Year 12
This year, which some would call 0015AE, would be a year of tensions released. First and foremost, the situation regarding the Rana hotspot took several steps towards a long-term solution. While the official stance of Nekomi officials is to ignore the U.P.N.C.S. altogether, still most of the grievances put forth by the latter regarding Rana have been addressed. Negotiations have begun with all factions involved, military officials involved in the death shootings are being tried at courts at Sirius, and an independent investigation has been launched to discern the underlying reasons for the riots. Furthermore, the Nekomi senate has passed several bills giving regional (read planetary) governments much higher degrees of independence. Formally, the nation is now known as the Nekomi Planetary Federation (NPF). In response to these actions, the U.S.C. lifted the general trade embargo imposed towards the Nekomi, thereby in turn saving themselves from the intended counter-embargo the Emergents had issued in sympathy with their Nekomi allies.
Another tension resolved is that of Mira, where the Emergents payed the Capellans to relinquish all claims to it. Attempts to help their Furian allies make similar deals regarding the Sigma Draconis and Cebalrai systems failed however, as neither the Kalian Confederacy nor the Furians themselves would give the matter much attention.
The situation at Acrux also seems to be headed towards a solution. The Emergents have reopened the formal diplomatic channels with NAM, thereby greatly increasing hope for a peaceful solution. Trading ties are not yet back to normal however, much to the dismay of merchants on both sides, and the joy of a third party.
The NAM government, in the light of recent border events, saw fit to declare a policy of co-settlement at all border systems, to promote good relations and trade. Systems cited include the already co-settled Acrux and Kruger, but also the Antares system bordering the Kalian Confederacy.
Massive redevelopment efforts have been almost commonplace in these times of regrowth and revitilization of the galaxy. But no effort to date, not even the (in)famous Domini doctrine, has been greater than the complete redevelopment of Mizar II and IV in less than one year's time. Having this highly productive system back in business has brought the Colonial economy up as the largest and most vibrant in all the galaxy. Several smaller, but highly significant, redevelopment efforts throughout the Nekomi Federation makes them a close runner-up, however, where the previously aggressive Nekomi expansion efforts have been brought to a halt, the Colonials continue to expand. The clean, surgical operation at Arcturus not only brought down the hostile defense systems but also kept much of them intact under Colonial control. Arcturus may well come to be another productive jewel in the Colonial crown, and the settling of Wolf near Sol has brought trade revenues to an entirely new level. The Colonial dream of the perfect empire is well on its way to fruitition.
The Capellans continued to tarnish their trade reputation. After the incident with the Cybrans last year, the Cybrans naturally demanded amends, which was agreed upon. But the thought of giving biological weapons into the hands of "an unreliable terrorist faction" seems to much for some of the Capellans, and the transfer was blocked at the last minute. Understandably the Cybrans refused any further trades in that direction of the galaxy. But it didn't end there. A deal struck with the Ascendancy over tech for Capellan gold was well-received on both sides - until Ascendant accountants had finished counting and reported only half the worth that they had expacted. This had severe consequences as several Ascendant defensive installations had to be postponed. Word is spreading, and the terms "a Capellan deal" and "Capelland gold" have gained fairly widespread use as less-than-flattering idioms.
Militarily, this year became a milestone in post-scourge space ship construction. Emergent developers had long had their eyes set on finding efficient means to once again build the greatest of all ships, the dreadnoughts. This year funding was finally in, and research has already reached the prototype phase. But regardless of Emergent ambitions, they will not be the first. Putting might before efficiency, the small but dangerous Furian faction could wait no longer, they just had to have the first dreadnought. Pouring massive mounts of money and resources into this prestige project, the ship is now launched as the pride of the Furian navy. And yet they failed, for they were not the first either. Using their superior industrial capacity and knowledge, the U.S.C. military, relying on good old Shuurai HI, managed to get not only one but two dreadnoughts in orbit well before the Furian launch. Diplomatic tensions may be lessening throughout the galaxy, but military buildup is clearly at an all-time high.
Random mini-spotlight
Immediately after the colony was reported fully functional (and actually some time before that as well), it received remarkably high volumes of traffic, in particular considering its rather remote location orbiting the sole moon of the Acrux III gas giant. But considering its status as the sole free trading port in a system locked by governmental embargos, it is certanly not all that surprising. The intrepid Capellan entrepreneurs certainly struck gold as they could capitalize on the trade restrictions, serving as middle-men for every single transaction between NAM and Emergent merchants. Its significance is likely to diminish greatly if or when trading relations between the two are normalized, but even then it will serve admirably as a station for Capellan trade within NAM space. And for now, the benefits are truly massive.
Story bonuses:
+ William Enseth gets a baptism through fire.
(+2 redev of Lacaille)
+ Rioter Prault is under arrest.
(+2% stability to Benalia)
+ All the best from Aaron Mica to the new Autarch of Huris.
(+2 banked PP)
+ The Colonial strike at Arcturus is well prepared.
(Bonus to strike against Arcturus)
+ Kalia is the second most developed planet in the galaxy.
(+2 redev of Kalia)
+ Project Eighty-Eight is assembling again.
(+6 to Reactive Computers research)
+ Jack is not who he thinks he is.
(+6 to project Symbiosis)
+ The core worlds of the Ascendancy are well sheltered.
(+1 to redev of Niu Yue, Jiao Xiu)
+ Sector six is cleared.
(+2 banked PP)
+ The Inquisition aren't happy to see the Emergents.
(+1 Frigate at Misery)
+ The Emergent delegation is anxious.
(+2 banked PP)
+ Smugglers at Kalia have a really hard time these days.
(+2 banked PP)
+ The Benalian Police Force has things well under control.
(+2% stability to Benalia, +1 banked PP)
Random events:
Project Symbiosis is concluded ahead of schedule.
(+8 banked PP)
Pavonian citizens are proud of their status as second largest of the nation.
(+3 PP redev of Delta Pavonis)
Terraforming experiments at Benalia give unexpected positive results.
(+2 PP terraformed at Benalia)
Special bonuses:
Emergent citizens are relentless in their pursuit of riches.
(Most prolific writer: +10 PP banked)
Kalians never give up hope.
(Second most prolific writer: +10 PP banked)
Capellans are as ingenious as they are beautiful.
(Most audacious plan: +10 PP banked)
OOC:
Alright, finally.
FINALLY!!! The update is up, after god only knows how long. Could I have completed it earlier? Most certainly, but for various reasons, some of which I probably don't even know myself, I didn't. The main reason however has been that wanted to spend my far too limited computer time on fun things. Fun, isn't this game fun then? Well yes, but as much as I love this game, and enjoy providing a fun experience for you guys, the actual updating isn't all that amusing really. It's something that I steel myself for, grit my teeth and plunge through it. But when that isn't an option, and the time of completion isn't well in sight, then it becomes very tedious to say the least. There's also the feeling I've had that I would fix it as soon as I got well again. Well, this thing seems to be dragging out, and I doubt you'd wait for me until September or however long it would take. And I probably won't be able to go back to my old computer habits for far longer than that, if ever. So it was do the slow, tedious route, or not at all. And here we are, finally.
So, what does this mean for the future? I don't know really. I'll have to take it as it comes. For the close future, it means that I can't and won't promise a time when the PMs will be sent out. The maps are completed, but there are no less than eight different fresh techs to write descriptions for, and a bunch of projects at that. It can take a while, and I will have to let it take the time it takes.
There is also the question of whether it's too late already for some. Indeed I have no idea how many of you are still interested in playing on. I know that a vocal minority of you are
really anxious to get on with the game, but what of the rest of you? Are you still interested in playing, under the premises that I will have to impose? If at least half of the 12 current players restate their interest in playing, I will keep this up. If there are some who would rather opt out, I understand, and I will organize a hunt for new players to fill the emptied spots. At this time of year, I think and hope that it will not be overly hard to find fillers, despite vacations and such.
As for specifics:
@Iggy, sorry about last turn, I did mess things up and missed that PM of yours. I've retrofitted everything, and I don't think anything is much affected any more. If you find something amiss (if you still remember
) then tell me and I'll look at it.
@Nylan, since you asked: Your colony ships were 30 PP each (30*0.9*1.1, only Biomaterials give a reduction) so I have no idea where you got your numbers from
. I stole funding from the last bullet on your spending list. Also if you care, when paying for redevelopment the numbers you give often don't give an exact amount of PP increase, so what you overspend will be banked. Wasteful, and also gives me a bit more work
. If you want me to explain more in detail, I can do so via PM.
But sadly it only serves to feed my bad concience. I'm already too much at the computer... But there will be an update some time soonish, unless my health takes another step backwards. Any and all stories posted for this update will be grandly rewarded.
Thanks a million Erik. You know I will make good for it, some day...
