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Aven Jarvan, through a free and fair election of the Electoral Council you have come to power on Grahm IV. An arctic wasteland dedicated to science and industry. With a relatively small and educated population of four thousand people you enjoy the support of the people for now. Your scientists have just reported that warp travel is once again possible. A quick inventory of your spacefaring vessels has yielded only this.
One squadron(12) of Sabre Interceptors
Two Curator Corvettes*
Three civilian cargo ships in orbit*
*=warp capable
In the Grahm system are three other planets as well as an asteroid belt.
Grahm I is a barren planet not unlike Mercury in that it's far too hot for any sort of operations to be conducted.
Grahm II and III are Gas giants with three moons each. One moon on Grahm III is capable of sustainable settlement while the others are suitable only for mineral extraction.
The asteroid belt between Grahm III and IV is relatively rich in minerals compared to the planets and moons of the system.
In addition there are three warp lanes leading out of the Grahm system. One to the Northeast, one to the Northwest, and the other to the South.(I'm using cardinal directions for simplicities sake)
What you will do with this information is up to you Aven. The people of Grahm IV have the utmost confidence in your ability to lead! |
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LNG257Join Date: 2012-06-13
Post Count: 11767 |
After such a long time... we can see what has happened to the Empire. It has almost certainly fragmented into thousands of pieces after the Ascended cut off all warp travel.
Our first order of business is to explore and set up a supply chain to the asteroid belt. I will send our two Curator Corvettes out to explore, one to the South and the other to the North(east/west, whatever direction the main body of the UTE laid in), while the cargo ships go to the asteroid belt to set up a mining operation of some sort. |
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After some effort, the cargo ships are brought into a workable condition after having been in orbit for the past thousand years and are sent with what little mining equipment is in your possession. In roughly a months time, a steady if somewhat small flow of minerals will be coming back to Grahm IV to be refined in one of the major cities. The operation will gradually become more efficient over time as the people of Grahm relearn the process of asteroid mining after a thousand years of neglect.
The Corvette to the South after roughly two days of warp travel encounters an inhabited sector. Home to three planets, one volcanic, one barren, and the other a Terran world that has signatures consistent with human civilization. At the outer edge of the system, the Curator isn't capable of gathering more complete data without coming closer.
The Corvette to the North East after a mere hour of warp travel comes into contact with an inhabited sector. Oddly enough, two Terran planets orbit the systems star, their orbits are so close that they actually 'share' a moon. It seems every time the planets come into close contact their competing gravity will sway the single desert moon into one of their orbits, to be swapped the next time the planets come close. For such an odd phenomenon, none of your people can recall such a system neighboring Grahm. Perhaps it was somehow caused by the warp inhibition? At any rate both planets and the desert moon show signs of human civilization, though once again the limited sensors of the Corvette prevent further data collection.
(South leads to the core worlds of the Empire, while North leads to where the great human-ascended battles took place.) |
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LNG257Join Date: 2012-06-13
Post Count: 11767 |
Are our Corvettes capable of carrying fighters or troop pods? |
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With some modification, yes. Though the minimalist design of the Corvettes would require sacrificing firepower and maneuverability. It may be simpler to modifiy one of your cargo ships or to build a new ship.
In the mean time, one of the factories risks going out of business due to lack of employment. A combination of poor working conditions, the small population of Grahm IV, and the new opportunities created by the asteroid mining operation leaves one of the major production facilities in risk of bankruptcy.
(With no orbital shipyards or much shipbuilding experience, attempting to produce a reliable warp capable ship that's much larger than the small cargo ships you have in your possession will be risky at best.) |
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LNG257Join Date: 2012-06-13
Post Count: 11767 |
Alrighty. We can't spare any cargo ships to act as carriers for now, and I want to build our shipbuilding industry up for the trials ahead. I will have some of our people put sensors on an object, no bigger than a regular human, but enough to scan any objects it passes near. It doesn't need to have engines or anything of the sort, just sensors and a transmitter.
I will recall the two Corvettes, and load them with our new probes.
For the matter of the factory, I'll ask for volunteers from the general populace of other cities to go and help out there, and if that isn't enough, demilitarize a portion of our fighting robots to keep the factory afloat. |
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The factory is successfully restarted with most of the new workers being humans. The incident has caused the factory owner to look more closely into the working conditions. However 25 robots are demilitarized to help out.
The sensors are produced quickly and with no issue with the well educated and industrious populace. However when the Corvettes come in to be loaded, a perplexing issue is brought to light. It seems that the warp drives deteriorate after jumps now. This was never the case before the inhibition. The finest minds on Grahm can't find a permanent solution, they can only repair the drives each time the Corvettes return to a dedicated ship building facility. It seems each Corvette is only limited to four warp jumps before the drive is rendered unstable. For now, the issue isn't too problematic what with the small reach of your nation. |
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LNG257Join Date: 2012-06-13
Post Count: 11767 |
The issue with warp drives is probably from old age and not having been used in a thousand years. Eventually, though, we can develop carrier ships so they will not be exhausted so soon. I will order the warp drives repaired, and readied once more.
Otherwise, everything seems to be going to plan. With the Corvettes loaded with our probes, I want one to go back to the southern sector, and the other to head northwest instead of northeast this time.
The south-bound one, on reaching the sector, is to go as close to the inhabited planet as the captain deems safe and launch a probe out towards the planet in whatever way possible, even if it is just someone giving it a hard shove out an airlock. |
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The northwest sector appears to be quite desolate. Only a single massive gas giant orbits the star with several moons. One of the moons appears to have the remains of a mining operation as well as a salvagable transport and a radar outpost. The occupants had starved years ago, having depended on regular shipments of food and supplies. Despite the rich amounts of useful gases and minerals present the mining camp is quite small. The reason soon becomes obvious. The star emits deadly radiation! While in the short term humans can withstand it, lethal doses can take as little as a year to occur. Obviously this camp must've been a gulag of sorts.
Meanwhile in the Southern sector, the Captain, a man chosen for his expertise that was so common on Grahm thanks to its scientific focus, accelerates his Corvette at top speed at a reasonable distance from the planet before releasing the probe at such an angle that it achieves geosynchronous orbit over the planet. The data revealed is promising.
By eavesdropping on the various u coded transmissions from communication satellites, it's easy to deduce this is an Agrarian focused planet ruled by a military dictatorship. Home to some two billion inhabitants, they are kept in line with constant streams of propaganda from the satellites and a shortage of weapons. Indeed the mineral deposits and manufacturing capabilities seem almost nonexistent from the probes scans. The small army(estimated strength ranging from 100k to 5 million) are the only ones in possession of weapons, from the look of it they are in the middle of suppressing an uprising. Apart from the satellites a small dock is in orbit that houses two frigates. In addition roving fighter and bomber patrols crisscross the planet. One such patrol homes in on the probes signal and promptly destroys it with a burst of auto cannon fire.
Shortly after, a frigate detaches from the dock to investigate in your general direction. |
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LNG257Join Date: 2012-06-13
Post Count: 11767 |
In the northwestern sector, have the captain send some people aboard the transport to get it back to functionality and fly it back to Grahm, and to send some robots down to the radar outpost to restore that to functionality if possible, then operate it with as little human oversight as possible to function efficiently.
In the southern sector, order the captain to flee back to Grahm. We aren't prepared to fight a battle yet, but we will need to strike soon to free the people of the planet and possibly get them to join us. Keep the probe operational, but limit it to passive sensing and small data packages sent to us every day so they will have trouble tracking us to Grahm.
At home, I ask the scientists to develop some sort of small bomber ship that can be carried by a retrofitted transport.
How many ships and military robots are we capable of producing within a week, assuming we devote our entire effort to one or the other? And if we retrofit a transport as a landing craft, how many robots can it carry? |
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~Northwest Sector~
Tragedy strikes! The transports engines were unstable and exploded when activated. Condemning a dozen brave men to death. With a Corvette incapable of carrying many people in the first place. There's no other option than to halt the radar restoration operation since every man and machine is needed on the Corvette which thankfully has received negligible damage from the explosion.
~Southern Sector~
The probe has already been dispatched by one of the patrols from the planet. Your corvette with greater speed has no problem evading the frigate. Although foolishly the Captain chooses to warp out rather close to his pursuer. No doubt the warp signature he left behind will be picked up and traced.
~Grahm IV Industrial report~
A shortage of proper plans for ship building means that building ships not in your possession will be rather difficult compared to just copying a preexisting model. Optimistic reports put our estimated production at one Curator class Corvette every four months or 250 military drones. A frigate could be designed and prototyped, but the process would take almost a year with no guarantee of quality. Production might be improved if additional military robots are relegated to industrial work and some government sanctioned factory reforms take place.
~Grahm IV Research Report~
Assuming the bombers don't need a warp drive, the design can be quickly drafted. Retrofitting a transport to launch bombers under satisfactory battle conditions proves a bit more difficult to design. Nevertheless the finest minds on Grahm are confident they can have a satisfactory solution drafted in a month.
As for fitting robots into the transports. The transports could theoretically cram upwards of 500 robots in the holds. However as an efficient landing craft, a more reasonable estimate would be one hundred robots. |
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LNG257Join Date: 2012-06-13
Post Count: 11767 |
Things were going so well, and then we encountered failure in both areas. This dictator will most likely dispatch at least one of his frigates after us. Repair and restock the Corvettes as needed.
As of now, we need to begin building up a military. Send the Corvette that just returned from the Southern sector out to set a probe up around each inhabitable planet and the moon in the Northeast sector, then return after collecting the initial data.
Turn 200 of our military robots to industrial production, building all the robots possible within two weeks while our scientists design that bomber and ignore the transporting for now. After the first two weeks, put all the bots made to industrial work making those bombers and Sabre Interceptors. |
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~North East Sector Report~
Probes are successfully set up. It appears both Terran planets are home to powerful nations in their own right. Both are Monarchies with noble lines dating back to when the warp inhibition began. These two royal families, the Saerus and Arimius families, are in control of their respective planets and have been waging war for what seems like centuries over their shared moon. Every year, when the planets align and the moon swaps orbits, both families send hundreds of ships carrying thousands to invade the moon. Thanks to the close proximity of the moon, warp travel was never needed. Thus all their ships have long since been stripped of warp drives and neither family seems to care that warp is once again possible. Both are focused on the absolute elimatio of their opponent. Both also command loyalty and respect from their subjects, a relatively equal industrial base, and populations of around four billion. The Saerus family has a slight technological advantage, but the Arimius family has a more efficient bureaucracy that is able to mobilize more soldiers.
~Grahm IV Industrial Report~
After two weeks of fanatical drive and effort, one hundred robots are produced. Work now begins on Sabre Interceptors and the new 'Hawk' Bombers. However two questions are posed. First, should fighter or bomber production be prioritized? Secondly, the modest mining operation being conducted on the asteroid belt isn't enough to keep up with the full scale industrial effort of Grahms factories and refineries. Soon there will be mineral shortages. |
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LNG257Join Date: 2012-06-13
Post Count: 11767 |
Set some of our bots to mining Grahm IV itself, and send one of the Corvettes to put probes on the moons of Grahm II and III, searching for rich mineral deposits near the surface that can be mined quickly. Also inquire as to if we can set up a mining operation on Grahm I, mining minerals on the night side, then packing up and moving to avoid the intense heat of the day side. Assign production priority to our new Hawk Bombers, at about a 65-35% ratio of Hawks to Sabres.
Finally, I ask my military advisers how long they think it will take for the dictatorship of the South sector to put a military operation together and send it at us. |
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I want one. :o
I am not ignoring you, I just don’t really care what you have to say. |
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LNG257Join Date: 2012-06-13
Post Count: 11767 |
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~Grahm System Mining Report~
The Grahm system seems to be lacking in rich mineral deposits. However some adequate deposits exist and the plan for mining on Grahm I based on its rotation seems feasible when the question is posed to scientists. However the main problem is the shortage of transports which are needed to ferry miners, supplies, and minerals back and forth.
~Grahm IV Industrial Report~
After three months, the Sabre squadron is expanded to 18 and a bomber squadron comprised of 12 Hawks is formed. One of your advisors suggests that the bombers could be automated to preserve the limited manpower reserves of the military.
~Grahm IV Military Analysis Report~
It's hard to say, no one on Grahm has had much real military experience, and there's never been a need to quell rebellions which is what's going on in the southern sector. In addition, the estimates on their military strength makes accurate guesses difficult. Your advisors presume 8-12 months. Five of which have already passed. (I think.)
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LNG257Join Date: 2012-06-13
Post Count: 11767 |
Well then, we should have just enough time. The idea to automate the bombers is a good one, but I think that right now we need human ingenuity and luck to accomplish what a computer can not. Instead, I will tell the scientists to draft up plans for automating the Sabres.
I also ask the scientists to draw up plans for a mobile land-based vehicle that can conduct mining operations on its own, with enough supplies for a crew to last for a few months at least by themselves.
We need to make the most of two months, and produce at least one of those mining vehicles, then use a transport to ferry it out to one of the gas giant moons.
How complicated are warp drives to make? Could we make ones that could propel frigates or smaller across systems inside of two months? Not ships themselves, just the warp drives. |
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~Grahm IV Research Report~
The Sabres prove more difficult to automate due to the fact they were never intended to be automated while in contrast the Hawk bombers were designed by Grahm scientists already influenced by a mostly automated military. The second problem is that dog fighting requires far more skill and finesse than performing bombing runs. Nevertheless given two months the scientists could devise a plan to automate the Sabres.
A mobile self sufficient mining vehicle capable of efficient and independent mining operations for months at a time is quite the strain. There's no possible way one could be produced in two months. Nevertheless scientists begin drafting plans...
Warp Drives up to a frigate level are surprisingly easy to produce. All it takes is a few well trained engineers and scientists, something Grahm has plenty of, to make a stable and satisfactory warp drive. In fact, several frigate class warp drives could be turned out in two months if production was switched to that. However the real problem is building all the other bits and integrating them.
~Grahm IV Industrial Report~
Mineral reserves are running low, in just under two weeks they will run out, at which point production will drop off by about 25%
~Grahm IV Population Report~
Although there is no official poll, given the small size of the population. It's easy for Aven to gaze out from his office and see the look of weariness in the people. In the past few months he's been working them day and night. Although of course they understand his reasons and don't wish to fall under the tyranny of some backwater farm planet dictatorship, human endurance can only go so far. That said, the people of Grahm have endured with no outside help on this icy hellhole for a thousand years! They can surely last two months... |
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LNG257Join Date: 2012-06-13
Post Count: 11767 |
We just need to go a little longer. Then we can rest easy. I'll give a speech to the population, hopefully encouraging them to give us their finest before laying back.
Send one of our corvettes to the south sector, do a quick probe launch, and then leave. Collect the data from the probe there, and evaluate what the situation is like. Send the other corvette to the northeast sector and attempt to contact one or both nations on the planets there.
If it will be difficult to produce, we don't need to produce one of the mining vehicles right away. But we will need it quickly if we want to keep production up. In our time frame of 2 months, I'd like 3 frigate-level warp drives, 5 corvette-level warp drives, and 8 transport-level warp drives.
I have a plan, and while I have little doubt in its success, we are strained and in dangerous times after just emerging from a thousand years of relative stillness. |
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~Grahm IV~
The Electoral Council may not have elected you for your silver tongue but your speech seems to inspire some level of patriotism in the populace. No doubt the atmosphere is noticeably more positive for a few days afterwards. You have the utmost confidence your people will persevere through these next two months. Likewise they have every confidence in you to pull them through this time of uncertainty. May the hopes of Grahm be in good hands...
~Grahm IV Industrial Report~
Over the next two months the warp drives are created on schedule despite mineral shortages although the mining vehicle is put on hold to make sure it could happen.
~Southern Sector Report~
The Corvette barely arrived in system when a frigate moved in to intercept it, from what little data could be gathered before the probe was destroyed and the Corvette was forced to retreat. There seems to be a definite military operation being mounted and near ready as well.
~North Eastern Sector Report~
Both families aren't receptive towards foreigners asking for help when they themselves are locked in their life or death competition over their moon. Over the course of two months no amount of begging changes their stance. Without some sort of benefit for them they refuse to help. And of course once you hash out a deal with one family, the other will consider you an enemy.
~Grahm IV:Two months later, expected minimum date of hostile invasion~
Your soldiers are ready, the factories are for once silent after months of day and night activity. It's the quiet before the storm. The enemy could arrive at any time now. Any last minute preparations sir?
(And I have to go for the night, sorry to leave you with such suspense :P) |
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LNG257Join Date: 2012-06-13
Post Count: 11767 |
(Heheh, it's alright. Let's see how badly they beat me.)
Privately, contact each of the families in the northeastern sector and offer our help in destroying their enemy if they lend us support. Tell them that we can provide warp drives for ships they loan to us, and all they need to do is provide the ships and troops. Take the offer of the one that provides the larger force, and have the Corvette come back to Grahm IV, pick up the warp drives, then head back to fit the drives onto whatever ships they offer us.
Meanwhile, in the Grahm system, hide our present corvette on one of the moons of Grahm III, hidden from sensors and visual but ready to come out and strike if needed. Send our Sabres out to patrol the space around the planet, while we hide the Hawks in the asteroid belt.
Bring in the transports, and begin fitting them to carry at least 200 robots inside, along with external cargo pods that can carry around 20 tightly packed bots. Remilitarize about 100 of the 200 bots we put to industrial work way back when. Between the 3 transports each holding 200, along with perhaps 4 cargo pods of 20 bots on each, we should have just enough bots to fill them up with a handful of bots left over. |
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~NorthEastern Sector Diplomatic Report~
Eventually the Arimius family relents, allowing several of their transports to be fitted. They are loaded up with a total of a thousand soldiers, a paltry sum in their eyes, to assist with the guarding of the planet. Unfortunately, royal security doesn't seem to be all that good and a noble leaks out the news to the rival Saerus family, earning their undying enmity to you.
~Grahm IV Military Report~
Your orders are carried out with little issue. Your generals are slightly annoyed that you've decided to micromanage the military, but with so few ships involved, they figure that an amateur will perform all right.
~Grahm IV~
Each passing day is borrowed time, with a greater likelihood of the attack being mounted...a month has passed and tension is rising. |
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LNG257Join Date: 2012-06-13
Post Count: 11767 |
Well, I prefer the system of the Arimius more anyway. It was pretty much always assured that they would be able to muster up more help for me. My generals know a lot, but in our current situation, I don't want to take any chances.
Bring back the Corvette and our loaned transports. They are to wait near Grahm 2, in sight of and ready to jump to the South sector. |
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~Grahm IV Crash Course in War~
As battle looms, one of the generals actually takes it upon themselves to explain the specifications of the ships under your command.
The Sabre class interceptors are in possession of two front facing 20mm auto cannons capable of shredding lighter armor, but against anything heavier than a Corvette they are useless. Quite fast and maneuverable.
The Hawk class have a 5mm auto cannon turret that is outperformed by pretty much everything and is only capable of penetr.ating fighter armor. However it also has a payload of fifteen armor piercing missiles with a relatively simple guidance system that are effective against larger, slow targets. Although maneuverable, their speed is quite low.
The Curator class Corvette is warp capable, and thus possesses a kinetic shield. It also has a frontal facing 105mm cannon that happens to be the biggest gun in your arsenal. However it's limited by a narrow firing arc. The corvettes also have four turrets bearing dual 30mm flak cannons that cover every angle of the ship and are highly effective at taking down smaller craft.
The transports are in possession of no weapons other than their cunning and a well placed yet suici.dal ram and no protection other than a kinetic shield for warp capabilities.
Kinetic shields are weak shields that only face frontwards, their job is to protect the vessel from debris while warping to prevent catastrophic destruction at FTL speeds. However in a pinch they can be used to block a few shots, though of course once they go offline the vessels run the risk of destruction if they try to warp.
~Grahm IV~
It appears the day has finally arrived. The frigates from your southern enemy exit warp only an hour out from Grahm IV. A message is broadcast ahead of them.
"You will lay down your arms and welcome your new liberators! The People's Union welcomes you as their newest subjects!" The unknown speaker seems to be a stupidly happy yo.ung man. His voice is recognized from the propaganda broadcasts that were intercepted so long ago. Apparently the locals had derisively nickna.med him 'S.uc.k up Sam'.
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