OOC: UGH. this is harder than I thought.
A message is beamed to the Moonies, stating that their ambassadors have arrived safely and negotiations are underway. Their response sets everyone on edge; they claim that the shuttle is indeed theirs, but it was not authorized to either approach or open talks. It escaped their notice because it left the area under stealth, and they discovered the missing ship soon after. They do not mention the possibility that they are rogues, saboteurs or the sort, just that they will "leave the matter to our discretion". A channel is promptly opened to the docked shuttle and a demand is made for an immediate explanation. They waste no time; the Moonies claim that their civilization is currently being wracked by a virulent contagion, which lies dormant and difficult to detect within cells before symptoms start to appear, by which time it is too late for most of its victims. They came under stealth and without contact because they feared either someone might get an itchy trigger finger, or try and contact their capitol for confirmation, which would have very little chance of a positive response. They adamantly state that they have no intention of violence, simply saying that their government doesn't want them talking to us because they fear that we might capitalize on their weakened state and attack. Without aid, however, a sizable portion of their population is likely going to be wiped out, so these renegade 'ambassadors' are quite willing to face capital punishment if it means their people might have a better chance.
Though the truth of either parties' stories remains to be seen, the fact remains that a Moonie shuttle with live crew onboard have waited patiently and cooperated with station personnel and have taken no hostile action; there is also no evidence of tampering with any station systems after several full diagnostics are run. At the very least, a consensus is reached to give them the benefit of the doubt for now.
And so, focus is again laid on learning more about the Moonies' biology and culture. Luckily, the prepared environment should keep any trace of infection from transmitting to the station, and the ship itself has already been thoroughly sanitized. They appear to be crustacean, walking forward to back instead of side to side on several legs, with a somewhat raised torso and head that allows their eyes to roughly come up to the lower chest of an average human. In place of claws they possess matching pairs of long prehensile tentacles which look like they could easily grasp and manipulate objects, and quite possibly defend themselves as well. Their shells look quite bulky, more like a layer of natural armor than the smooth, thin feel of most Earth crabs and lobsters, and have apparently been painted different colors. Perhaps they use color as a way to denote societal status and rank or the like, possibly hinting at a caste-based society. Further research (or perhaps an autopsy) will need to be conducted to get a full approximation of their inner biology.
As the deadline for the completion of the battleship draws near, a number of questions are asked and complaints raised regarding the fact that almost all primary shipbuilding infrastructure in the system is currently in use by a single private consortium. More formal protest -- and a bit of fear -- begins to arise from Gaia once it is found the purpose of this act is for the production of a heavily armed warship quite capable of small-scale planetary bombardment. For its part, the AI does not immediately order the cessation or suspension of the construction project, though it is still quite possible to do so before next month, as numerous smaller projects and system diagnostics yet need to be finished. Instead, focus for now is given towards 'leveling the playing field' by analyzing the blueprints of the planned vessel and making appropriate adjustments to current state-of-the-art equipment and weaponry to compensate.
The development of such high-yield weapons has taken a significant blow with the destruction of much of the Hephaestus facility, which hampers these efforts. In spite of this, some small progress is made; a new type of missile with a shaped-charge warhead, encased in a non-ferrous alloy of aluminum and other metals, has been devised. It should be able to mostly if not completely disregard a magnetic shield, and deliver a powerful targeted armor-piercing blast to critical points on heavy ships. Unfortunately, although the R&D phase of the missile went quite well (to the immense relief of the research staff), the field test involving several refitted combat missile drones went horribly wrong when, during an attempt to test the effectiveness of the warhead versus small nearby planetoids, their targeting systems malfunctioned and caused them to empty their entire salvos into a nearby destroyer and two frigates; the first frigate never stood a chance, as several warheads impacted its engine section, causing it to blast apart to the dismay of the station crews. The remaining frigate and destroyer suffered more superficial damage, though a couple decks were quickly depressurized and their fleshy contents forcefully ejected. It would have likely been much worse had a nearby squadron of fighters not immediately shot down the drones before they could complete their kamikaze run. It would seem the warhead is effective.
Some research is considered into the field of rechargeable, high-energy density batteries such as lithium-ion instead of dangerous miniature fusion reactors. The prospects are attractive, but with resources and facilities strained as they are, progress is slow and any field-working unit isn't likely to be available until next month, minimum. At least nothing explodes.
With last months research disaster on Hephaestus firmly in mind, a team of planners and drones is sent to the nearly-ruined facility and proceeds to clean up the debris and draw up blueprints for a full reconstruction effort. Due to murmurs of protest regarding repeated catastrophic failures in the course of researching dangerous technology such as miniaturized fusion reactors, the facility is to be entirely reworked to rely heavily on automation, with several new layers of fail-safes to both minimize the possibility of another disaster, and cut down on collateral damage and loss of life should it happen again. It will take several months to clear the site again and rebuild it, but the initial outlook is promising.
Terraforming on Aries remains at status quo, with more and more of the icecaps slowly receding every month. Regarding the colony itself, however, disturbing news follows; murmurs of anti-AI sentiment are beginning to surface, and while still quite small and given a lukewarm reception, they seem to be putting a lot of emphasis on several past mistakes, slowly trying to convince people that they would be better off without the AI around.
Another wave of terrorists on Gaia were found attempting to sabotage public facilities and attack government institutions with improvised chemical weapons. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt and most of the offenders were neutralized by the Gaian police, with a few being taken into custody.
The system's sun was particularly violent this month; with scarcely days to prepare, a solar flare was launched in the direction of Aquarius. Fortunately, ample warning was given for the 'Valiant' avian contact dirigible to land and for much of the algae harvesting infrastructure to shut down their non-critical systems. Much of the flare is deflected by the planets magnetosphere, but it is still felt as several observation satellites are knocked out of orbit to plummet into the atmosphere. Some of them land in the ocean, sending towering columns of water upward, but one strikes dangerously close to the Valiant's landing zone, flattening a fair-sized area of vegetation. The primitive avians are visibly shaken, but slowly manage to calm down as the human crew assures them everything is under control.
A number of preventive measures are considered to protect against further possible solar flares, and all of them are implemented quickly and efficiently. Magnetic scooper ships are refitted and several strong magnetic shield generators laid out in hopes of deflecting the bulk of a flare, whilst the Nano-factories are placed into overdrive manufacturing replacement electronic devices and equipment. Finally, a 'Space weather' system is created as a news service to warn travelers, outposts & population centers alike of dangerous solar events and other occurrences. If a flare does occur, the system will be ready for it; or at least some of the more critical portions, especially the AI core and much of the Maven community.
Gaia is left largely out of these calculations, as it is recalled the planet has a uniquely strong magnetic field, combined with very dense cloud cover, which seems to easily deflect most solar flare activity away from the planet despite it's proximity to the sun. There is still the diplomatic space station, of course, but a large magnetic shield can be applied to it in due time.
Another curiosity of human nature has surfaced, that of their insatiable and somewhat illogical need to give everything a (often cliche) name or title; in this case, it is the AI. Apparently unwilling to simply continue referring to it as 'Ship' or some other name, they request a proper label of some sort be applied to the primary AI. The list of possible names they have come up with is quite... staggering, and polls are already being actively voted on, owing in large part to the internet systems developed and applied in the past. Barring any delays from beyond the fourth wall, the AI should have a name in roughly a month's time.
(OOC: That means I'm counting on YOU guys/subroutines to come up with a name for the AI.)
Time lapsed in system: 7 years, 8 months- "Gaia": Earth-like planet with large, automated atmospheric terraforming facilities with deadly autonomous bladed robots inside, genetically modified uncompetitive & unintelligent animals, abundant minerals, several bustling, competitive human-run city-states, and orbiting diplomatic space station (Babylon)
- "Hephaestus": acidic, hostile atmosphere and radioactive, rare elements present, critically damaged research and development station (3 months to repair), several power generation facilities, orbital Hydrogen storage tank
- "Aquarius": aquatic world, savage life and aquatic mega-fauna, virulent bacteria, pack-like nomadic intelligent Avians, floating university dedicated to teaching the Avians (50 Avians resident), large algae harvesting & processing operation, small shielded colony/research outpost in shallow waters
- "Aries": Mars-like planet transitioning to Earth-like, industrial-scale terraforming (scattered trees, quickly advancing grasses, basic wildlife, modest amount of surface water, slight moisture in polar atmosphere, large-scale organic compost piles), some minerals, numerous space elevators linked to orbital satellites and facilities, AI-controlled comfortable Arcology settlements and scattered Maven communities, Grand Parliament building, Nano-factory, space academy, human cloning & fertility center, backup AI copy in secure bunker, nuclear missile in secure underground bunker, orbital militarized shipyard
- "Shiva": Freezing world, habitable caverns in and under permafrost
- Abundant Asteroids: nascent asteroid mining industry, naval military base (Majority of military fleet present; Moonie ambassadors present)
- Gas Giant A: numerous moons with isolationist intelligent life
- Gas Giant B: several moons with isolationist intelligent life
Military
Self-repairing carbon
Absorptive stealth coating
Electrochemical ballistic ammunition
Mass drivers
Basic weaponized lasers
Missiles
Light shaped-charge anti-capital ship missiles w/ non-ferrous casing
Strong magnetic shields
Combat drones
Medical / Biological
Cloning and complex genetic manipulation
Rudimentary automated diagnostic systems
Perfected cryogenics
Early Biomedicines
Power
Aerotransmission
Photovoltaics (Solar panels)
Geothermal powerplants
Nuclear fission reactors
Industrial
Nano-tech (nano-factories, basic mobile nanites & delivery system)
Multipurpose drones (flying firefighters, submersible explorers, repair drones utilizing self-repairing carbon, etc.)
Deep land drilling (Fossil fuels, etc.)
Space-based mobile hydroponic farms
Solar lenses
Giant telescopes
Space elevators
Magnetic hydrogen scoops
Other
Internet
Military (by ship length)5-25 Meters (Patrol class): 50 ships
Fighter: 15 ft; lasers, missiles, absorptive stealth coating
Slinger: 15 ft; multi-purpose kinetic launchers, grapple/tow system, high-power engines
Info: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=102043.msg3270521;topicseen#msg327052126-50 Meters (Corvette class): 25 ships
Mine Corvette: 40 ft; combat missile drones, absorptive stealth coating
51-100 Meters (Frigate class): 8 ships (1 damaged)
Frigate: mass drivers, missiles, lasers, magnetic shields, absorptive stealth coating
100-150 Meters (Destroyer class): 3 ships (1 damaged)
Destroyer: mass drivers, missiles, lasers, magnetic shields, absorptive stealth coating
151-300 Meters (Cruiser class): 0 ships
301-500 Meters (Battleship class): 1 ship under construction (1 month)
Military (support)Combat Missile Drones: shaped-charge non-ferrous missiles, kamikaze protocol when ammo exhausted, can be laid as mines with auto-targeting or remotely controlled
OtherTerraformer (Primary AI Ship) unarmed, Nano-factory, 5000 human-sized cryogenic pods (0 occupied), sperm/egg/seed bank,
houses primary AI mainframeMagnetic hydrogen scooper shipsMobile hydroponic farm shipsGeneral-purpose cargo freighters - Can communicate through mental implants
- Produces own electricity via small organ
- Can be given programs to augment skills and knowledge
- Exhibit a slight tendency towards uniformity
- Specialized implants to perform military, research, and medical roles
- Seek knowledge obsessively
- Pack dwelling
- Near-human intelligence
- Nomadic
- Capable of tool use
- Quick breeding rate
- Teach new generations
- Know basic sign language
- Dwell on multiple moons around Jovian planets
- Crustacean species with tentacles in place of claws
- Very isolationist
- Possess at least rudimentary space flight
- Possess gravity manipulation technology
- Maintain an economy between multiple moons (evidenced by traffic between them)
Poll
7 (33.3%)
Author
Topic: Terraforming: Suggestion Game (Read 362090 times)