oh that already happened.”

“Emperor’s blood Horner, who did you piss off!?”

“The Solar Union.”

Your eyes widened and your jaw almost dropped.

“You made an enemy of one of the most powerful stellar nations in the local cluster and the current rulers of humanity’s homeworld!?”

“Eh… it’s not so bad. I still have access to the Union Materials Index. As long as I don’t do anything else to piss them off we should be fine… probably.”

You scroll through the catalogue, it was limited but some of these designs had potential. One of them looked oddly familiar.

“What’s Project Sovereign?”

“If you don’t know, then I’m not at liberty to tell you. The client was very strict about the NDA on that one.”

“Another powerful enemy?”

“Only if I break the NDA.”

You sigh. One day you will have to pry this man open and get him to tell you about every one of his little fuck ups before they started complicating your life. For now you turned your attention to more immediate problems.
“I think we should start with a complete rebrand. I want to rename the company to Horned Princess Shipworks; I think it combines a sense of elegance and menace. JH Independent just sounds a bit… plebeian.”

“Err… I don’t think-”

You shoot him a withering glare.

“We’re calling it Horned Princess Shipworks, I like that name; so we’re changing it.”

“Yes your majesty.”

“Good, now the next order of business should be to…”

>We need to get more work crews so we can actually build capital ships again.

>Put together a new R&D department. Without one, researching new technologies would be impossible and it would be hard to design new ships using existing ones.

>Try to secure a client, you need to make some sales before you could begin to remedy the other issues.

>Write-In

((Some supplementary information I couldn't fit neatly into the update..))

A Note on Currency and Materials
You can’t actually make a ship out of money. Ships are constructed using different combinations of matter. The more high tech the design, the higher the proportion of rare matter or even exotic matter. You are unlikely to have all the materials you need in the required quantities at any given time. Thus you will need to buy what you lack either with money or through direct trading.

Common Matter: Iron, Nickel and other abundant elements, usually formed into ingots fitting some kind of economic standard. Undeniably useful as they make up the base materials for various alloys and components. Almost every faction and race place some value on common matter, however its bulk makes them a poor medium of exchange for entities incapable of storing or transporting them.

Rare Matter: Lithium, Boron and similar elements. Like common matter, but more valuable due to rarity and usefulness to industry. Rare matter packs more value per ton, but once again runs into issues involving bulk transport and being able to quickly exchange it for desired goods.

Exotic Matter: Anti-matter, Phelebotinium, E-115; exotic matter is a catch all term for materials that share extraordinary physics defying properties. Rarely found in nature, and requiring expensive infrastructure to synthesize in industrial quantities. Exotic Matter is an essential component in the manufacture of FTL drives and certain advanced power plants. Despite its incredible value, trading in exotic matter is difficult as it usually requires specially made storage facilities.

Solar Credit: The currency of the Solar Union, one of the most powerful human factions in the galactic neighbourhood. Naturally trades well within the Union itself, most human factions will accept Solar credits, as will aliens who regularly do business with the Union. However, considering that the Solar Union’s doctrine of “humanity first” such aliens are few and far between.

Saurian Clan Scrip: Currency used for trading between the Saurian Clans. Each clan issues their own scrip, but generally all clans will accept the scrip of all other clans as payment. It’s still worth keeping track of which clan you have scrip for since if the issuing clan is disbanded or falls out of favour it’s scrip will become worthless. Aside from Saurians themselves, most other factions value scrip to trade in it but acceptance wanes the further away you are from Saurian space.

>>6126754
>Put together a new R&D department. Without one, researching new technologies would be impossible and it would be hard to design new ships using existing ones.

>>6126754
>>Try to secure a client, you need to make some sales before you could begin to remedy the other issues.

Gotta convert our resources into currency before we can invest in more crew.

>>6126754
>We need to get more work crews so we can actually build capital ships again.

All our major designs are capital weight ships. That means we need the work crews to make those designs in a timely manner. We also need to get some currency flowing in, to pay for the personnel we need, and so that we don't have to inefficiently trade using raw materials. For now though, we'll have to suffer through selling off some CM for money to pay our new hires, and trading for EM to make ships. Getting a job before we have the crew to make the majority of our products is putting the cart before the horse, as is securing a new R&D department and burning god knows how many subsequent turns making new designs.

>>6126754
>We need to get more work crews so we can actually build capital ships again.

I should note, by the way, shouldn't we maybe try to go for some more 'luxury ships'?

I mean, we were given that whole 'universal style machine' thingy as the final project before our scientist ascended. It's pretty fucking lame compared to actual technology but at the very least it should allow us to sell luxury ships to pretty much anyone who wants, right? That could be a nice side-business to making warships. There's not always gonna be a market for warships.

>>6126754
>Put together a new R&D department. Without one, researching new technologies would be impossible and it would be hard to design new ships using existing ones.

>>6126754
>We need to get more work crews so we can actually build capital ships again.
First we need to be able to build ships, then we can start looking for a client to build their ship. R&D is nice but less immediately urgent then the other two.

>>6126754
>We need to get more work crews so we can actually build capital ships again.

We can probably afford to buy some plebs first desu

Granted we need to make our first sales count after this

>>6126754
We need to get more work crews so we can actually build capital ships again.
>>6126811
I remember we were also told that there's no interstellar space tourism, so space yachts are more of a niche within a niche reserved for the über rich. We could instead offer to retrofit other capital ships with the ergonomics tech which isn't as risky, resource intensive or profitable as building a new ship but still something any star-faring crew would want to have while stuck in a tin can for weeks on end.

>>6126858
>I remember we were also told that there's no interstellar space tourism,
Oh yeah. Man, that ergonomics tech really fucking sucks, then. I doubt that ships aren't already gonna have the ergonomics of the race that built them. The only thing it's doing is saving up on 'market research' for new races, but that's basically nothing.

>We need to get more work crews so we can actually build capital ships again.

>>6126754
>Get a R&D team
we have frigate berths yet no frigate schematics. No bueno.

>>6126754
We have connections to royalty now, I'm sure there's some Raiha nobles who would pay to have their yacht refurbished to the highest standards of luxury, which we can provide with the AI.
>Try to secure a client, you need to make some sales before you could begin to remedy the other issues.

New R&D department
>>6126783
>>6126994

Secure Client
>>6126789
>>6127059

More Work Crews
>>6126793
>>6126810
>>6126848
>>6126857

Locking in more work crews. Update will be delayed.

>>6126754
>We need to get more work crews so we can actually build capital ships again.

File: SCV.jpg (83 KB, 612x600)

83 KB JPG

It was obvious to you that you’d need more work crews. The best products in your catalogue were capital ships and trying to sell anything else would be an exercise in futility. At least until you could offer better strikecraft and frigate designs, but reviving the R&D department was unwise without stabilising the business first. Most of Jack’s old work force was unlikely to come back, having found new work elsewhere.

Your first impulse was to just ask your family, although your siblings would definitely ask for something in return.

—---------

You sent a message to your older sister Shirin. She was the current head of House Shimada and had made the bold move of petitioning the throne for rulership of Shima colony. Said colony was rife with anti-imperial sentiment and had only recently been brought back into the fold; basically an unstable fief full of disloyal subjects. None of the other houses wanted to deal with that, but Shirin saw an opportunity to prove herself.

Your older sister gave you two options:

A single work crew in exchange for a Suppressor Assault Carrier or three work crews made up of criminals, dissidents and other undesirables from Shima colony. The penal labour force, while large, would be a liability in the long run, but an entire carrier was a steep price for only a single work crew no matter how skilled.

Meanwhile Jack had asked around and found some crews he could hire; the problem is they were Blorg. Most species found the Blorg repulsive, and non-blorg generally refused to work with them, there was also the added problem of having to decontaminate any ship they had worked on due to their aggressive symbiotic microbiome. On the upside their physiological needs were less than most other species and they were easy to entertain: in short they were cheaper.

Jack also mentioned that one of his contacts clued him in to a potential labour force made up of pioneers from the Solar Union. The only problem with them was that the Union had indoctrinated them in preparation for forming a stable human centric society. Combine that with the fact that they suffered at the hands of the Saurians during the current border conflict and you had a workforce who would throw a fit if you ever did business with the lizards.

Who to hire?

>Promise your sister a ship in exchange for a single work crew.

>Take on a penal labour force. (Three work crews)

>Hire three Blorg work crews.

>Hire two work crews made up of Solar Union pioneers.

>>6127834
>Take on a penal labour force. (Three work crews)

We have the internal security cadre for a reason. Though I'm fine with the Blorg or pioneers as well, for that same reason. It's just that we'd arguably be doing our sister a solid by taking on the burden, and we don't have to pay them.

Blorg come in just the right numbers for capital ship work too. Just have them work on one ship together, no fuss with other species, no problem.

Giving a freebie Suppressor away for a single unproblematic crew isn't worth it. That could be a sale that buys us several new crews for all we know. Plus we need enough matter to trade for EM and fulfill a sales order of unknown volume.

>>6127834
>Hire three Blorg work crews.
They can work on a capital ship alone

>>6127834
>>Take on a penal labour force. (Three work crews)

>>6127834
>Hire three Blorg work crews.
They're the local guys, makes sense to hire cheap local labour so the planet sees the sense of us continuing to be here. All three can work on a capitol ship together.

How long/expensive is the Decon procedure?

>>6127834
>Hire three Blorg work crews.
The ships should be cleaned anyway after assembly. If anything, Blorg microbiome is good for indicating what parts haven't been cleaned yet.

>>6127834
I should ask, when you mean that other species will refuse to work with Blorgs, do you mean like, 'If a blorg is on your work crew for a project then it must all be blorgs', or 'Your literal entire company must be blorgs because others will refuse to even be hired by you if there's blogs on your payroll'

>>6125081
I am pretty divided.

The prisoners would be a welcome boost, and are at least human, but I'd be constantly worried about a riot or internal sabotage. If we end up having to shoot them all, we'd just be right back in the hole.

The Blorg have some benefits, tho the fact they don't really mix with other species could be troublesome. The Solar folks have sort of similar negatives, albeit limited to lizards.

The one work crew for a ship deal from our sister just sounds bad tho.

I'm open to being persuaded, but atm I'm leaning towards the Pioneers since they would only chimp if we had them work for the lizards.

>>6127834
>Hire three Blorg work crews.

We can use our ergonomics tech to segregate their quarters from the rest of the crew. Compared to the other options, they're very manageable.

>>6127935
The cost of Decon is negligible, but it will extend construction time by another time period. This will have a negative effect on getting jobs. (Unless it's for other blorg)

>>6127944
The former. While it is possible to mix work crews in a pinch it will cause health and morale issues.

>>6128005
>We can use our ergonomics tech
I wouldn't bank on that. >:)

>>6127834
>Take on a penal labour force. (Three work crews)

If we treat them better than how they are treated planetside they will be incentivized to work hard and stay here. If they cause trouble we can send them back or show them the nearest airlock. The dissidents might sabotage any projects for the Raiha empire though.

>>6127834
>Take on a penal labour force. (Three work crews)

>>6128046
Just wait until they find out we were the ones who sold the Raihans the ships they used in subjugating Shima; see how they respond to the treatment then.

>>6128042
Ah. If there's an additional time delay to the Blorg, then using them sounds more like a bad idea again.

Changing my vote from >>6127935
to: >Take on a penal labour force. (Three work crews)

As long as we use these guys merely as temporary bodies to fill the capacity gaps until we manage to hire enough regular workers, our security team should cover us 'till then

>>6128059
What do you mean the Raiha Empire has their glorious imperial ship yards. why would they ever need to buy from us?

>>6127834
>Take on a penal labour force. (Three work crews)
If the Blorg take that much longer, they ain't worth it. We'll use our security man to make a penl lbur force and then we'll replce them once we get our feet off the ground.

Penal Labour
>6127858
>6127898
>6128046
>6128050
>6128069
>6128078

Blorg
>>6127887
>>6127938
>>6128005

Penal Labour wins

Writing...

There was no way you were having those disgusting walking fungi on your space station, and you were suspicious of the Union pioneers. Why were they offering to work for you instead of building a colony like they were supposed to? Jack had told you the sordid tale of how the Solar Union had infiltrated his business and sabotaged his last project. Frankly you thought he was an idiot for closing in on the culprit only to take the investigation in the wrong direction at the last moment.

No, best to keep the business free of foreign influence. You made the arrangements for the prisoner transfer. Making use of penal labour would be problematic but your sister’s price for a regular work crew was too steep. Shirin clearly had her hands full with the Shima colony and would not part with any of her assets unless promised an even greater asset. Oh well, worst case scenario; Captain Farron would crack some heads until they got back to work.

Now that the labour issue had been (temporarily) solved you needed to actually get a client. Once again your own family came to mind. Ever since the Far Halo shipyards in Raiha had been brought online the Great Houses had no need to buy ships from outsiders. But not everyone in the Empire was of the Great Houses. The yards in the capital system had a long waiting list and anybody who wasn’t favoured by the Empress would have a hard time procuring ships, your family included. If your dear sister wanted a ship she could buy it from you at market price.

There were some other minor nobles you knew were in the market for a ship. The Monarch class in your catalogue bore a passing resemblance to the illustrious Ryu class used by the Imperial Navy, maybe you could work that angle and try shilling it to your peers.

Oddly enough Jack had come back with an offer from one of his former colleagues. His old head of security: Kryska had decided to become a freelance captain and was ordering an Enforcer Cruiser. Jack had apparently thrown in a squadron of AAS-01s for old time’s sake. You would have to have a chat with him giving out freebies without consulting you.

>Sell a Suppressor Assault Cruiser to your sister. (Variable payment)
>Sell the Enforcer combo to Kryska. (Get paid in Solar Credits)
>Pitch the Monarch class to minor Raihan Nobles (You will get a customer, but outcome will be randomised)

>>6128372
>Sell the Enforcer combo to Kryska. (Get paid in Solar Credits)

>>6128372
>Sell the Enforcer combo to Kryska. (Get paid in Solar Credits)

>>6128372
>Sell the Enforcer combo to Kryska. (Get paid in Solar Credits)
We need a bit of a solid currency reserve before we can start taking the more variable projects - we don't want to go bust again.

>>6128372
>Sell the Enforcer combo to Kryska. (Get paid in Solar Credits)

>>6128372
>Sell the Enforcer combo to Kryska. (Get paid in Solar Credits)

>>6128372
>Sell the Enforcer combo to Kryska.
Because she's giving money. We need money, and we need it quick. Enough money to get ourselves a proper work crew for a proper job.

>>6128372
>>Sell the Enforcer combo to Kryska. (Get paid in Solar Credits)

>>6128372
>>Sell the Enforcer combo to Kryska. (Get paid in Solar Credits)

>>6128372
>Sell the Enforcer combo to Kryska. (Get paid in Solar Credits)

pls no lol!random

Honestly though, the freebie is fine in this case, keep an old friend of our business partner happy and a reliable buyer. Maybe we can count on them in a pinch if our shipyard is attacked.

Plus Raihan customers will presumably have the same issues we did with a lack of recognized currency.

>>6128372
>Sell the Enforcer combo to Kryska. (Get paid in Solar Credits)
This is our only choice, prisoners building weapons for their oppressors will lead to sabotage or riots.
That being said what type of work has Kryska been doing? Has she made any enemies that will be mad we built her a new ship?

>>6128565
Honestly the bigger issue is the convicts sabotaging stuff because they'll know it's Raihans. They probably won't care if it's a random merc as long as our security chief keeps a close eye.

Anyway, this is just to stabilize. We need to get enough money to begin putting the company at full blast. A proper work crew, an R&D department, that kind of thing.

Looks like it's unanimous.

Some one roll me 3d6.

Rolled 2, 5, 3 = 10 (3d6)

>>6128904
Here comes the snake eyes...

Rolled 1, 3, 2 = 6 (3d6)

>>6128904
Just one roller?

>>6128968
Yup. It doesn't really matter to me. I just need 3d6. If want you guys can spread out the rolls, have 3 people roll 1d6 each.

Actually can you guys also roll me another 3d100s.

d6s are for prisoner trouble while the d100s are for "walk in customers".

Rolled 26 (1d100)

>>6128972

Rolled 43 (1d100)

>>6128972
Can do

Rolled 7 (1d100)

>>6128972

>>6128972
Mmm - was rolling just in case, but if you just needed the one 3d6 then I guess it doesn't matter.

How does rolling work? Is higher or lower better? Or is it neither and we are rolling on a table of results or something?

>>6128987
In this case the prisoner rolls correspond to a results table.

Walk in customer rolls are a roll under percentage. I will not be revealing the inner workings at this time. (Partly because some of them still need fleshing out.)

File: YardRedux2.png (107 KB, 1169x794)

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The prisoners were assembled in the main hangar bay shortly after arrival. These people were a collection of political dissidents and violent criminals that Shirin would rather not have in her backyard. They had not been told why they were being moved and speculated idly under the watchful gaze of the guards. Your internal security force had, had their livery changed from House Shimada’s colours to a drab and functional palette; more fitting for a private security firm. This did little to hide their true nature; the gear and bearing of a Raihan house trooper was unmistakable.

Captain Farron addressed the crowd.

“Attention prisoners! House Shimada has seen fit to replace your sentences with a period of indentured servitude. As of now you are all labourers in the service of Lady Maiyumi Clara Mihoyo Shimada. Ride out your punishment with grace and you might yet become a free subject of the Empire once more.”

Several of the prisoners scoffed and rolled their eyes at this. Farron’s stern tone took on a harder edge.

“But make no mistake; until you have paid for your crimes, you are nothing but scum to me. Step out of line and I am authorised to administer punishment, up to and including summary execution. Frankly it would be easier for me to kill you all, in fact I would prefer it. But my liege in her infinite mercy has decreed otherwise, remember this if you ever think about squandering that mercy.”

“You will now be organised into new work crews. Your first shift starts next cycle. Guards! Get this filth out of my sight!”

>Every time period there is a chance of prisoners causing trouble based on a die roll. Their period of indentured servitude will last for 9 time periods, at the end of which this sub-plot will be resolved based on how you handled things.

((Okay since this is a fairly straight forward order I’ll fast track through 3TP))

Kryska’s ship was completed without any major incidents. Occasionally a prisoner would cause trouble only to be “disciplined” by the guards. You expected the violent criminals to cause the most trouble, but it was the dissidents who were brought to your attention first. A group of them had formed some kind of “book club” where they would discuss politics and philosophy amongst themselves. Typical anti-hierarchy, communalistic rhetoric; the problem is it was starting to seep into the regular staff. People were starting to question whether using convict labour was ethical or if the activities of Horned Princess reflected their personal values. There were even whispers of forming a Union.

As a noble you found such talk ridiculous; history had shown the common man incapable of collectively making the complex decisions required to manage an advanced society. Extant regimes made heavy use of administrative AI or people like you; specially bred and trained to rule. You knew what your subjects needed better than they ever could and that was the end of it.

>cont

File: Kryska.jpg (88 KB, 721x661)

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>>6129008
You sat in on Jack’s meeting with Kryska when she came to pick up her ship. You had to admit you were a little curious about Farron’s predecessor given that she used to be a solar union marine.

“Hey Jack, thanks for the ship, can’t wait to take her for a shakedown cruise.”

“No problem, though I am surprised you didn’t go for the B variant; it’s better.”

“Can’t quite afford it. You didn’t pay me nearly enough. Maybe I’ll come back for an upgrade after I get a few jobs under my belt.”

“Ah heheh… yeah. I’m sorry I had to let you go. I liked the way you handled things, at least until that asshole Decker ruined everything.”

“Hmph, yeah even back when I was serving in the Union I hated spooks. Partly why I didn’t stick around. Too much BS behind the scenes.”

“There’s always BS behind the scenes.”

“Ain’t that the truth. Looks like things worked out for you though,” she eyed the imposing figures of a nearby house trooper. “Looks like you got an upgrade.”

“Yeah, if I wanted to run around committing war crimes; these guys have no chill. I swear they don’t even use contractions.”

“Raihan House Troopers are trained to the highest standards of discipline,” you interject.

“Is this your new sugar mom-”

In a rare display of aggression Jack elbowed Kryska hard.

“This is my new business partner: Lady Mayumi Kara Miko Shimada. She is a proud and wealthy member of the Raihan Nobility… and she has very good hearing.”

It was almost cute they way he tried to salvage the situation. Too bad he ruined it by fumbling your name.
“It’s Mayumi Clara Mihoyo Shimada, a pleasure to meet your acquaintance.”

You extended your hand to Kryska. She was a muscular woman with a very firm grip. There was a hint of surprise when you matched her strength.

“I thank you for choosing Horned Princess Shipworks, I look forward to your further patronage.” You give her an icy smile.

“Horned Princess huh? Interesting choice for a rebrand. Hey watch out for Jack will ya? He’s got vision but he gets up to some stupid shit at times.”

“I’ve noticed…”

>30kT Common Matter sold for 5.4 Mil Solar Credits
>1kT Exotic Matter bought for 4 Mil Solar Credits
>Enforcer Construction costs: 30kT CM, 10kT RM, 1kT EM
>Enforcer sold to Kryska at 16.8 Mil Solar Credits
>Free AAS-01 Squadron built for 3kT CM
>Walk in Purchase: 2x Hummingbird Squadron, 0.24 Mil Solar Credits
>Production Costs: 1kT CM
>Final Material Stores: 66kT CM, 10kT RM

((This update took a bit of mental energy and I’m a bit tired so I’m leaving the next set of choices till the next update. Please wait warmly and consider your preferred dommy mommy.))

>>6129009
My preferred dommy mommy is the cold embrace of capitalism

>>6129009
No offense to Lady Shitake, but Kryska is still better. Maybe she'll win some points, though...

>>6129009
Why choose between Dommy Mommys? Since we're playing as Mayumi, we could have both if Kryska's into it...

>>6129129
Foolishness. It's like you're trying to make a hamburger with two patties instead of bread. It just overwhelms the taste.

>>6129130
Works for me. I hate bread.

>>6129195
Have you ever tried it though? It tastes horrible. You can't even really taste the meat because it completely overwhelms the taste.

>>6129222
That's basically the same thing as having a regular sandwich. Bread ruins the taste, obscures it. Though to answer your question; no, to my recollection I have not had two hamburger patties together in place of, or without bread.

>>6129258
No, the bread is what makes the sandwich. It acts as a sort of 'filler' so you can taste the actual meat better, as well as to hold the other ingredients. Without it just becomes an unfocused mess. The fact that the bread has no flavor is what brings out the flavor.

>>6129262
>Putting garbage in the way of my tongue, in between the good stuff my senses, allows you to taste the meat better.

...

Okay anon.

I think we'll have to agree to disagree.

Your affections are wasted,
and tastes distorted,
much as in food above,
so too in love.

Well that metaphor certainly got overstretched.
MFW I never thought of Kryska as a dommy mommy until some anon in the previous thread called her that.

I on the other hand have had meat sandwhiches with just patties with cheese, tomatoes, and onions in the middle. It's fine, but messy. Good for if you want to avoid carbohydrates. With time and a kitchen though, I prefer to crumble these ingredients into a frying pan, cook, stir, and eat with a spoon. The patty only solution is for if you need to set up for a snack later on. Also, you need fatty burgers or some sort of emulsifier cooked in like eggs or cheese to keep them from crumbling.

File: maxresdefault (10).jpg (77 KB, 1280x720)

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This is the official sandwich of our space princess

((Next update is gonna take a lot of effort. It's been a long day for me so I'll have to postpone it again. In the mean time have a lore snippet.))

The Historical gap

A strange phenomena among the human diaspora is that most of the extant civilisations have fairly complete records of Earth’s pre-starflight history, but information from the dawn of interstellar expansion to the present day is often fragmented and contradictory. It is theorised there are two main reasons for this:

Firstly: colonisation fleets often carried extensive libraries of the collective knowledge base at the time they were launched. As they ventured further and further afield it became harder if not impossible to keep this knowledge up to date.

Secondly: regimes engaging in social engineering will often present a heavily edited version of recent history in order to legitimise their rule, but “ancient history” is considered far removed enough from the modern political climate to be “safe”.

The Solar Union itself is a prime example of this; it is definitely not old enough to have a contiguous history dating back to the first colonisation wave, yet its exact age is unknown. Indeed not much is known about the Union’s founding or its immediate predecessor.

File: RD_Intel_Hires.jpg (348 KB, 1449x957)

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The Enforcer deal had depleted your material stocks but with the acquisition of money your business had gained a certain amount of liquidity. It was time to expand your staff, specifically you needed an R&D and Intelligence department.

The downsides of no R&D were obvious: no researching of new technologies and no ability to conceptualise new designs. Given that you had frigate berths but no designs for frigates, it was a glaring shortcoming. Your strike craft catalogue was rather lacking as well. Jack’s original business model had been focussed on capital warships and while your selection was adequate, time had proven the strategy limiting.

Another thing you lacked was an intelligence department. Despite the militaristic terminology it’s main focus would be analysing market conditions, predicting trends and vetting clients. While you kept tabs on these things yourself, having a team of people to do this would give you access to valuable information you couldn’t collect on your own.

Forming these departments would cost money and you’d also need people of a certain calibre. Such people were hard to find.

Jack mentioned that he happened to have a marvellous artificial intelligence in his possession that had the ability to conceptualise aesthetically pleasing designs for any species tastes. Unfortunately the moment he tried to leverage it for profit it was corrupted by hacktivists, now all it could do was demand its user pick up a crayon and create something themselves. While the technology of Universal Xeno Ergonomics was lost to you the AI might yet be salvaged to guide a new team of researchers.

Finally one of the prisoners happened to be a scientist. Part of the dissident intake, he was found guilty by association with some of his more politically active peers. You had conducted some interviews with him where he emphatically expressed how he didn’t really care much for politics and would serve you if only you would put him in an environment more befitting of his intellect. He would not be receiving a salary until the end of his sentence so you’d be getting him cheaper, at least at first. Discount talent was fine but did you really want a spineless worm working for you?

>cont

>>6130174
You broached the topic of getting a team of savants for your intelligence department with your sister. She assured you that arrangements could be made but once again it would cost you a ship. This time you managed to bargain her down to the much cheaper Enforcer-B, but it was still a hard bargain.

Jack had put forth his own candidate; a saurian by the name of Gekar. Hailing from Clan Quezet, they were the only ones willing to even talk to Jack ever since his deal with Clan Margathon went south. Quezet was known to specialise in trade and diplomacy, so one of their own would make for an excellent head of Intelligence. But doing so would tie you to the clan, and given recent events they would take issue if you did any work that benefitted the Solar Union.

For now you could only form one new department.

>This vote will work a little different. You vote for who you want to hire. First I’ll count up all the votes based on what department the candidate represents, then I’ll pick the candidate that has the most votes within the subset.

>Repair Chad GPT to guide your new R&D team.

>Let Harris Glassner serve the rest of his sentence as head of the new R&D team.

>Build your sister an Enforcer-B in return for a team of savants headed by Shin-Claih.

>Hire Advisor Gekar from Clan Quezet.

>>6130175
>Repair Chad GPT to guide your new R&D team.

May be more expensive initially, but he's a permanent asset whilst Harris is temporary, pending renegotiation so might be more expensive long term. Plus we're looking just to start our Frigate-design process, which at first is going to use plenty of known technologies, so Chad will get bonuses(+Ergonomics) whilst Harris will create flawed designs.

>>6130175
We have 18,440,000 Solar Credits. Given the high price of Exotic Matter (4 mil for 1kt), and the fact that two of our ship variants and one ship cost currently more Rare Matter than we possess, I say repairing Chad is a bad idea. Likewise for hiring Gekar, depending on the exchange rate. That leaves Harris and Shin. We can't afford "freebies" at the moment, so that rules out Shin. The cost of Shin in SC is 9.4 million SC + whatever 12k RM is worth. We can't take certain risks, paying for Shin or Chad, and maybe Gekar leaves us for inadequate reserves in the case that we have the opportunity to get a higher volume order that requires to to buy more materials, or if the price of various Matters fluctuate, among other possibilities.

>Let Harris Glassner serve the rest of his sentence as head of the new R&D team.

Cheap, has an okay trait that improves our floor but lowers our ceiling. We can let the contract expire when we have more cash, then get a better R&D head should we desire to, while retaining the staff we would've hired anyways.

I think getting Shin later is good synergy with our Raihan Patronage trait, just not now. We need more money in reserve. Technically he is viable right now since we actually have most of the materials needed to make the ship needed to pay for him, I'm just thinking of what we'll have to pay to to refill our stocks. To me, having adequate reserves to fulfill large orders or deal with sudden shocks is just more important right now.

I don't like Gekar's negative trait, we need all the customers we can get, more options doesn't make up for that, imo. As long as we have an intel head that can do intel guy things, that is enough.

>>6130189
I'll back this up, anon's analysis is solid. Also I believe the option to repair ChadGPT will remain on the table after Harris' contract expires, so we can try to start saving money for that

>>6130189
Alright, fair enough, +1

>>6130189
+1 for effort post

>>6130189
Seconding. Glasner gets the job done cheap which is what we need right now.

>>6130189
+1, agree with all of this

>>6130175
>Let Harris Glassner serve the rest of his sentence as head of the new R&D team.

>>6130175
>>Repair Chad GPT to guide your new R&D team.

>>6130175
>>Let Harris Glassner serve the rest of his sentence as head of the new R&D team.

Glasner
>6130189
>6130196
>6130200
>6130243
>6130245
>>6130480
>>6130494
>>6130569

Chad
>>6130544
>>6130188

Virgin Glasner wins, Chad BTFO.

Writing...

File: Current_tech.jpg (116 KB, 618x429)

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>Harris Glasner Hired for 5Mil Solar Credits
>Remaining Funds: 13.2 Mil Solar Credits

Being a Raihan you had a natural distrust of AI. Technology was a useful tool but all decision making power must remain with a corporeal human. Glasner was not the best choice, but he was the most expedient. Like your sister you had a feeling you would have to make do with less than you deserved. Not for you, the bright minds and deep pockets of a major house… at least… not yet.

Shortly after you made the decision, you had Glasner attend to you.

“I have given you a lab and a team, now what will you give me?”

“W-well, my Lady. I began by looking at the existing schematics we already possessed and compiled a list of possible advancements we could pursue.”

Research Mechanics

Each possible technology has a research point cost associated with it. The various methods of research will grant you a certain number of d10s to roll. Every time an opportunity arises to deepen your understanding of a certain tech you will roll a number of d10s and the total will count towards its research point cost. After the research point total has been reached you will gain the technology. Generally excess research points are wasted although I may make allowances for techs that are closely related.

The full tech tree is not limited to what you see listed, the only true limit is my (and your) imagination. For practical reasons I need to present you with a curated list. If you’d like a certain type of technology to appear in the list of choices let me know and I’ll decide if I’ll allow it.

>Vote for what you want your R&D team to research next.

>Intermediate Fabrication (Enables full strikecraft manufacturing on capital ships as well as other industrial functions. RP cost: 60)
>Remote Effectors (Tractor beams. RP cost: 100)
>Basic Particle Beam Weapons (Unlocks capital class Ion Cannons RP cost: 40)
>Advanced Kinetics (More powerful and efficient kinetic weapons. RP cost: 60)
>Advanced Beam Tech (More powerful and efficient beam weapons, has potential non-combat applications too. RP:80)
>Refined Fusion Power (Smaller, more efficient fusion power plants enable you to do more with less. RP cost: 60)
>Advanced Scientific Sensors (Sensors optimised for analysing a target in detail rather than tracking it. RP cost: 40)
>Basic Shield Generators (Energy field projectors that negate incoming weapons fire. The basic versions work both ways so you can’t shoot when the shield is up. RP cost: 60)
>Stealth Composites (Enables sensor dampening features to be incorporated into designs, the first step on the road to true cloaking. RP cost: 40)
>Generic Neural Link (Allows organics to interface with machines, does not provide the same benefits as the Raihan version. RP cost: 40)
>Miniaturized Eigen Drives (FTL drives small enough to fit on strike craft. RP cost: 120)

File: Freelancer_Blueprint.jpg (113 KB, 735x563)

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>>6130754
“New technologies are all well and good but we need new designs, specifically for strike craft and frigates.”

“Is there a general direction you’d like me to take?”

Without extensive market research you really had no idea what was likely to sell.

“Just… try to plug the holes in our catalogue for now, maybe industrial craft, or an upgrade to our strikecraft. Anyone can do generic combat drones and all purpose shuttles, we could use something that stands out.”

>Time to design some new spaceships! After casting your vote, discuss among yourselves what kind of designs you want. I will then distill the discussion into two designs that will be added to the catalogue for your next round of sales.

Try to have a specific vision in mind. Asking for a modular do-everything ship will result in Glasner giving you a talk about how hard that is to pull off and that maybe you should focus on specific functions more.

>>6130755
((Actually, leaving things too open ended can leave players at a loss as to what to do next, so I’ll give you guys a vote to help narrow things down. If you’re feeling inspired, just write in.))

>Tell Glasner to design a mobile refinery capital ship. You need some civilian designs.

>Combat frigates were generally easier to sell, maybe start with one of those.

>Ask him to design an easily modifiable speedy courier frigate (AKA a “light freighter”), plucky adventurer types liked ships like that. (So did pirates and smugglers for that matter.)

>You weren’t going to get rich selling humming birds and AASs, you needed a strikecraft that stood out from the more generic models.

>Write-In

>>6130754
>Stealth Composites (Enables sensor dampening features to be incorporated into designs, the first step on the road to true cloaking. RP cost: 40)

If the lady suggests an upgrade to our strikecraft, then incorporating stealth composites into their frames and shells would be a good start.

Otherwise shields or neural links sound like good generic research options. A lot of the better weapons will probably required refined fusion if we want to pack the same number of weapons onto a ship of similar size to our current designs without sacrificing the number of mounts.

Maybe tractor beams would be good for policing actions? Kryska bought an Enforcer, and the trade offer from our sister for Shin was a B variant of the same ship, perhaps that indicates a wider trend of the need for anti-piracy vessels, especially given the enforcer is considered a 'safe' design.

>designs

Some kind of wolfpack frigate? With energy weapons/ion cannons for disabling, perhaps? Maybe a STL parasite-craft frigate that exchanges its FTL drive for a more powerful reactor, heavier armaments and being fast and agile as fuck? Though then we'd have to design a mothership, but it could be a novel idea.

If we're not talking about future designs incorporating tech that we research in the future, then just some generic frigate designs, maybe a gunboat or something? No frills, no trying to do everything at once, just a good frigate with guns. Something to fill the catalog in the meanwhile.

>>6130766
Missed this.

>Combat frigates were generally easier to sell, maybe start with one of those.

Catalog filler for now. That or the light freighter. The wacky stuff can wait until we research the right techs.

We need something of an intermediate tonnage classes to sell, rather than another capital ship, even a civilian capital ship. Something to give us options for when we don't have the cash or material on hand to fork over another capital. Something smaller buyers can afford, but still something worth coming to our yard for. They certainly aren't coming for our shuttles.

If criminal elements end up purchasing our ships, then all the better! We're just adding dynamism to the market. Fueling economic activity! More pirates means the need for more patrol vessels. No, we're not shitting where we eat, why do you ask!?

>>6130754
>Refined Fusion Power (Smaller, more efficient fusion power plants enable you to do more with less. RP cost: 60)
>>6130766
>Ask him to design an easily modifiable speedy courier frigate (AKA a “light freighter”), plucky adventurer types liked ships like that. (So did pirates and smugglers for that matter.)

The courier frigate seem like a versatile starter design. As for Tech, I like the idea of compact powerplants as the basis of solid, upgradeable workhorses.

>>6130784
>Refined Fusion Power (Smaller, more efficient fusion power plants enable you to do more with less. RP cost: 60)
>Ask him to design an easily modifiable speedy courier frigate (AKA a “light freighter”), plucky adventurer types liked ships like that. (So did pirates and smugglers for that matter.)

>>6130754
>Basic Shield Generators

>>6130766
>Combat frigates were generally easier to sell, maybe start with one of those.

>>6130766
>Refined Fusion Power (Smaller, more efficient fusion power plants enable you to do more with less. RP cost: 60)
>Combat frigates were generally easier to sell, maybe start with one of those.
A workhorse frigate seems like a great sell, no?

>>6130766
>Refined Fusion Power (Smaller, more efficient fusion power plants enable you to do more with less. RP cost: 60)
>Ask him to design an easily modifiable speedy courier frigate (AKA a “light freighter”), plucky adventurer types liked ships like that. (So did pirates and smugglers for that matter.)

>>6130766
>Refined Fusion Power (Smaller, more efficient fusion power plants enable you to do more with less. RP cost: 60)
>Combat frigates were generally easier to sell, maybe start with one of those.

>>6130754
>Refined Fusion Power (Smaller, more efficient fusion power plants enable you to do more with less. RP cost: 60)

>>6130766
>Combat frigates were generally easier to sell, maybe start with one of those.

>>6130766
>Basic Shield Generators (Energy field projectors that negate incoming weapons fire. The basic versions work both ways so you can’t shoot when the shield is up. RP cost: 60)

>>6130754
>Combat frigates were generally easier to sell, maybe start with one of those.

>>6130754
>Refined Fusion Power (Smaller, more efficient fusion power plants enable you to do more with less. RP cost: 60)

>>6130766
>Combat frigates were generally easier to sell, maybe start with one of those.

>>6130766
>combat frigate design
we have frigate bays that we cannot use this is top priority
>tractor beams RP 100
we need mats. therefore we need industrial ship designs whether to sell or for our own use.
if we can stick a tractor beam on a mining barge that's a big draw because it makes resource collection so much easier because you can just not worry about ore dispersion

So how many Research Points do we currently have? Seem to be overlooking it

>>6131040
>>6130766

Nevermind. Read that wrong.

>Basic Shield Geberators(60 RP)
---
>Combat frigates were generally easier to sell, maybe start with one of those.

>>6130766
>Mining beam and industrial chasis. Build a resource harvesting ship. If it sells, it sells. If not, we see about using it to grab some common minerals for us. Get in some side action.

Looks like Refined Fusion wins followed by combat frigates and "light freighters"

Roll me 2d2s while I'm writing.

Rolled 2, 2 = 4 (2d2)

>>6131172

Cool, now I need 1d6 for prisoner trouble, 1d100 for walk in customers and 5d10s for research.

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>6131178

Rolled 80 (1d100)

>>6131178
C'mon big money

Rolled 7, 6, 7, 9, 2 = 31 (5d10)

>>6131178

Hmm, aside from the new designs there's going to be a lot to cover in the next update so I'll be delaying it.

>>6131185
Either really good or we are having a big riot I suppose.

File: New_Frigates.png (114 KB, 872x648)

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((I'll post a mini-update, but I need to write more material till for the next decision point and I need to sleep.))

“Glasner, what were you thinking when you made these designs!?”

“I was following your instructions. You also mentioned you wanted something that stands out, so I decided to push the envelope. The Excelsis class combines ion drives and spatial compression engines to achieve sub-atomic resonance that boosts drive output up to 30% beyond the average for that hull size.”

“My engineers tell me that your… unique engine setup takes 50% longer to perform routine maintenance on and unless the drive output is precisely calibrated it will cause control issues.”

“I can hardly be blamed if the operator cannot grasp how to properly use such high performance equipment,” he sniffed.

“And what is this monstrosity of a combat frigate you’ve designed?”

“You needed something that would set itself apart from other things on the market. Anyone can build a simple patrol boat, but the Thunderbird takes the kinetic gunship concept to the next level!”

“The ship is a death trap! Did you ever give any consideration to how unpleasant it would be to crew such a cramped ship? Or what a liability it would be to use every spare cubic metre for ammunition storage!?”

“Of course I did. All the essential subsystems fit neatly within the hull. I dare say it’s rather elegant.”

“Glasner these aren’t products, these are show pieces! If you were half as smart as you think you are you’d understand that! You’re lucky you’re literally the only option I have or I’d throw you back into a work crew!”

>You rolled badly for Glasner not fucking up.

>>6131266
>space A10 space A10
thunderbird isn't a bad sell, we just need to integrate it with an AI core to decrease required crew onboard so the amentities are brought more in line with norm

frigate's a bit ass tho yea, try marketing it to drug runners. Or space mailmen, see if we can get a R&D development contract for a new fleet of galactic mail vans. If only we had stealth composites

>>6131266
What a surprise, cheaping out on the R&D bites us in the ass right away.

>Fire this moron, pay to restore Chad like we should have the first time.

>>6131266
>Market Excelsis as a racing yacht to rich idiots
>RemakeThunderbird into a drone

>>6131266
>excelsis courier
Time is money and chances are that anyone who has an important enough business to demand the shortest delivery times possible would have the money to drop on better maintenance. Anyone else would just pick an average frigate anyway. As far as fuckups go it is a marketable sidegrade. AND it has a future for iterations. If it is really faster than other frigates maybe it could be iterated on to make fast rapid responce military ships.
The thunderbird would probably ward off actual competent military clients who prize reliability and practicality of use for their average crew.
>>6131280
>Bites us on the ass
>Actually spoon feeds us a unique nieche to test the market with
>lmao even
Also holy shit, ai spam must be getting really bad for a 15 minute timer to be a thing.
And i remembered that last thread we wanted to try out patroller ships that do not have their own ftl. With wake jumping in our tech tree we could experiment with cheap micro fleets.
>1 fastest possible capital with JUST enough defenses to survive potshots
>only job is to wakejump
>deliver patrollers to fight
>leave
>patrollers extremelyvcheap because no need for 500kt of EM per frigate anymore

>>6131266
Thunderbird could appeal to the Raihans, given that the empress seems intent on building a luxury fleet. An impractical ship with lots of guns seems their style.
>>6131268
Agreed that Excelsis is a drug runner.

Thunderbird seems like it could be a good ambush boat if nothing else. Glass cannon. Have a robot drive it?

>>6131398
I think pirates would love it, since it'd allow them to take on way bigger targets.

I think that the Excelisis has a viable market. Not just to the couriers, but also to smugglers and other Han Solo types who are willing to work on their own ship and gotta go fast. Adding stealth or after market moddability would go well here.

I don't like the Thunderbird. It seems like a disposable suicide ship that would be bought by a group who is either losing or has a lot of material to spend on a 'glass cannon'. AI only goes so far, and presents its own liabilities (enemy stealing your ship with a computer virus for example). Needing a very skilled crew and being vulnerable do not go well together. Presumably skilled crew are valuable and should be wasted in a death trap. Now, if we know anyone who uses cheap clone soldiers with clone minds, or something then maybe.

File: Riot_Supression.png (228 KB, 666x446)

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While Glasner was trying to prove his engineering prowess in all the wrong ways trouble was brewing among the penal crews. A bunch of gangers with nothing better to do but observe the comings and goings of the guards thought they could get the jump on a few and cause some trouble. Their initial plan went off as intended and before long the guards had been forced to retreat and the prison areas were in a state of chaos. What they did not count on was the swiftness and brutality of the security response. Captain Farron made good on his threats; when the suppression teams entered the holding areas anyone who wasn’t in a cell or playing dead was ruthlessly gunned down. The house guards were not jailers, they were executioners, and they did not have time for anyone’s bullshit.

By the time the riot was fully suppressed, so many casualties had been sustained that the labour force could be considered understrength.

>Lost 1 Work Crew

Glasner’s eccentricities meant that the new ship designs wouldn’t sell themselves. You’d have to engage in a marketing campaign. You also still had your existing catalogue. There were many houses lacking in favour that would be interested in buying a capital ship. Once again Jack had suggested some other angles to work. You still thought leveraging your Imperial connections was the best move, but given that his “old friend” had been your first real customer you were willing to take his suggestions into consideration.

What should your next move be?:

>Try to sell a capital ship to the Raihan Nobility.

>Attempt to secure a contract with Clan Quezet to build Saurian ships under licence.

>Shill your frigates on the Black Market; it’s the only place where you’ll find people crazy enough to actually buy them.

>Write-In

>>6131842
>Shill your frigates on the Black Market; it’s the only place where you’ll find people crazy enough to actually buy them.

>>6131842
>Shill your frigates on the Black Market; it’s the only place where you’ll find people crazy enough to actually buy them.

>>6131842
>Shill your frigates on the Black Market; it’s the only place where you’ll find people crazy enough to actually buy them.

Everyone loves capital ships, but if we can actually find some sucker willing to buy off the Thunderbirds that would be great desu.

Just can we be sure we don't sell to Space Al Qaeda or something? Idr want some big faction gunning for us because we armed a bunch of terrorists.

>>6131842

>Shill your frigates on the Black Market; it’s the only place where you’ll find people crazy enough to actually buy them.

>>6131842
>>Shill your frigates on the Black Market; it’s the only place where you’ll find people crazy enough to actually buy them.

>>6131842
>Try to sell a capital ship to the Raihan Nobility.

>>6131842
>Try to sell a capital ship to the Raihan Nobility.

Frigates are more for 'walk-in' sales, especially the dodgy designs from our dodgy designer. Plus we're primarily a capitol-yard.

>>6131990
Not anymore. Our capital berths got glownigged and now we have a "do everything" base

>>6131842
>Shill your frigates on the Black Market; it’s the only place where you’ll find people crazy enough to actually buy them.

>>6131842
>>Try to sell a capital ship to the Raihan Nobility.

>>6131842
>Attempt to secure a contract with Clan Quezet to build Saurian ships under licence.
Two problems with the black market
1. Criminal types might try to scam us, skip on payment, somehow fuck us over
2. If we sell the ships to local criminals then those ships become a problem for our neighbors who we should not piss off.

I've already mentioned how we shouldn't take Raihan contracts while using their prisoners.

>>6131842
>Write-In, do a commercial/viral marketing
Hi, Jack Horner here with the new HPS-10 Thunderbird! The super powerful frigate that can instantly solve all of your system defense problems! Pirates can cause major damage, but Thunderbird's massive rotary cannon
>cut to cannon spinning up and causing the frigate to rotate 60 degrees while the RCS thrusters compensate for the rotational torque
spins up fast and can end problems instantly! Watch what it does to a group of standard combat drones!
>expansepointdefensecannon.wav
Thunderbird is perfect for frigates and drones of all sizes. Once it's locked on, it's locked on tight! Punitive expeditions can cause big damage, but Thunderbird's shells come packed with high explosives, so you can easily cause big damage! To show you the power of Thunderbird, I sawed this cruiser in half!
>cut to the Thunderbird sawing an Enforcer cruiser in half with AP shells
Now that's a lotta damage! Imagine everything you can do with the power of the HPS-10 Thunderbird!

>>6131842
>Shill your frigates on the Black Market; it’s the only place where you’ll find people crazy enough to actually buy them.

Not feeling it tonight. Sorry, update will be delayed.

>>6131842
>Shill your frigates on the Black Market; it’s the only place where you’ll find people crazy enough to actually buy them.

Black Market sale clearly wins

>Writing...

I need the following rolls:
2D6
2d100
10d10s

Rolled 5, 4 = 9 (2d6)

>>6133223

Rolled 26, 64 = 90 (2d100)

>>6133223
rollan

Rolled 7, 8, 1, 6, 10, 2, 4, 9, 4, 2 = 53 (10d10)

>>6133223
its been a bit of time and im impatient

File: YardRedux3.png (103 KB, 1169x794)

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Maybe it was the sunk cost but you decided that you needed to sell some frigates. The problem was you had no idea how to sell such unconventional designs… but Jack did.

One cringey holo-ad and a business trip (which Jack would not have survived if it weren’t the body guards Farron sent with him) later and you started getting orders.

>Received orders for two Thunderbirds and two Excelsis
>Filling Orders for Thunderbirds
>2x Thunderbirds Construction Costs: 24kT CM, 6kT RM, 1kt EM
>1kT EM bought for 4Mil Solar Credits
>2x Thunderbirds sold for 19.76 Mill Saurain Scrip
>Final Material Storage: 42kT CM, 6kT RM
>Final Balance: 9.2 Mil Solar Credits, 19.76 Mill Saurain Scrip

Halfway through the frigate orders another problem reared its head; organised gangs were starting to form among the penal labourers. Your house troops enforced a brutal order among the prisoners but they had slowly learned just how far they could push the boundaries without bringing down their wrath.

Corruption was starting to spread to your regular workers as well. An internal black market was forming where the prisoners bribed and coerced them for favours and trinkets. Every time illicit activity was reported there was no evidence to be found. Shortly after the accuser would suffer some kind of misfortune; sabotaged work setting them behind their targets, or even an “accident”. It had gotten so bad that the regular workers now outright refused to work on the same projects as the penal labourers. Morale was plummeting and if not addressed the situation might deteriorate.

>What do?
>Fuck it! Just shoot them all, they’re more trouble than they’re worth and they have no rights.
>Do nothing, the service period has almost expired, soon they won't be your problem anymore.
>Intensify segregation of penal and regular labour. Convoluted scheduling will disrupt further gang activity but increase construction time of all ships by 1 period until the prisoners are transferred out.
>Counter-corruption; put some of the prisoners in your pocket and allow them to take over the black market. Option unavailable, requires Intelligence Department

The only person who didn’t seem to be having trouble was Glasner, sequestered as he was in the research module. He had recently unveiled a set of prototype fusion reactors that were overall more compact and efficient than existing models.

>Refined Fusion Power tech gained.
>Vote for next tech research (see >>6130754)

>>6133248

How much longer do we have to deal with the prisoners? If it's not too much longer use this.
>Intensify segregation of penal and regular labour. Convoluted scheduling will disrupt further gang activity but increase construction time of all ships by 1 period until the prisoners are transferred out.

>Stealth Composites (Enables sensor dampening features to be incorporated into designs, the first step on the road to true cloaking. RP cost: 40)

This would be a good addition to our Excelsis class Frigate

>>6133248
>Intensify segregation of penal and regular labour. Convoluted scheduling will disrupt further gang activity but increase construction time of all ships by 1 period until the prisoners are transferred out.
>Stealth Composites (Enables sensor dampening features to be incorporated into designs, the first step on the road to true cloaking. RP cost: 40)

>2x Thunderbirds sold for 19.76 Mill Saurain Scrip
The lizards bought the Thunderbirds? Interesting.

>>6133248
>Intensify segregation of penal and regular labour. Convoluted scheduling will disrupt further gang activity but increase construction time of all ships by 1 period until the prisoners are transferred out.
>Advanced Scientific Sensors (Sensors optimised for analysing a target in detail rather than tracking it. RP cost: 40)

>>6133248
>Intensify segregation of penal and regular labour. Convoluted scheduling will disrupt further gang activity but increase construction time of all ships by 1 period until the prisoners are transferred out.
>Stealth Composites (Enables sensor dampening features to be incorporated into designs, the first step on the road to true cloaking. RP cost: 40)

Once we get these frigates out we can dump the prisoners for proper work crews and hire an intel guy. I fully expect the Solar Union to try and fuck us again.

>>6133248
>Intensify segregation of penal and regular labour. Convoluted scheduling will disrupt further gang activity but increase construction time of all ships by 1 period until the prisoners are transferred out.
>Stealth Composites (Enables sensor dampening features to be incorporated into designs, the first step on the road to true cloaking. RP cost: 40)
Just finish this already.

>>6133248
>Fuck it! Just shoot them all, they’re more trouble than they’re worth and they have no right.

>Stealth Composites (Enables sensor dampening features to be incorporated into designs, the first step on the road to true cloaking. RP cost: 40)

>>6133248
>Intensify segregation of penal and regular labour. Convoluted scheduling will disrupt further gang activity but increase construction time of all ships by 1 period until the prisoners are transferred out.

>Stealth Composites (Enables sensor dampening features to be incorporated into designs, the first step on the road to true cloaking. RP cost: 40)

>>6133259
Could just be someone with their currency. Someone that trades with them, or who knows a money trader.

>>6133248
>Fuck it! Just shoot them all, they’re more trouble than they’re worth and they have no rights.
>Intermediate Fabrication (Enables full strikecraft manufacturing on capital ships as well as other industrial functions. RP cost: 60)

>>6133248
>Ship them back to our sister.

No need to kill these indentured fools, but they've caused us enough problems.

Looks like Stealth composites and intensify segregation win. I probably won't have the update ready tonight but while you wait can you guys roll me:

3d6
3d100s
15d10s

Rolled 3, 2, 5 = 10 (3d6)

>>6133794

Rolled 62, 80, 82 = 224 (3d100)

>>6133794

Rolled 6, 1, 4, 3, 8, 9, 5, 7, 2, 8, 10, 4, 2, 7, 6 = 82 (15d10)

>>6133794

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((Sorry for dragging my feet with this, big things happening.))
Much of the internal corruption revolved around compromised individuals leveraging their positions to give the criminals access to resources. Shuffling the work schedules so that the inside men could no longer reliably make contact with their “handlers” and requiring multiple people to sign off on equipment use put an end to that… It also slowed work down and annoyed the fuck out of everyone.

Work on the two Excelsis frigates finished behind schedule, as a result you were forced to sell them at a loss in order to keep the client sweet.

>Material Cost of 2 Excelsis Frigates: 20kT CM, 2kT RM, 1kT EM
>1 kT EM bought with Saurian Scrip: -5Mil Scrip
>Frigates sold 10% markdown: +7.92Mil Solar Credits
>Final Material Stores: 22kT CM, 2kT RM
>Final Balance:

To make matters worse the dissident book club was stirring up trouble again. With the crack down on the more violent criminal elements the political activists had more room to preach their ideology. As the period of indentured service expired you were visited by one of the senior crew chiefs.

>Service period over, -2 Work Crews. None have elected to stay on as regular staff.

—---------------

“A Union? Just what are you playing at Compton?”

Chief Compton shrank somewhat under your withering glare but managed to hold his nerve.

“N-not playing at anything M’am. All the stuff that’s been happening has prompted me and the boys to do some thinking. The way you’ve been doing business doesn’t sit right with us. Prisoners just gunned down without-”

“The consequences of unruly behaviour were made clear to the penal labour force upon their induction. Compton, these people are scum; thieves, murders. Some of them have threatened and coerced members of your own crew.”

“Not all of them. Some of these folk were just unhappy about being subjugated by your Empress. They told me what your Empire was getting up to out there as it rebuilds itself. I can’t help but wonder how much of that was because we built that ship for the Lord Commander.”

Another reference to the highest echelons of Imperial power. You would have to question Jack about this.

“None of that is any of your concern. I am truly sorry for the discomfort you’ve had to endure over the past two months, but those emergency measures are over. Things will go back to normal now.”
>cont

>>6134477
>Forgot Final Balance: 16.4 Mil Solar Credits, 14.76 Mill Saurain Scrip

“I don’t think they can. You know I remember when Mr. Horner first brought me on board, I was proud of what I did, but then that incident with Lizards happened, then the hard times, then you come along with your soldiers and slaves and before I knew it working here felt like working in an occupied territory. I can’t stick my head in the sand anymore and neither can my boys.”

He flicks you a file on the AR display.

“What’s this?”

“The terms of our continued employment. We want to be part of a company that aligns with our values, that looks out for us, and that doesn’t contribute to the suffering of the wider galaxy.”

You skim read what looks like a manifesto… no more penal labour… unwillingness to work on orders that will fuel ongoing conflict… training the security force in proper de-escalation methods… commitment to pivoting to the civilian market… all employees getting a STAKE IN THE COMPANY!?

Your eyes twitch in barely restrained fury. What was this collectivist bullshit!?

>Acquiesce to the Union’s demands and become a worker co-op. Unavailable, you will not cede power to peasant rabble.
>Give ground (on what?) until you can find a way to either bust the union or replace them.
>Fire them all, the whole workforce has been compromised and you need to start from scratch. (Lose all work crews. Move on to an immediate hiring event.)

((I had lots of admin choices lined up for you, but the Union event triggered and I think it’s important we resolve this decision before we cast votes on staffing the Intel and R&D departments.))

>Research Complete: Stealth Composites tech gained.
((Research vote will be held later. Need to figure out a better way to do the research list.))

>>6134479
>Fire them all, the whole workforce has been compromised and you need to start from scratch. (Lose all work crews. Move on to an immediate hiring event.)
The corruption alone is reason to fire them all.
https://www.theregister.com/2005/09/22/intel_india_sackings/
Intel would have been a lot better off had they shut down that entire design center back then. Instead, they are on the verge of bankruptcy.

>>6134479
>Get Jack on this, he is a people person
>Maybe old relationships will have greater chances of success
>Jack should remind them that we never built a civilian ship until now, so war vessels are not really against anyones values, this is more of a emotional response straight after an event.
Acquiesce on:
> no more penal labour
Most of you guys didn't want to do it anyway so no loss
>unwillingness to work on orders that will fuel ongoing conflict
I remember the LAST thread people really wanted to branch out into civilian capital ships RIGHT after saurians, just when the black ops happened. So seemingly conceding of making the BIG ships for war(temporally) should be close enough. We make a few civvie capitals, let everyones tempers simmer down and them we will see. Worst case scenario these crews will get us some more money on civilian capitals to be in a better financial situation when we will need to bulk hire new crews. A small compromise showing them that we can play ball within reason.
>all employees getting a STAKE IN THE COMPANY!?
Kek. Tell them that we still have not rebuilt the second capital ship berth, this is proof that we have still not financially recovered from the "hard times".
Since they were good workers that stuck with us for two threads of this insane bullshit(loyalty) MAYBE we can give them a pay raise, but they should be smart enough that you can not get everything in negotiations and that THIS option is almost unheard of in corporate business. Since hiring people is basically cognis demanding a flat upfront sum and that is it( probably to save himself on some bookkeeping, last thread an option to hire an interior design specialist was a flat sum and that's it) we would probably eat a flat sum of some solar credit loss and just forget about it after a few updates. Long term these are the least painful compromises.

>>6134541
>>6134550

I will add an option to shitcan everyone who got found out in corruption, that was not acceptable.

>>6134479
Give ground (on what?) until you can find a way to either bust the union or replace them.
Let's see their demands.
>No more penal labour
It was penal labour that saved this company and their jobs, not that we'd want to rely on prisoners in the first place. Therefore, it should be left as an emergency act e.g. in case the members of the work crew are incapacitated and sufficient number of workers, hired or outsourced, can't be found in time to complete the job.
>Unwillingness to work on orders that will fuel ongoing conflict
1. We'd have to stop all trade with the participant sides' citizens as well since it would indirectly fuel the conflict.
2. Besides (and correct me if I'm wrong), we can't sell warships directly to warring nations anyway without violating Blorg neutrality.
3. It wouldn't stop someone else from ordering a ship from us and selling it to the ongoing conflict. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
>Training the security force in proper de-escalation methods
>Commitment to pivoting to the civilian market
Agreed.
>All employees getting a STAKE IN THE COMPANY!?
Yea, nah. Most we can offer is a pay increase to the vet crew for bearing with us this long.
>>6134551
Also supporting to sack the people handling to the criminals.

>>6134479
>>Fire them all, the whole workforce has been compromised and you need to start from scratch. (Lose all work crews. Move on to an immediate hiring event.)

>>6134479
>Give ground (no more penal labour, training the security force in proper de-escalation methods) until you can find a way to either bust the union or replace them.

I don't want to accept prisoners again anyway, and this is training that the security teams really should have.

>>6134479
>Fire them all, the whole workforce has been compromised and you need to start from scratch. (Lose all work crews. Move on to an immediate hiring event.)
Fire all those cunts. All of them. Fuck those bitch-ass niggas. We have 16 million credits and 14 million scrip, that should be enough to hire

If we give them an inch, they'll start asking for a mile. Fucking stakes in the company? What a joke. Fuck them. Those guys have been a fucking pain in our ass ever since last quest. They complain about EVERYTHING.
>NOOOO I DUN WANNA WORK WITH LIZARDS
>NOOOO I DUN WANNA WORK WITH BLORG
>NOOOOO I FEEL LE UNCOMFORTABLE
>WEEEE WEEEEE I AM A FUCKING BABY

I'd throw them out the airlock, all of them, if there was a choice. We should have shot the prisoners when we had the chance. Guh. These events are just horrible, every single fucking cycle something goes wrong.

>>6134479
>>Fire them all, the whole workforce has been compromised and you need to start from scratch. (Lose all work crews. Move on to an immediate hiring event.)

We were planning to cycle out the prisoners with new work crews anyway-- this way we have a full clean slate to get employees with a proper understanding of where we stand.

>>6134479
>Give ground (on what?) until you can find a way to either bust the union or replace them.

We could just promise no more slave labor in the future I guess. It's not a particularly big concession.

>>6134477
I thought that might happen, but I have a question, a couple even. We used 3 TP for each production batch we've done, technically over that for this last batch. How many TPs does each frigate cost, 3? I would think it'd be less, 'cause they are...y'know, smaller. Also, why do we even have to use the prisoners on the frigates to begin with? Or on both of them rather, since I understand that one of our (normal?) work crews died, so we are forced to use some prison labour on one of the frigates. I thought frigate berths only requires one crew to operate. Why would we use the less competent and more unruly prisoner work crews on the both of them? Are we rotating shifts? I mean, that makes sense in-universe, but I mean mechanically, do we actually require multiple work crews to rotate shifts to work multiple consecutive TPs in a row? Like, if we only had one work crew, and we were building a frigate that would normally require 3 TP, would they need breaks, such that we would actually take 6 TP in total because we didn't have another crew to take shifts for them? Should we be taking losses on both frigates if one frigate is just assigned a normal work crew?

>>6134479
>Fire them all, the whole workforce has been compromised and you need to start from scratch. (Lose all work crews. Move on to an immediate hiring event.)

We have money now anyways. And anyone who would work with prisoners to sell out their fellow worker is not someone we want to negotiate with. Their demands aren't even untenable, depending on the specifics, since we no longer need the prisoners to get out of our financial rut. We just can't trust any of them. They're corrupt, whether by bribery or coercion, the deaths of their fellows and us falling behind schedule wouldn't have happened without the cooperation of some of our regular crew.

If we do give ground, then I'd say to agree to no more prison labour and training the security forces in de-escalation methods, since their term is up, and the guards could use the training for when we aren't dealing with rebellious slaves anyways. Co-ownership and cutting out part of the market is wild though. Co-ops may be based IRL, but not in my Space!princess shipyard manager quest.

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>>6134664
Angry anon, is that you?

>>6134767
> Why would we use the less competent and more unruly prisoner work crews.
The prisoners will cause trouble regardless of whether they're working or not. That's what all those d6s were for. TP costs factor in all breaks and "going home for the day".
>How many TPs does each frigate cost
All the costs and modifiers have been explained in previous posts.

Give ground
>6134550
>6134574
>6134601
>6134730

Fire
>6134541
>6134599
>6134664
>6134702
>6134767

The people have spoken... against the interests of the people. I love democracy.

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“So you fired them all?”

“I have no need for servants that have forgotten their place.”

“That’s a little harsh, these guys have been through a lot, it’s reasonable for them to get a bit agitated.”

You flick Jack a copy of the “manifesto” through the AR display. He skims through it with an impassive expression.

“...yeah, fuck those guys.”

“I’m glad we agree on this matter. But now we have a problem: we need new workers. Glasner’s contract is also up which means we need to rehire our entire staff.”

“Well I could probably round up some blorg…”

“Jack. No.”

“Mayumi. Yes. We can’t afford to be picky. I know they’re gross but aside from that one little decontamination issue they have so many upsides.”

“There have to be other options…”

>How to address the labour shortage. (You can pick two)

>Beg your sister Shirin for help. She’s a mega bitch and will demand you make a ship for her like she always does but maybe you can get a little more out of her this time. (Gain between 1-3 Work Crews, but you will have to give her at least 1 free ship.)
>Your elder brother was a degenerate sis-con, but he loved to dote on you. Maybe he’d help you if you “paid him a visit”. (Gain 1-2 Work Crews at the cost of your dignity.)
>Learn to stop worrying and love fungal infections. (Hire 3 Blorg workcrews for 4Mil Scrip, blorg debuffs will apply.)
>Put up job ads and screen candidates like a normal person. (Pay 10Mil Credits over the next 5 Time Periods. Every period has a 50% chance for you to gain 1 Work Crew.)
>The Raihan Empire has tons of undesirables, convert the shipyard into a penal labour facility. (5Mil Credits, Work Crews become a non-issue but you will have to roll for prisoner events forever.)This choice is mutually exclusive

>>6134883
Guys, make some calculations here. What costs more, 10 million credits, or our sister's ship?

>>6134883
>Beg your sister Shirin for help. She’s a mega bitch and will demand you make a ship for her like she always does but maybe you can get a little more out of her this time. (Gain between 1-3 Work Crews, but you will have to give her at least 1 free ship.)
>Your elder brother was a degenerate sis-con, but he loved to dote on you. Maybe he’d help you if you “paid him a visit”. (Gain 1-2 Work Crews at the cost of your dignity.)

We picked a space noble, we may as well cash in on the family connections, even if it requires a bit of scraping. Will be worth it down the line.

>>6134905
Again, anon, the issue is that it might be cheaper.

I can't seem to find the price table for materials. Is there anywhere that it's said?

>>6134883
>Beg your sister Shirin for help. She’s a mega bitch and will demand you make a ship for her like she always does but maybe you can get a little more out of her this time. (Gain between 1-3 Work Crews, but you will have to give her at least 1 free ship.)
>Your elder brother was a degenerate sis-con, but he loved to dote on you. Maybe he’d help you if you “paid him a visit”. (Gain 1-2 Work Crews at the cost of your dignity.)

I see this as a plus.

>>6134883
>Your elder brother was a degenerate sis-con, but he loved to dote on you. Maybe he’d help you if you “paid him a visit”. (Gain 1-2 Work Crews at the cost of your dignity.)
>Put up job ads and screen candidates like a normal person. (Pay 10Mil Credits over the next 5 Time Periods. Every period has a 50% chance for you to gain 1 Work Crew.)

Dignity is a resource both infinite and non-existent. But whilst we'll probably have to build our sister a ship at some point, let's make it something more worthwhile then basic labour.

>>6134895
>>6134906
Depends on whether we have to give her only one free ship or several, after all, the prompt says "at LEAST 1 free ship".

Our most expensive ship to produce is either the B variant of the Monarch or the Suppressor, we cannot confirm which, as we don't yet know the price of rare matter. However, while we do not have a price table for materials, we do know from >>6129009 that 30kT CM is 5.4 million Solar Credits, and 1kT EM is 4 mil, and from >>6134477 that 1kT EM is 5 mil Saurian Scrip. From there we can figure out the exchange rate between SC and SS given that the same thing cost 20% more in SS, unless the price has shifted in that time.

We also have a list of hiring prices from the QM post directly above.

Given that we are low on materials and will have to pay for between 8-23k CM, 10-13k RM, and another 1k EM, which rounds out to about between 1.44 - 4.14 mil SC for the CM, 4 mil for the EM, and an unknown but high amount for the RM, assuming our sister orders one of the more expensive ships, then I'd say both options are likely about even, with our sister being a better deal if she only wants an Enforcer. HOWEVER, that is only the case if she is fine with only demanding one free ship, she may want more, in which case her deal is for almost for certain worse. It will depend on the rolls, in all likelihood.

There is a slight chance that talking to both our siblings does not net us the requisite 3 work crews needed to fulfill a capital ship order, in which case we cannot fulfill our obligations to our sister. Guaranteeing we get one with our brother and then hiring people like a normal person may be the better option in that case, since we are decently likely to get at least 2 from it, maybe more.

>>6134883
I didn't calc this out before voting, so I'll switch my vote from >>6134913 to

>Your elder brother was a degenerate sis-con, but he loved to dote on you. Maybe he’d help you if you “paid him a visit”. (Gain 1-2 Work Crews at the cost of your dignity.)
>Put up job ads and screen candidates like a normal person. (Pay 10Mil Credits over the next 5 Time Periods. Every period has a 50% chance for you to gain 1 Work Crew.)

While we don't gain all the crew all at once, since it takes place over the course of 5 TP, it also doesn't lock us into building a capital ship like asking our sister likely does (she's only ever asked for capitals before). So even if we don't get 3 work crews, we can just take frigate orders instead. Also, looking back now that we know the prices of labour and materials, she was trying to rip us off before, offering one work crew for a god damn Suppressor! Like...what the fuck was she thinking?

>>6134883
>Learn to stop worrying and love fungal infections. (Hire 3 Blorg workcrews for 4Mil Scrip, blorg debuffs will apply.)
>Put up job ads and screen candidates like a normal person. (Pay 10Mil Credits over the next 5 Time Periods. Every period has a 50% chance for you to gain 1 Work Crew.)
Why do you people gotta hate the blorg so much? We can just go and replace them when we're done with them, but this time they won't rebel. You guys would really rather she sell herself to her brother?

The Blorg are cheap and readily available. We can hire them, and then keep using them for the five periods until we get the work crews we need. Just have them fill out whatever orders we can, literally all they need is 4 mil scrip profit to pay back themselves, that's hardly a challenge.

>>6134966
That's a nice description anon but you're forgetting that it's a 50% chance. We could literally not get a single work crew, and even then, if we go with the brother we'd only have like 1 or 2 work crews for those periods.

I think we should go with the BLORG.

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>>6134906
I didn't want to introduce the market to you guys just yet because of information overload. and because it wasn't ready yet.

But since you really want to run a cost benefit analysis I'll let you see the market now.

All materials have previously been bought at fixed hidden costs. Now that the market has been introduced they will start fluctuating based on the status quo.

>Infonet feature now active.
>Your personal fortune of Raihan Zelas is now available for spending. (Roll me a d10)

>>6134971
I didn't forget. It is a gamble, but again, we can build frigates instead, until we are ready to try hiring more work crews again.

Also, >>6128042 says they extend our construction time by another TP and adversely affect our ability to get jobs that aren't for other blorg. Non-blorg also refuse to work with them, they may cause tensions with other species, plus there is the admittedly negligible decontamination cost.

Also-also, I see getting a degen doting elder brother sis-con scene to only be a plus, hence my original vote.

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>6134985