Agents Of Empire/Turns/13/Colony Worlds

Turn 13

Turn 14 >

House Actions

• Shipping:
  • The Reiglight Revenge takes Rick and the Foreign Legion to Vefna. On the way, it ejects a decoy transponder beacon into space that's broadcasting the kind of messages you might expect to hear from a colonial war fleet fleet (in the hope that the Gwyne ships will investigate it, delaying their attacks against us).
  • The Space Whale takes 5 units of Industrial Kelp to Elvis. It ejects a second decoy transponder into a different part of space, with similar intentions.
• Fighting:
  • Thunderchild, the Yowlin' Yoshis and the Fightin' Fighters take up defensive positions on and around Arroyo.
• Exploration:
  • The StarLight Survey Scouts explore a new region of Elvis (making it 2/6 of the way to Explored-I).
  • The Lewison Clarks and Bram together explore a new region of Arroyo, the Cavernous Region (making it 5/6 of the way to Explored-I).
  • Raphael Helsing and his Reef Riders take on Region 3 of Boumfadour (making it Explored-I).
• Industry:
  • Bonanza Region: Produces 6 units Hyperidot
  • Island Region: Produces 1 unit Chemicals, 3 units Industrial Kelp, 2 units Food
  • Ocean Region: Produces 3 units Chemicals
  • Bloos Wade Region: Produces 1 units of Unsorted Crystals (with homesteader help) and 3 units of Food
  • Alshu Cup Region: Produces 2 units of Unsorted Crystals and 1 unit of Metals
  • Hau Ndogg Region:
    • The Riju Tri-Lateral Industrial Complex processes 2 units of Unsorted Crystals and 1 unit of Food into 1 unit of Biological Control Crystals (a rank-2 refined good).
    • The Riju Tri-Lateral Industrial Complex processes 1 unit of Unsorted Crystals, 1 unit of Industrial Kelp and 1 unit of Food into 1 unit of Kookie Krysp (a rank-2 refined good with a Food value of 4).
    • The Riju Tri-Lateral Industrial Complex processes 2 units of Unsorted Crystals and 1 units of Metals into 1 unit of Large Energy Weapons (a rank-2 refined good).
• Research:
  • The Farlight Institute of Crystal Biotechnology pauses its current research (if any) and works on how to defend against Gwyne's fleet (probably in conjunction with Jude).
  • The Hau Ndogg Community College astro-polo stadium (and secret underground advanced physics laboratory) works on how to fix the wormhole (a natural follow-up from the Gwyne's Nefarious Plan research).
  • The Boumfadour Institue for Ecology and Planetary Development will continue its research on local-terrain defense trying to get up something usable.
• Building:
  • Elvis uses its recipe for creating "2 rank-2 military units for 4 mega-credits each" (requiring Floor(C/(N+5)) = Floor(8/2+5) = 1 unit of rank-2 refined goods) to convert 1 unit of Biological Control Crystals into 2 rank-2 military ground units: squads of militarized carnivorous plant monsters known respectively as "The Green Berets" and "The Elvis Flytraps".
  • Elvis uses 1 unit of Kookie Krysp and 1 unit of Power Cells to create a rank-2 explorer unit known as KANE (Kereal Agent for Neutralization and Exploration).
• Landing:
  • The Reiglight Revenge arrives at Vefna. Stuff probably happens relating to that.
  • The Space Whale arrives at Elvis, dispensing 5 units of Industrial Kelp.
• Trading:
  • Elvis' Hau Ndogg Region, Bloos Wade Region and Alshu Cup Region each consume 1 unit of Food.
  • Boumfadour's Island Region and Ocean Region each consume 1 unit of Food.
  • Arroyo's Bonanza Region goes hungry.
• Politics:
  • We check in on what's been going on in Iavotown on Elvis.

Character Actions

Colony

• Dark: Repairs the ship from the whirlpool.
• Jude: Jude uses SCIENCE! to help defend Elvis.
• Rick: Rick rides to Vefna on the Reiglight Revenge, spending the trip working out attack/rescue plans and drilling the Foreign Legion (preparation).
• Bram: Exploring.
• Kyil: Tries to escape? Presumably?
  • If you won't be around in person this week, it might make sense to spend this week preparing for the escape, and then actually role play it next turn when you're back (and get a bonus for the preparation).
    • Sounds good--Kyil will have spent the time observing guard patterns and augmenting his aural receptors to hear the guards chatting through the walls to figure out if there are particularly sensitive areas they're more closely guarding that would make good targets.

Imperial Core

• Reig: Teams up with Tesher to try to find something this side of the wormhole that would have acted as a beacon or whatever for the wormhole to be moved, and to find anywhere else the wormhole might be pointed at next (say, the emperor's home planet?)
• Seve: Digs out the pictures of the exploded-thing-in-a-crate from a few turns back and shares them with the other PCs. Then he (and anyone else who cares to join in) tries to get some answers out of Nif@x.
• Silentus:
• Tesher: By sheer random luck, Tesher just happens to run into his old friend Reig! After getting caught up on the events of the first twelve turns, he agrees to help the colonies out however he can.
• (NPC) Basinbloke: Starts work on a bill completely shutting Gwyne out of the Empire and condemning them as enemy number one.

Results

Troops and ships move around, getting ready for Gwyne to arrive.

Raphael and his Reef Explorers use their water-monitoring techniques to quickly scan a new area of Boumfadour, the Whirlpool Region, discovering a source for pearls and a mysterious circle of still ocean.

Aramin harnesses some of the native plantlife to create two brutish squads of vegetative violence suitable for planetary defense, and similarly harnesses their breakfast cereal stores to create a grain-based exploration unit.

The Bonanza region goes hungry, reducing it to Mining I for next turn (while the other planets eat their produced food).

The research organizations research. Laria reports she has some ideas as to what's happened with the wormhole, and expects to have more to say next turn.

Iavo's colony was constructed by outside contractors, who left on completion of the buildings. The Iavonians arrived immediately afterwards, bringing with them not very many things but a few large, sealed containers and some (relatively small) earth-moving equipment, which they appear to make use of in dark of night for the first week or so after their arrival. Once settled in, the equipment is packed away for removal, and the Iavonians appear to be taking it easy, returning to a regular routine of meditation and casual farming. The settlement is notably silent -- with the exception of a casual greeting here and there, though the Iavonians will sometimes stand and regard each other for a half-hour at a time, they exchange very few words.

Dark works on repairing the ship he'd found earlier, and manages to patch it into working order. It may not last forever, but for the moment it seems a usable rank-1 fighter ship.

Jude prepares some science-y stuff for the defense of Elvis.

Rick drills the foreign legion as they fly to Vefna (delaying his actual assault on Vefna until next turn). As he gets close, he sees two of the orbiting ships fly from Vefna towards the main Gwyne fleet, leaving just one to guard the planet.

The main Gwyne fleet makes no move this turn -- no doubt their first move was to consult with the Vefnan forces and take stock. Once the additional Vefnan ships arrive, however, the fleet seems to get active again, forming into four smaller fleets and preparing to head out for the colony worlds next turn.

Back at the core, Basinbloke makes several attempts to canvas support for a strong anti-Gwyne bill, and gets nowhere -- he can't find a single notable House willing to cosponsor. The Krazybuys representative just shrugs, for instance: "Seems to me with the wormhole gone, you're representing a broke House. Sure, Gwyne has some problems at the moment, but they've still got a big fleet on this side of the wormhole, and you've got nothing. Come back when you've got money in your pocket, and then we'll talk." He is on the verge of giving up when the Reeft representative approaches him. She's a middle-aged woman with a face half-metal, something she could presumably correct with surgery but must prefer to leave looking disconcerting. "So, you want to introduce a bill, do you? Reeft would be happy to sponsor it."

And she's as good as her word -- the next day, Reeft calls for a motion, and nominates Prime to speak. Basinbloke gives his fiery denunciation, the minister calls for anyone else with something to add, and the chamber is silent. Afterwards, Reeft's diplomat comes up to Basinbloke again, and slaps him on the back so hard he nearly topples over. "A fine speech! Just the thing to let Gwyne know what we think of them, eh?" She slaps him on the back again, and goes off, giving the Gwyne representative a half-smile in passing.

Silentus does something mysterious as usual, while Reig and Tesher and Seve investigate, mostly fruitlessly.