Turn 79 - Spring 2193/3043
Confederated Forces:
[] Plasma Shield Development: active
Time: 5 turns, Chance of success: 45%
Roll 1 of 5, Roll 1d100: 63+5+5+15 = 88 - Success (Space Weapon development, all military R&D, all military actions)
Roll 2 of 5, Roll 1d100: 13+5+5+15 = 38 - Failure
Roll 3 of 5, Roll 1d100: 82+5+5+15 = 107 - Success
After some number crunching on various simulations, some idea was formed in the minds of the engineers, developing a form of directed Plasma Barrier over only a limited area of the Shrivatsa System field envelope. This would allow Smart Dust to continue functioning in their normal specifications, while increasing the protection over the area covered by the Directed Plasma Barrier.
This Directed Plasma Barrier could also be made stronger than previously expected, as the Plasma could be contained within a specific area, here the direction of the enemy, who had to fire through the Plasma Barrier. This in turn brought up a potentially different problem as the vessel projecting the Plasma Barrier would have to fire through it as well.
However, the plasma generation could be stopped for the duration of a weapon system being fired, before being turned on again afterwards. The only light speed weapons deployed on WarShips were lasers, which were not as effected by the Plasma Barrier in any case, so with AI control the Plasma Barrier could be made to 'flicker', or to be only active when enemy fire was imminent, saving on hydrogen needed to generate the plasma.
active for 2 more turns
[] Graveyard Shift: - 5 votes active
Time: 4 turns, Chance of success: 60%
Roll 1 of 4, Roll 1d100: 100+15 = 115 - Crit Success (All Military Actions)
With the discovery that the Terran Hegemony apparently had formed a government in exile of some sort and was at War with another party, there were more than a few people in the higher echelons of the Confederated Forces that anticipated the danger to the Graveyard Expedition. The same was true for politicians, who would be negatively impacted, should the Graveyard Expedition turn into a disaster, because an unknown force had attacked it.
Additionally, there might be some need to set up a military base out there, should the situation with the War between the Terrans and the Algareons turn towards the Inner Sphere, which in turn would involve the OCP to some degree.
As such, additional funding was released to send a small Task Force after the Graveyard Expedition to set up a defensive perimeter and a forwards military base. To this end, 1st Battle Fleet was selected to be sent towards Graveyard, around CFS Tillmann, CFS Endeavour, CFS Admiral Ushakov and CFS Rademaker, as well as their support vessels. Additionally, two Lerbtur class Mobile Forwards Operating Bases were sent along, as these vessels were technically militarised versions of the Von Neumann design and would set up in system infrastructure.
While this would decrease the defensive capabilities of Sol, it was expected that 1st Battle Fleet would be adequately be replaced by the WarShips of the various Sol based member nations. The only problem remained that the 1st Battle Fleet would need to be upgraded to the new specs at Graveyard, by the two Lerbturs, which would decrease their defensive value for a while.
Either way, the Graveyard Expedition was informed about their new defensive screen and the new information on the system potentially being in a battle zone.
active for 3 more turns
OCP Survey Office:
[] Counter-Espionage Operations: domestic action against MIIO and others active
Time: 5 turns, Chance of success: 50%
Roll 1 of 5, Roll 1d100: 81+15 = 96 - Success
Roll 2 of 5, Roll 1d100: 64+15 = 79 - Success
Roll 3 of 5, Roll 1d100: 67+15 = 82 - Success
Roll 4 of 5, Roll 1d100: 80+15 = 95 - Success
While a good number of agents from national intelligence agencies were discovered, there was a surprising number of agents working for various corporations on industrial espionage active within the OCP and especially the Sol system.
While the various corporations targeted by the latter were informed, as were law enforcement agencies, decisions had to be made regarding the other agents. In the end, it was decided that in the next quarter, about half of the agents would be 'discovered' and allowed to inform their colleagues before being arrested, who would then be kept under close surveillance and be used to feed false intelligence to their agencies.
active for 1 more turns
[] Follow the Unknowns: - 7 votes active
Time: ? turns, Chance of Success: 65%
Roll 1 of ?, Roll 1d100: 95+15 = 110 - Success
In the end, the Scouting Force was unwilling to wait for orders from home and decided to take matters into their own hands. One of the Walsinghams and one Jumpship would remain at Far Star to try and recover more information from the destroyed Terran Hegemony WarShips and Station, while the other two Walsinghams and two Jumpships would move to immediately follow the Algareon Self Defense Force fleet at a safe distance of about ten lightyears, which appeared to be the range of at least the Terran Hegemony Superluminal Wave Detectors.
The distance could be held as it had been discovered a few years earlier that the Superlimunal Wave Detectors would continue to work in The Everchanging Black.
They would still drop Hypercom Relays occasionally, as needed, to keep contact with Berlin and allow the other vessels to eventually catch up.
In the end, two weeks after they began following the Algareon force, they got the order to immediately begin persuit and not wait on any other message.
active for ? more turns
OCP Diplomatic Corps:
[] Interstellar Peace Corps: active
Time: 4 turns, Chance of success: 50%
Roll 1 of 4, Roll 1d100: 76+10 = 86 - Success (All Diplomatic Actions)
Roll 2 of 4, Roll 1d100: 95+10 = 105 - Crit Success
Roll 3 of 4, Roll 1d100: 33+10 = 43 - Failure
The political bombshell of the battle between the Terran Hegemony (in Exile) did have some negative effects on the proposal of the Interstellar Peace Corps, as envisioned by Adam Prometheus, as everyone was distracted from the situation, taking guesses about both forces.
active for 1 more turns
[] We Know What You Don't: - 4 votes active
Time: 3 turns, Chance of success: 50%
Roll 1 of 3, Roll 1d100: 63+10+20+10 = 103 - Success (Periphery Alliance, Diplomatic Relations, All Diplomatic Actions)
The discovery that there had, until the destruction of Far Star Station, been a hyperwave link into the general direction of Clan Space, had caused alarm bells go on in the head of various members of the Confederation's military, intelligence services and the Diplomatic Corps. This showed a possibility of the Terran Hegemony infiltrating Clan Space, as was, presumably, the Inner Sphere. Already the situation on Terra had made more sense with Hegemony involvement.
Now the idea was what their involvement in Clan Space meant. What were their goals there? Where were their agents hidden?
After several close conferences about the problem, it was decided to take a leap of faith concerning the Lupus Republic and inform them about the situation as it was known to the Confederation. The Confederation was helping the Republic to establish itself and had allied with them already. And perhaps the efforts to evacuate those that wished to go to the Republic from Clan Space needed to be increased.
active for 2 more turns
OCP Trade Organization:
[] >4&*: Go forth and multiply: active
Time: 4 turns, Chance of success 50%
Roll 1 of 4, Roll 1d100: 78+10+10+10+15+15 = 138 - Success (Stronger Economy, Economic Ties, Interstellar Communication Network, Space Industry, Space Mining)
Roll 2 of 4, Roll 1d100: 43+10+10+10+15+15 = 103 - Success
With the project to double the number of Von Neumanns, almost all Von Neumanns themselves began to produce new 'offspring' as their situation allowed, while several yards in the Three Systems offered to begin with the construction of more Von Neumanns.
In the background, there was the idea to begin with the design and production of smaller versions of the Von Neumanns as little more than mobile fabricator systems, as to supply additional production capacity. With the correct cargo, they could potentially build mining and refinery systems in situ.
active for 2 more turns
[] Industrial Export/Trade Delegations: Taurians - 2 votes (1, 4)
[] Space Industry III: - 2 votes (2, 5)
[] Double >4&*: Go forth and multiply - 2 votes (3, 6)
Roll 1d6: 5 - Space Industry III
[] Space Industry III: - 2 votes
Time: 4 turns, Chance of success: 60%,
Roll 1 of 4, Roll 1d100: 88+10+10+10+15+15 = 148 - Success (Stronger Economy, Economic Ties, Interstellar Communication Network, Space Industry, Space Mining)
There were a number of potential new projects that had come up in the wake of the political bombshell that was the Terran-Algareon War and some people had panicked. While the War was still kept top secret, there had been proposals to again double the numbers of Von Neumanns, or to further increase the budget to promote the construction of new Space Industry. While these two proposals were clearly favoured, some were suggesting to set up trade relations with the Taurian Concordat.
In the end, the proposal to increase the promotion budget for the new space borne industry, as it would have more far-reaching effects for a minimum of investment.
active for 3 more turs
OCP Office for Science and Development:
[] Tesseract Transportation: active
Time: 4 turns, Chance of success: 40%
Roll 1 of 4, Roll 1d100: 57+10+10 = 77 - Success (Research Center Sol, Interstellar Communication Network)
Roll 2 of 4, Roll 1d100: 15+10+10 = 35 - Failure
Roll 3 of 4, Roll 1d100: 16+10+10 = 36 - Failure
Roll 4 of 4, Roll 1d100: 97+10+10 = 117 - Crit Success
Combined: 66 - Success
As the researchers and engineers prepared a new JumpShip and prepared for yet another failure and with it of the program, the HFEG equipped spacecraft that was sent through the tesseract simply returned.
From the data collected by the volunteer AGI controlling the vessel, it had remained inside the tesseract for more than 45 days for the simple transit to the other end. During this time, it had sought to minimise the generation of waste heat, but had not been fully successful, though the tesseract seemed to allow the dissipation of more heat into The Everchanging Black. Either way, once the vessels had reached the other end of the tesseract, it had simply dropped back into Einstein Space, with damage to its radiators and heat sinks.
The distance it had travelled was just over about 4000 lightyears spinwards into interstellar space. Here, the AGI had made repairs using its own stores and the small fabricator and attempted to improve its heat situation for the return trip. The return trip had been another 45 days of straight travel through the tesseract, trying to manage heat as best as it could.
Travel through the tesseract had been able to father enough data on the structure of the tessearact from the inside. Analysing the data showed that, apparently, each tesseract had a specific internal n dimensional frequency, and a Jump Drive needed to be adapted to this frequency. HFEGs in contrast seemed to allow access without this adaption. It took a while, but it was possible to extract the specific frequency from the readings of the superluminal wave scanners.
While the new RSN drive would merely need a simple firmware fix to adapt it to tesseract travel through any tesseract, the more conventional JumpShip needed a light hardware fix before it was ready.
In late Spring the Jumpship was ready and jumped into the tesseract. And it was not destroyed. Controlled by the same AGI as the HFEG vessel, it returned after a week, with the AGI noting it had needed to perform some repairs, but that most of the time had been needed to recharge the jump drive, as the tesseract jump had drained it completely, even with attempting to make just a fractional distance jump.
This meant that travel through tesseracts was now open, through one would need to find a few more of them, before there could be any talk about a viable travel lane.
Reward: Tesseracts can be used for long range transportation, Scouting for Tesseract Action
[] Digging up Gravyard: active
Time: 6 turns, Chance of success: 50%
Roll 1 of 6, Roll 1d100: 67+10+10 = 87 - Success
Roll 2 of 6, Roll 1d100: 39+10+10 = 59 - Success
Roll 3 of 6, Roll 1d100: 28+10+10 = 48 - Failure
Shortly after the news of the Terran-Algareon War had hit, the Graveyard Expedition had been informed and all but ordered to stop where it was, and to wait for more orders, as they were potentially journeying directly into a war zone. The scientists aboard the vessels were less than thrilled about the order and that their captains were following those orders.
In their minds they were a privately funded expedition and not beholden to any military orders they could get from the Confederation. However, the displeasure was limited to loud grumbling of the scientists and one or two smaller fights between people who were of different opinion about the situation. The information that came later, that they would need to wait for the Confederation's 1st Battle Fleet to catch up with them as an escort, only cheered up some.
active for 3 more turns
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OCP Internal Events:
There is not much happening domestically.
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Intelligence Report:
Periphery Alliance:
Lupus Republic:
The build up on the worlds of the Lupus Republic continued, with more and more new citizens being brought in from Clan Space.
Lothian League:
Illyrian Palatinate:
Should the Illyrian Palatinate be inducted into the Confederation as member state?
[] Yes - 7 votes
While the Terran-Algareon War was a more important potential diplomatic issue, Parliament took the time to decide on the issue of the Illyrian Palatinate joining up with the Confederation as a new member state. The situation was put to a vote, which was 76 percent in favor for the induction of the Palatinate. As a result, the Ambassador to the Palatinate was asked to begin the talks, to welcome the Palatinate in Summer.
Meanwhile, in the Lothian League, Grand Mistress Logan tried her best to keep the reins of power over the other worlds of the League, almost like her attempts to impose micro management of those worlds. But like it had been at the time the Caldran Ansible had been introduced to the League, the other worlds pushed back. And they pushed back hard. Many of the planetary rulers and governments were willing to bet that the Confederation would support them over the Grand Mistress and threatened to leave Lothario hanging high and dry as they left the League and independently joined up with the Confederation. After all, being a minor voice in the Confederation might be better than having to suffer the power politics of the Grand Mistress, couldn't it? At least then they would be able to do as they pleased, within reason, instead of being browbeaten by Lothario.
As the Confederation Ambassador looked on, he tried to keep himself out of the growing conflict, as the Grand Mistress threatened to retaliate with mercenaries against anyone who dared to defy her.
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Taurian Concordat:
With more help from Confederation technicians, old factories were slowly put back into working order, after having been derelicted for decades and even centuries, slowly getting Taurian industry back on track.
Magistracy of Canopus:
Not much of interest is happening within the Magistracy.
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Inner Sphere:
Federated Commonwealth:
Not much of interest is happening within the Federated Commonwealth.
Draconis Combine:
The Draconis Combine continues to splinter and collapse.
Free Worlds League:
Leak FedCom Helicals and MRMs to the FWL
[] Yes - 3 votes (even)
And give basic data on exoframes so they can make their own version of exoskeleton frames and if possible quietly slip all this data to Taurians as well. - 3 votes
[] No - 3 votes (odd)
Roll 1d6: 6 - even => Yes, and give them and the Taurians...
Perhaps it was the information of the Terran-Algareon War that had tipped the balance, but ever since it had been discovered the Federated Commonwealth had developed their own Helicals, as well as MRMs and powered armor, there had been discussions about possibly handing the information on those weapons over to the FWL, largely to strengthen the FWL against the Commonwealth, which would undoubtedly have a military advantage over the FWL once they had recovered from the war with the Combine.
Even though for all intents and purposes the rebuilding of the FedCom military was mostly directed against the Clans, there was some fear that they could instead decide to take on the FWL, with the help of Andurien, which was supported by Davion.
Eventually it was decided not only would the FWL be given the information of the FedCom weapons, so that they could develop their own versions, but that the Taurians would also be given the same data. And so, information of the FedCom Helicals and MRMs, as well as the MIL-STD-102343 specifications and some data concerning the construction of exoskeletons for powered armor, and informations about FedCom powered armor were given to newly formed contacts of the Cultural Attaches within SAFE and the Taurian Ministry of Intelligence.
Meanwhile, the buildup along the Andurien-FWL border continued.
Dutchy of Andurien:
Some information surfaces, inducating that Davion might be supplying some helicals and MRMs to Andurien.
The buildup along the Andurien-FWL border continued.
Confederation of Habitats:
Not much of interest is happening within the CoH.
Terra Situation:
For the time being, the situation on Terra appeared to be stable, as more of the cure is provided by the CoH and the first results of developing an anti-body vaccination appeared to give good results.
Expansion and Suggestions:
The DSSI Network slowly continues to expand into the Inner Sphere.
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Random Event - Inner Sphere Company tries to butt into OCP Economy
New York Times - February 27, 2193
Locheed Martin sued by Lockheed CBM
Today, Kathrin Davidson, CEO of Lockheed Martin, has informed the press that a company from the Federated Commonwealth had sued Lockheed Martin for their use of the name Lockheed. Lockheed CBM of Donegal stated in the lawsuit that they were the older corporation and had previous rights to the name 'Lockheed'. Based on our information, this follows an attempt of Lockheed CBM to take over Lockheed Martin.