Turn 46 - Winter 2185/3035
WCDC Defense Council:
[] Project Black Light: active
Time: 4 turns, Chance of success: 45%
Roll 1 of 4, Roll 1d100: 4+5+5 = 14 - Failure (Bonus to all military R&D, Bonus to Space Combat R&D)
Roll 2 of 4, Roll 1d100: 7+5+5 = 17 - Failure
Roll 3 of 4, Roll 1d100: 48+5+5 = 58 - Success
After several months of being unable to get anywhere with research on the unknown weapon, due to its partially biological components, the scientists running the project finally decided to take the weapon apart using a fabricator, creating a complete atomic blueprint for the weapon in the process. This way, the weapon could be manipulated inside a computer, which in turn would allow to discover its working principles.
Following the disassembly, it was possible to identify a laser emitter, several magnetic field coils and what appeared to be a feeding mechanism. Outside of this, several of the biological components seem to have included some sort of energy storage.
active for 1 more turn
[] Ground Warfare Training: - 7 votes
Time: 5 turns, Chance of success 70%
Roll 1 of 5, Roll 1d100: 50 - Success
With the mission to Tharkad and some observation of the Kell Hounds during general training and some maneuvers with regular Lyran ground forces, the state of Inner Sphere Ground Forced had to be massively revised in the eyes of the Defense Council. Videos and reports had to be analyzed to work out any tactics used by the Kell Hounds and to come up with tactics for the WCDC to keep up with regular Inner Sphere forces.
Additionally, WCDC forces would need to get further training in these new tactics and strategies to operate against Inner Sphere forces, should it be necessary, especially the WCDC Expeditionary Regiments on Circinus and the Circinus Federation worlds. Perhaps it could be used to impress the diplomats arriving at Circinus for the Conference.
active for 4 more turna
WCDC Survey Office:
[] Project Orange Grass: active
Time: 5 turns, Chance of success: 65%
Roll 1 of 5, Roll 1d100: 49 - Success
Roll 2 of 5, Roll 1d100: 46 - Success
Roll 3 of 5, Roll 1d100: 62 - Success
Slowly the conversion of the dropships and jump ship continues, as they are slowly taken apart to be rebuild with their new systems.
active for 2 more turns
[] Operation Ma Bell: - 7 votes
Time: 6 turns, Chance of success: 45%
Roll 1 of 6, Roll 1d100: 83 - Success
With the discovery that the existing ERS-HPGs were capable of inserting messages into the existing Comstar HPG message stream, the Intelligence branch of the Survey Office became very interested in coming up with a way to make use of this capability to destabilize Comstar from the inside. Perhaps it would be possibly supporting the person known as 'Capt'n Crunch' in their activity, as the 'rank and file' of the organization appeared further and further removed from the First Circuit and its plans.
Such operations needed to be carefully planned, however, and several ERS-HPG stations would need to be set up to insert the new message traffic into Comstar's network over longer ranges, past the range of the conventional HPGs.
active for 5 more turns
Deep Space Signal Intelligence Network
[] Operation Green Granite: active
Time: 8 turns, Chance of success: 50%
Roll 1 of 8, Roll 1d100: 43+5 = 48 - Failure (All DSSINOO operations)
Roll 2 of 8, Roll 1d100: 86+5 = 91 - Success
Roll 3 of 8, Roll 1d100: 28+5 = 32 - Failure
While the various Walsingham class jumpships were able to make it to their first stations, communication between the spy craft was the first to collapse, as it appeared to be impossible to coordinate and confirm the data gathered. Additionally, the Superluminal Wave Detectors appeared to be defective as only a fraction of the suspected traffic could be observed.
active for 5 more turns
WCDC Diplomatic Corps:
[]Circinus Conference: active
Time: 6 turns, Chance of success: 65%
Roll 1 of 6, Roll 1d100: 98 - Crit Success
Roll 2 of 6, Roll 1d100: 33 - Failure
Roll 3 of 6, Roll 1d100: 59 - Success
Roll 4 of 6, Roll 1d100: 75 - Success
Freaking Comstar Roll, 1d20: 1 - Comstar does nothing
Hanse Davion Fudge Factor, 1d20: 13 - Hanse does nothing
By early Winter, the finishing touches were applied to the Dag Hammarskjöld Resort, giving it the appearance of being in place for years, while being completely new. Around the same time, WCDC Belisarius arrived at Circinus, parking at the Circinus Nadir Jump Point, while a single Radoubt from 61 Virginis arrived at the Zenit Jump Point a week later.
About two weeks later the delegates of the Conference began to arrive, the first being those of the Lyran Commonwealth and the Federated Suns. Here, it was Hanse Davion and his wife Melisa Steiner-Davion, who arrived together as the heads of their delegations, accompanied by Cranston Snord's Irregulars and Alpha Regiment of the Wolf's Dragoons, with Cranston Snord and Colonel Jamie Wolf in command. The jumpship group of the joint Lyran/FedSuns delegation arrived at the Nadir Jump Point, where they were welcomed by the Belisarius and escorted to the planet by two of the Combat craft squadrons supporting Belisarius, which remained at the Nadir Point. Upon the question about Belisarius' origin, there was no attempt to conceal that the WarShip was salvaged and had been rebuilt by the WCDC over the past three years, which appeared to be shocking to Davion and his wife, as well as any of their companions.
The next to arrive were the Dutchy of Andurien, followed by the Free World League's delegations, who were of course placed in their opposite housing.
The last to arrive at the conference was the delegation of the Draconis Combine, led by Elija and Chandrasekhar Kurita, with the letter appearing to be an economic and trade delegate, while the former, a nephew of Takeshi Kurita, led the delegation.
Overall, there was surprise among the delegations about the modern design and comfort presented by the Dag Hammarskjöld Resort, while some shock was observed on the Andurien. FWL and Combine delegation, as they met their apparently first sophont aliens.
The first official banquet to welcome the delegations was a general success, even though there was a diplomatic incident that soured the relations to the Draconis Combine.
active for 2 more turns
[] Long Range Diplomacy - Marian Hegemony:
Time: 8 turns, Chance of success: 50%
Roll 1 of 8, Roll 1d100: 79 - Success
Roll 2 of 8, Roll 1d100: 45 - Failure
Roll 3 of 8, Roll 1d100: 66 - Success
Roll 4 of 8, Roll 1d100: 41 - Failure
Roll 5 of 8, Roll 1d100: 100 - Crit Success
Roll 6 of 8, Roll 1d100: 71 - Success
Roll 7 of 8, Roll 1d100: 9 - Failure
Roll 8 of 8, Roll 1d100: 9 - Failure
Combined: 52 - Success
The 'temper tantrum' of Caesar O'Reilly continued for about a month, before the delegation had enough. After coordinating with the Diplomatic Corps back on Jerat, the permission was granted to terminate the diplomatic mission ahead of time. The delegation attempted to contact the Caesar and his diplomats one last time, before finally packing up and returning to orbit, while O'Reilly showed his ignorance of the situation by demanding the delegation to return, as he had not allowed them to leave, and was ignored.
So far, the main goal of the delegation had been realized, an official diplomatic contact with the Marian Hegemony, even though any deeper diplomatic relations seemed to have been a pipe dream. However, the team of agents emplaced within the Marian Hegemony was left behind strengthened, helping keep an eye on Caesar O'Reilly, who might do something stupid.
Reward: Contact with the Marian Hegemony
WCDC Trade Organization:
[] Build the Technology: active
Time: 4 turns, Chance of success: 60%
Roll 1 of 4, Roll 1d100: 45+10+10+10+10 = 85 - Success (Stronger Economy, Economic Ties, Military-Industrial Complex, Interstellar Communication Network)
Roll 2 of 4, Roll 1d100: 80+10+10+10+10 = 120 - Artificial Crit
Roll 3 of 4, Roll 1d100: 86+10+10+10+10 = 126 - Artificial Crit
While the Circinus Conference was not yet beginning, the arrival of the Lyran and FedSun delegations did include some trade delegates and trade talks opened with these delegates. They were informed about the industrial capacity of the WCDC and the willingness of more than one corporation within the WCDC to open trade with the Inner Sphere, outside of selling JumpShips.
There were of course samples provided to the trade delegates, who were very interested in buying what the WCDC had to offer.
Later, on trade delegations from the FWL, Andurien and the Combine ware invited into these trade talks as well, though the Diplomatic Incident caused Chandrasekhar Kurita to be a little more aggressive in his talks than previously might have been the case.
active for 1 more turn
[] New Settlement Initiative: active
Time: 6 turns, Chance of success: 65%
Roll 1 of 6, Roll 1d100: 40+10+10+10 = 70 - Success (Stronger Economy, Economic Ties, Interstellar Communication Network)
Roll 2 of 6, Roll 1d100: 10+10+10+10 = 40 . Success
active for 4 more turns
WCDC Office for Science and Development:
[] HFEG Jump: active
Time: 12 turns, Chance of success: 25%
Roll 1 of 12, Roll 1d100: 40+10+10 = 60 - Failure (Research Center Sol, Interstellar Communication Network)
Roll 2 of 12, Roll 1d100: 14+10+10 = 34 - Failure
Roll 3 of 12, Roll 1d100: 77+10+10 = 97 - Artificial Crit
Roll 4 of 12, Roll 1d100: 84+10+10 = 104 - Artificial Crit
Roll 5 of 12, Roll 1d100: 75+10+10 = 95 - Arfificial Crit
Roll 6 of 12, Roll 1d100: 12+10+10 = 32 - Failure
Roll 7 of 12, Roll 1d100: 62+10+10 = 82 - Success
Some mathematical models for the various potential solutions to the problem of combining the HFEG and Jump Drive technologies were found to contain small, but important errors. After those errors were removed the calculations were presented to the Super computers again to work on and the first model returned with useful data by the end of Winter.
active for 5 more turns
[] Project Heavy Mysterious Mustard: active
Time: 5 turns, Chance of success: 40%
Roll 1 of 5 turns, Roll 1d100: 62+10+10 = 82 - Success (Research Center Sol, Interstellar Communication Network)
Roll 2 of 5 turns, Roll 1d100: 39+10+10 = 59 - Success
While there were some sub projects to improve on the Jump Core focused on the hardware side of the technology, there were several additional sub projects more interested in attempting to improve on the Jump Core by providing better software to manage the internal systems. Thankfully, the main design of the Advanced Jump Core had been created with the possibility of software updates in mind, with using programmable active phased arrays and similar systems wherever possible.
active for 3 more turns
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WCDC Internal Events:
Nothing really news worthy happens.
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Deep Space Signal Intelligence Network Report:
Lothian League:
There is little of note to say.
Illyrian Palatinate:
There is little of note to say.
Circinus Federation:
There is little of note to say.
Marian Hegemony:
There is little of note to say.
Inner Sphere:
Lyran Commonwealth:
Nothing out of the ordinary as far as can be decerned.
Federated Suns:
Nothing out of the ordinary as far as can be decerned.
Draconis Combine:
Nothing out of the ordinary as far as can be decerned.
Free Worlds League:
Dutchy of Andurien:
Due to the Circinus Conference, a truce has been declared between the two warring powers.
Comstar:
With the new information about internal message propagation in mind, some advances could be made to take apart the internal structure of Comstar and get more information about the nature of internal dissent, ahead of fully commercing Operation Ma Bell.
Expansion and Suggestions:
The DSSI Network slowly continues to expand into the Inner Sphere.
-----------------------
Random Event - Diplomatic Incident
"Ladies and Gentlemen," a voice called out from the entrance of the ball room, making any of the diplomats and heads of state turn their heads. "Kaiser Hiroshi von Hohenzollern of Hannover."
Adam Prometheus narrowed his eyes as he glanced at the Hannoverian head of state. No one had expected him to suddenly appear on the first official ball of the Circinus Conference, now that all participants had arrived. Or so he had thought.
"Who is he?" he heard First Prince Hanse Davion ask, whom he had been talking to for the past ten minutes, mostly exchanging pleasantries and anecdotes.
Adam grumbled before speaking, watching as a tall man in his early fifties entered the room, with an even mix of Caucasian and Asian features, dressed in a uniform that would have made the man fit well into the role of Otto von Bismark. He stopped, leaning on his walking cane, while allowing his adjutant to catch up.
"The head of state of one of the WCDC members, the Kaiserliche Republik Hannover," he answered. "He was not supposed to be here."
"In that case, I am curious about him," Davion said and walked into the general direction of the Kaiser, who appeared to have found who he was looking for.
Hiroshi von Hohenzollern drew himself up, showing of a physique unusual for a head of state in most cases. He had a heavy muscular build and stood taller just a bit than two meters, with not a single bit of superfluous fat. Most of it was from years of heavy work doing his part in the Arbeitsdienst before ascending to the throne of Hannover, and keeping fit afterwards.
He began to walk towards one of the clumps of people, some of them WCDC diplomats, begin as fast as his stiff left leg would allow. His face was devoid of any emotion, but as far as Adam could see, his eyes were full of them, as he stopped in front of the delegation of the Draconis Combine.
"Albrecht!" he called out in clear English with a surprisingly heavy German accent. "Are you sure that these are are Kuritas."
Von Hohenzollern's adjutant took a deep breath and nodded, even though his Kaiser's gaze was firmly fixed on Elija and Chandrasekhar Kurita, who were glancing back more curious.
"Yes, your grace" was the simple answer.
As Von Hohenzollern appeared to be in thought, Davion raised his glass to his lips.
"I do not see any horns, tails or cloven hooves."
This made Davion almost do a spit take, while it left the Kuritas stunned.
Elija Kurita was the first to react in cold outrage.
"Who do you think you are talking to..." he said, but was interrupted by the louder and more powerful voice of von Hohenzollern.
"I know exactly who you are, cousin," he said, his voice dripping disdain, especially at the last word.
This time Davion did do a spit take as the Kaiser didn't allow any of the Kuritas to say a word.
"You belong to a 'family', if one can call your brood even that, where your oh so venerated founder sentenced his own daughter to death for not following his wishes and have an abortion. A family that demands its soldiers to kill any Prisoner of War, no matter how they get into your filthy hands. A family that caused the genocide of an entire plant, by sword! for pitiful revenge in the name of 'honor'."
Von Hohenzollern's face showed the full force of his disgust, while the Kurita bodyguards looked like they were about to attack, several of the waiters in the room prepared to intervene and to Gracilis combat drones slowly trotted over to the commotion to add some security.
"A family where 'honor' demands that you drag the corpse of an enemy head of state to the hole you came from to show him off for all the world to understand how primitive and barbarous your people are."
The comment made Davion take a step back, as Elija Kurita turned red and was about to say something, only to be stopped by Von Hohenzollern whipping his cane up and holding it in front of his Adams apple.
"I have done more for my people in the past 25 years than you and your brood have done in the past 600. You are just a bunch of scavengers, fighting to rule a corpse. I am sickened I share some of my DNA with you lot."
He lowered his cane and then spat out on the floor between Elija's feet, before turning around and striding out of the room, followed by his adjutant. Before the Kurita guards could do anything, the two Gracilis had pushed themselves in between them and the Hannoverians, gazing with feigned disinterest at the Combine delegation.
"He just signed his death warrant," Davion commented, still wiping some of his drink from his face, while Adam sighed and shook his head. "You wouldn't know how to get a video of this, would you?"
Result: -10 on Relations to the Draconis Combine, +1 on Relations with the Federated Suns
