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[Empiricist]

Get information on the demographics on the average UWM soldier. Especially motivations for joining and socioeconomic class.

[piecewise]

I suddenly realize that the best way to stem the tide of massive tinker posts is to cause horrible disasters to pop up in the facility.



This is dangerous knowledge.

[piecewise]

Get information on the demographics on the average UWM soldier. Especially motivations for joining and socioeconomic class.

Generally young, lower and lower middle class, with a few spikes of upper class joiners when it suddenly becomes fashionable, for a bit. Most come from older, more entrenched UWM worlds, with few coming from newer and more far flung places.

Anton Chernozorov

"Okay, this is going to take some people." After a bit of deliberation, Anton opens a channel to Simus. "XO, this is Chernozorov again. I'm planning a little trip to low orbit so we can see exactly what we've got up there, and I need some shuttle pilots and accountants. Do I have to clear that by you, or can I just start rounding people up? Also, I'm plotting out land for the new shipyard over our old salvage yard. Sending preliminary plan to you now. If you want anything changed or added to it, there's no time like the present because I'm giving the construction team their go order."

Communicate with Simus.

VR-create a preliminary design of the FTL-refitted Merchant freighter. Assuming we find all the parts up in orbit, what would be the best way to perform the overhaul? Can one of the still-operational ships be used to carry the parts down, or will the Merchant need to enter orbit itself so we can work on it there? Will I absolutely need a construction crew if I need this done, or will the general "worker" populace suffice?

For the shipyard, I'm thinking we should be able to build at least anything up to light cruisers on the ground, without needing an orbital yard. That's not to say we're not going to build an orbital yard. Does a cruiser count as significant size? How big a ship can we lift off the ground without having antigravity automanipulators anyway? With and without the mass driver?

>> Put the shipyard project into motion with the use of the provided CONSTRUCTION crew. It will be placed where the salvage yard used to be, but make sure any usable remains we had there (an old capsule, some other stuff) are not recycled. See how long the project is estimated to take.

For the mass driver, I actually thought we could save real estate space and some effort by running the whole thing underground, in a massive tunnel, with the slope going up through a particularly convenient (and suitably reinforced) mountain. Bonus of being able to clear the air out and make the initial acceleration easier, plus maybe that we can use an acceleration mechanism that actually encloses the ship on all sides. Will that work? How long of a project would that be, if we were to build it?

((Ships... well, we're going to have to get ourselves a shipyard first, and we don't have the exotic resources to make the automanips necessary for compact artillery weapons. For artillery ships I thought to use literally miles-long ships using conventional Gauss accelerators. Even less than a ship built around a gun, more a crewed gun with maneuvering thrusters. And I know the UWM doesn't use fighters, but that's their problem - a small ship is more often than not a low-priority target when there are bigger fish to shoot. Tiny ships punching way above their weight class, like the Black Death, can be quite an unwelcome thorn in their side. Of course, missiles are still a much better weapon for use en masse, so the fighters should be limited to surgical strikes.))

Look into UWM's history of spaceflight. Has anyone at any point used the idea of integrated ship pilots? A specially conditioned and trained Sod brain in a typical life-support braincase, integrated into a spacecraft instead of a robot body - as a highly skilled and obedient pilot. Analyze the idea, see if there are any flaws in it in regards to potential psychological issues with the brains, or logistical issues like feeding and "what the hell do sentient spacecraft do when off duty?".

The worker populace IS the construction crews now. Non-construction crew stuff is considered to be automated and not everything can be done that way.

Well, if you make it out in orbit, you won't have to ferry down huge amounts of space crap. Getting the thing up to the spec needed is gonna require not only the installation of better engines and automanips, but general structural overhaul.

Depends on the size really. ER ships tend to be pretty heavy and dense things, so to get something even like a light cruiser up without a mass driver would need a rocket harness, basically single use thrusters designed to lift it into space.  The pit shipyard form before could build things of limited size, so for larger ships, this shipyard is going to need to be significantly larger, not just so that it can hold the ship, but so that the infrastructure to manufacture and manipulate such things could be in place. Twice as big, at least. We'll get it started on the plains to the south.

That works. Will take longer, because we have to drill it out, but it will work. Time? For the whole thing? Well, assuming both are being worked on at the same time, and that the crew is working on the shipyard: August 31st for the shipyard, September 6th for the mass driver.

Right now drones are piloted by a central wetware computer. Your idea of sticking a sod brain in each ship is fine in theory. It can operate independently as a plus, but may not be as fast or reliable as a computer. Great pilot or not, it's still human.

>The biggest issue is that I do not have access to these materials as anything more then incomplete simulation data at the moment. To get a good idea, I'd need the actual materials to play around with. If you can get me the materials though, I can begin analysis and reverse engineering as you desire.

"Where are these materials now, what would be needed to get them to you, and how fast could that be done?

Secondly, could you please give me a star map of the Hephaestus system, including it's stars, planets, moons, asteroid or debris fields and FTL jump location? And how big is that jump point anyways?"


Talk to ARESTEVE, request system map. PW, if you don't want to draw an actual map, just giving the distance from the sun, tilt axis, time to make lap around sun and other such info for the major bodies will do. It's to help with getting an idea of the system.

Are there any locations you wish for the propaganda to target in particular? Or is it blanket?

What incentives can we offer to the individual?

Well, I guess you're best of asking steve for exact details, but my guess would be to target those individuals that actually stand to gain anything should the UWM fall. The oppressed majority, so to speak. There's probably quite some worlds were some of the population has it decent enough, and the rich and powerful also stand to lose more than to win, so those are probably not your preferred targets.

As for incentives, I guess it's the usual revolution fanfare of overthrowing tyrants, better living conditions for the common man, more freedom and justice for all, etc. And why they should join ARM, maybe focus on us being the only faction powerful enough to stand up to the UWM, and that we can offer help or protection. United we stand, divided we fall might be a message that sticks. Of course, that works best if we have some high-profile victories to showcase and prove our competence. Maybe you could use the capturing of Hep for that, but again, ask Steve for exact details. Maybe another ARM ship somewhere saved a bus load of puppies.
 

Saint sends a message back to Miyamoto:

Yes, just one.  Which is more important: numbers, or contingency?  For every fully flesh sod we produce, we could make ten robotic sods.  If you want any significant number of flesh sods, then you'll be greatly lowering your overall numbers.

Before I answer that, two questions: first, are you sure about that 10 to 1 number? Or is that a figure of speech?

Secondly, have you gotten ARESTEVE to run that risk-cost-benefit analysis I asked for? If he deems it not worthy to keep producing flesh sods as a contingency, then I could consider only keeping a few for, ah, 'personal use'. Call me paranoid all you want, but overspecializing just seems like putting too many eggs in the same explosive basket.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9pasvrdc5fdfe2i/WinStarGen.html

It's the 4th planet.

Saint replies to Miyamoto:

Yes, I am sure.  In fact, if anything, it's a conservative rate- in theory, it would be possible to produce robotic sods fifty percent faster than that if we overworked the fleshpits.

And of course I asked ARESTEVE.  Assuming we set them up correctly, which is simple, they should be completely superior to regular flesh sods.

((Yes, Saint is lying about that last bit.  I never asked ARESTEVE, because I forgot.  Not that Miya knows that.))

1.Ask ARESTEVE what disadvantages flesh sods might have over robosods, and what ratio of robo:flesh would be good, considering cost and risk.  Remember, we can produce ten times as many robots as fleshies.

2.How do flesh sods compare to robosods for use as guerillas?

3.Secure computer systems: Pretty simply, a suit/robobody shouldn't allow outside systems to mess around with anything internal.  No messing with camera feeds, no messing with suit settings, nothing.  The only things an external system should be able to do are things that either the user or a preinstalled program specifically okays.

4.Additionally, everything a suit transmits should be encrypted.  No point in giving the UWM our video feeds.

5.Ask ARESTEVE if it's possible for Steve to change a team's encyption methods before each mission, to prevent the UWM from cracking it once and never needing to again.

6. After I've set up the new security stuff, ask ARESTEVE to use his spare CPU cycles to look at it, and try to hack it.  Once he's found a vulnerability, fix it.  Have him go through a few rounds of that.

((I feel like I should be doing more than I am.  Ugh.  Anything obvious I'm missing?))

I HAVE THE DISTINCT FEELING WE'VE DONE THIS BEFORE

AND I HAVE THE DISTINCT FEELING THAT IF I GIVE ANSWERS I'M GOING TO CONTRADICT THE OLD ANSWERS.


3.Ok. But if you completely isolate those things things then steve won't be able to keep an eye on things through the cameras. And Isolating them doesn't make them completely unhackable. The only inhackable computer is one that has absolutely no outside access to anything.

4.Already done. Unless you want to increase the encryption or change the method.

5. Possible. Change the encryption key or the entire method?

6. See answer 3. There is always a way in unless it is completely unconnected. ARESTEVE could fuck with it forever and never get all the ways out. And even if he thought he did, that would just be showing the limits of his capacity.

[Parisbre56]

((Some more info on the solar system you might find useful, like Hephaestus' moons and the existence of monitoring stations:))

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

What else is in this solar system? Asteroid belts, moons, gas giants, large/important planetoids? What's their importance to our economy and defense?
Does this planet have a moon or anything else in its orbit? Could we hide an array of sensors in the moon or if no moon exists, hide the sensors in orbital debris?

There are 4 other planets in the system. 2 closer to the sun, both very hot, and a gas giant out past Hephaestus.

This planet itself has 3 moons, two of which are basically oversized asteroids, one of which is a "proper" moon. There's nothing much else in the system in terms of human made stuff.

Will Steve mine the jump point the fleet will return from or do we have to expend RUs for that?

Does this system have any facilities on other planets, moons or asteroids? Any sensor arrays?

It will cost RU. Though, it's a pretty good idea.

Nothing really. There are a few sensors on the moon and scattered around on other planets, but mostly just basic monitoring stations so Hephaestus can keep an eye on the solar system.

[Radio Controlled]

>The biggest issue is that I do not have access to these materials as anything more then incomplete simulation data at the moment. To get a good idea, I'd need the actual materials to play around with. If you can get me the materials though, I can begin analysis and reverse engineering as you desire.

1) Where are these materials now, what would be needed to get them to Hep, and how fast could that be done? Gotta love dj chat. Apparently, at end of this batch of missions. good to know.

2) Where is FTL jump location in the Hep system? And how big is it?

3) Could the way I'm letting ARESTEVE design the armor be used for other kinds of projects as well? Could I let him, say, research and design exosuits, small arms, vehicles or other things? If yes, where's the limit? Do you approve of this way of designing things? Advantage is that neither of us have to technobabble our way out of it, just agree what works in-game or in terms of game mechanics.

4) What is the chance of the UWM having or finding a weapon or method that's super effective against robosods/robobodies? What could those look like? And what are the odds of something like this happening (according to Steve/ARESTEVE).

Yes, it does matter.  I said we can produce ten robotic sods for every flesh sod.  That is because we can produce them ten times faster, with the same infrastructure.  So, effectively, for every flesh sod you get, you are trading away ten robotic sods.

I do not know how many flesh sods would be needed for an 'extra failsafe'.  Which means I don't know whether ten times that number would be a 'small decrease', so I don't know if it's affordable.  That is why I am asking you, and telling you the time required to make a sod.  I assumed you would know the numbers, which leads back to my original question: are numbers or contingency more important?

I am not sure if ARESTEVE accounted for guerilla effectiveness.  I will ask him.  Although, if I may, I would imagine robotic sods are more effective as long as they aren't cut off from supplies for more than a few years; They are immune to sickness, require little maintenance, can survive with a complete lack of medical supplies and attention, and are barely affected by wounds.  Nutrient packs would be required, but if you're sending in any significant number of sods, a crate of nutrient packs to last a few years should be simple.

Lastly, what do you mean by raw data?  As in the calculations it made?  ARESTEVE didn't give me any- just the answer.  I'll ask him for them.
 
Why do you care, if I may ask?  I thought that was the type of thing you leave to us.  Do you want the rest of the information on production of robotic sods vs. flesh sods as well?

Message back:

I thought you were talking about resources, not time needed. You guys might have a lot of resources, and time might seem to be the more limiting factor, but it isn't as if robosods are free either. Besides, if we only (partially) use a single fleshpit for it, it's not like it would decrease the overall numbers catastrophically. Hell, you guys probably have a dozen of those already! You've been there for some time now, after all.

And that's why I wanted to see ARESTEVE's analysis, to see if the decrease was worth the added insurance. And also because I'm curios about some aspects of his analysis, like whether he thinks the UWM finding a weapon that's super effective against robosods a probable possibility. If he's really 'sure' it won't happen, then I'll be happy to just have a few for myself (though I will also be using robosods first and foremost of course). I don't need to see the data dump, but I'm interested in what scenarios he considered and what contingencies he accounted for.

And I have to admit I don't entirely know the ins and outs of this rebellion, and how our relationship with our allies will be. For all I know we'll have to covertly smuggle in those sods onto some worlds, in which case fleshies seem easier to work with for the newly minted rebels there. Again, ask ARESTEVE what he thinks about this, he knows the details better.

I'm getting involved because I'll be commanding those sods, so I wanna be on the ball about it. I made me promise myself I wouldn't interfere with your work too much and let you guys do as you see fit (under Simus' command of course) but for this I wanted to put my paranoia at ease. The UWM may be bloated and corrupt, but they're also tenacious and ruthless. They wouldn't have survived for so long otherwise.

And yes, it would be nice if you provided me that information. I think I know most of it (I've seen the robobodies in action well enough over the years) but getting my intell confirmed is always a good idea.


By the way, have you guys any ideas on what to arm our legions of new friends with?

((Might want to directly ask pw the strict duration difference between producing a flesh sod and a robosod (including body production, though that's probably the fastest process). Because it seems you are getting that 'ten times as long' figure from some info you got at different times and then combined, and pw tends to contradict himself or get woozy about details over time ("AND I HAVE THE DISTINCT FEELING THAT IF I GIVE ANSWERS I'M GOING TO CONTRADICT THE OLD ANSWERS."). Yes, I know you just got a big "nope" while asking him a question about this subject, but hey, winners never quit!))

[Empiricist]

Got anything the UWM really doesn't want its civilians to know but if mentioned would actually be believable?

Repeat. This time, narrow the parameters to what the older, more entrenched world's lower and lower middle class would care about. Particularly the younger ones.

[syvarris]

Piecewise!  Please answer these questions, despite their probable redundancy!  I need it for an argument with a physical god of war.  As a show of thanks, I will restrain my tinker urges for this post.

If that is not sufficient, I can do so for more than this turn alone.  Name your price. ._.

1.Robosods vs. Fleshies: You originally said fleshies took thirty days to grow, and later said robot brains take "two or three".  I've been using three days, which means robot brains take a tenth the time of full bodies to grow.  Is this accurate?

2.Radio really really wants ARESTEVE's opinion of fleshies vs. Robos.  Are there any situations where fleshies are better than robos?

3.In ARESTEVE's opinion, should we build some number of regular fleshies alongside the robos?  If so, what ratio (Please keep in mind that robots grow faster)

4.What advantages/disadvantages would a robot have over a fleshie for guerilla deployments which could be cut off from supplies for over a year?  Which sod variant does ARESTEVE recommend for that type of situation, in general?

5.Are my tinker turns too long?  Would you like me to shorten them?

Spoiler: Radio Reply (click to show/hide)

((IC, Saint would probably have sent ARESTEVE's data with this, but, obviously, I can't.  If that causes issues for some reason, then I'll edit this post away and wait until I actually have it.  But I figured a small OOC break is fine.))

Materials, as Hephaestus is now, are not really a limiting factor except for the largest projects, and manipulators.  The sheer capacity of this planet to supply itself is truly astounding.  The material cost of even a thousand robotic sods is a drop in the bucket.

Despite this, no, sadly we do not have a dozen fleshpits.  Nobody was assigned the job of working on them, so until I decided to do it we made no progress.  We have produced several hundred robotic sods since then, but additional fleshpits are still on the way.  This is actually the primary motivation for my original question to you; I want to know exactly how many pits I need to press Simus to build.


As far as ARESTEVE's analysis, {Information, probably with edited context.  Do not assume Saint just quotes ARESTEVE verbatim}.

I'd still like to know what you consider 'a few for yourself'- remember, this is about a interstellar war, so I'm not sure if that means hundreds or thousands.


Thank you for allowing us our autonomy.  I believe I speak for our entire crew here when I say that it is greatly appreciated.


As far as production information, as I said before, robotic sods are ten times faster to produce than regular sods- primarily because we only have to grow the brains.  The bodies are vastly easier to produce because we have literal miles of industrial construction geared specifically to body production.  Theoretically, if we grew our sod production enough, we could begin to outstrip that rate, but we are far away from that point.  Besides, it is much easier to enlarge our body production than our sod production, and building the bodies is more efficient than growing them.

Beyond the production, robotic sods are also far easier to maintain.  Normal sods require some amount of exercise, while robotic sods can simply be shoved into storage and largely ignored.  Normal sods require multiple meals, and consume them inefficiently, while robotic sods only require occasional replacements of their nutrient packs which are small, simple, and cheap.  Injuries almost never happen to robotic sods, for the aforementioned reasons, but when they do they're easier to fix, at least for us.


Lastly, yes and no.  I, personally, recently designed a... disconcertingly effective weapon system.  Simus was supposed to review it awhile ago, but she hasn't gotten back to me yet- I do not know if it will see actual service.  If you would like to examine it yourself, search "SS Testament LSW" in my VR profile. 

I think Anton was also working on something, but I'm unsure.  His Gungnir design is already very good, and I have been considering adapting it into a cheaper version.

[Unholy_Pariah]

((Random question: How long does it take to make both infantry and ship sized auto-manipulators?))

[piecewise]

WARNING: THE SHADOW GOVERNMENT CLAUSE IS NOW IN EFFECT. AS STIPULATED BY YOUR HEPHAESTUS WORKING CONTRACTS, PARAGRAPH 320, LINE 2, YOU ARE NOW UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF THE HEPHAESTUS SECRET ADVISORY COMMITTEE. THIS COMMITTEE WILL MONITOR YOUR WORK FOR UNSCRUPULOUS ACTIONS AND, IF FOUND, SHALL AUTHORIZE CORRECTIVE ACTIONS. PLEASE REMAIN CALM.


Oh, also, for my sake, from now on, try to keep your posts and your work dedicated to a single project at a time. With so much going on in so many different directions, I'm having some trouble keeping track of it all.

[Xantalos]

Oh dear. Perhaps it's a good thing I'm still asleep.

[Radio Controlled]

((Hey syv, you might want to add in asking about the chance of the UWM having or finding a weapon or method that's super effective against robosods/robobodies, and what the odds are. That's what this discussion is all about, no?))

[PyroDesu]

((Once we finally figure out where we're putting the manipulator factory (I seriously don't want it in one of Hephaestus' Lagrange points, or anywhere else near the planet, for that matter - not that it'll probably matter if the containment plans are wrong or misbuilt - but still, maybe a trojan orbit around the gas giant?), here's an idea for a ship - Interdictor. A ship built around an automanipulator designed to take an area of space and 'solidify' (or, at least, "thicken") it, by attempting to stop or slow all (macro - it would probably be a lot more difficult to stop particle motion as well, even if it's just the interstellar medium) motion in that area. Use it like a wall (enemy ship hits the zone from outside), use it like a trap (activate it while an enemy ship is within the zone), use it like a shield (stopping gauss shots and missiles). Also, sorry for not posting, I've been waiting for a bit of personal research to come back. As far as I can tell now, there are two options for what happens to wounds in a vacuum where the rest of the body remains pressurized - my theory is that the blood around the wound site will outgas and it may bleed faster. The other is, using the example of Joseph Kittinger (who lost pressure to his hand while doing high-altitude (read - in near vacuum) testing and decided to work despite it), that the unpressurized site will swell so much that it blocks off bleeding.))

Examine the MkI suit - how does it do thermal insulation, radiation shielding, etc.

[syvarris]

((Isn't there a lagrange point that's on the other side of the star?  Wouldn't that be far enough?  I'll admit to not knowing much about orbital mechanics, so it might not be a good place for some reason I'm unaware of.

Also, aren't you overreacting just a tad?  I mean, the original factory was gonna be built on Heph itself, so it should be far safer than needed if it's as far away as any lagrange point.  Even beyond safety, if it malfunctions severely enough to threaten us, I'd think we'd have lost the war anyways- we'd be incapable of making FTL ships.

Also also, couldn't putting it far away from the planet actually be bad, as it would be very far from our anti-ship guns, and therefore defenseless when a UWM fleet attacks?

Also also also, is Simus going to say what she thinks of the Testament?  She looked at it last turn, so I'd think she'd have done so.))

[Sean Mirrsen]

((She also didn't tell Anton anything about whether he needs to coordinate his requisitioning of people for orbital survey with her.))

Anton Chernozorov

"XO, I'm sending you my final shipyard facility plans, as well as the design for a large mass driver facility to assist launching heavy ships into orbit. Requesting go-ahead. We'll need it if we want any sort of serious orbital presence.

I'm also sending you my plans for the refit of the Merchant freighter for FTL travel. Please review. We'll do what partial overhauling is possible on the ground, and have it launched into orbit for the rest of the refit. That will likely require another construction crew to complete in a reasonable timeframe since we lack dedicated orbital facilities."

Send Mass Driver project plan to Simus. Put it into action as soon as she gives the go-ahead.

Send Merchant overhaul plans to her as well. Await go-ahead, but start assembling booster rockets to lift it into orbit anyway.

[piecewise]

Piecewise!  Please answer these questions, despite their probable redundancy!  I need it for an argument with a physical god of war.  As a show of thanks, I will restrain my tinker urges for this post.

If that is not sufficient, I can do so for more than this turn alone.  Name your price. ._.

1.Robosods vs. Fleshies: You originally said fleshies took thirty days to grow, and later said robot brains take "two or three".  I've been using three days, which means robot brains take a tenth the time of full bodies to grow.  Is this accurate?

2.Radio really really wants ARESTEVE's opinion of fleshies vs. Robos.  Are there any situations where fleshies are better than robos?

3.In ARESTEVE's opinion, should we build some number of regular fleshies alongside the robos?  If so, what ratio (Please keep in mind that robots grow faster)

4.What advantages/disadvantages would a robot have over a fleshie for guerilla deployments which could be cut off from supplies for over a year?  Which sod variant does ARESTEVE recommend for that type of situation, in general?

5.Are my tinker turns too long?  Would you like me to shorten them?

Spoiler: Radio Reply (click to show/hide)

((IC, Saint would probably have sent ARESTEVE's data with this, but, obviously, I can't.  If that causes issues for some reason, then I'll edit this post away and wait until I actually have it.  But I figured a small OOC break is fine.))

Materials, as Hephaestus is now, are not really a limiting factor except for the largest projects, and manipulators.  The sheer capacity of this planet to supply itself is truly astounding.  The material cost of even a thousand robotic sods is a drop in the bucket.

Despite this, no, sadly we do not have a dozen fleshpits.  Nobody was assigned the job of working on them, so until I decided to do it we made no progress.  We have produced several hundred robotic sods since then, but additional fleshpits are still on the way.  This is actually the primary motivation for my original question to you; I want to know exactly how many pits I need to press Simus to build.


As far as ARESTEVE's analysis, {Information, probably with edited context.  Do not assume Saint just quotes ARESTEVE verbatim}.

I'd still like to know what you consider 'a few for yourself'- remember, this is about a interstellar war, so I'm not sure if that means hundreds or thousands.


Thank you for allowing us our autonomy.  I believe I speak for our entire crew here when I say that it is greatly appreciated.


As far as production information, as I said before, robotic sods are ten times faster to produce than regular sods- primarily because we only have to grow the brains.  The bodies are vastly easier to produce because we have literal miles of industrial construction geared specifically to body production.  Theoretically, if we grew our sod production enough, we could begin to outstrip that rate, but we are far away from that point.  Besides, it is much easier to enlarge our body production than our sod production, and building the bodies is more efficient than growing them.

Beyond the production, robotic sods are also far easier to maintain.  Normal sods require some amount of exercise, while robotic sods can simply be shoved into storage and largely ignored.  Normal sods require multiple meals, and consume them inefficiently, while robotic sods only require occasional replacements of their nutrient packs which are small, simple, and cheap.  Injuries almost never happen to robotic sods, for the aforementioned reasons, but when they do they're easier to fix, at least for us.


Lastly, yes and no.  I, personally, recently designed a... disconcertingly effective weapon system.  Simus was supposed to review it awhile ago, but she hasn't gotten back to me yet- I do not know if it will see actual service.  If you would like to examine it yourself, search "SS Testament LSW" in my VR profile. 

I think Anton was also working on something, but I'm unsure.  His Gungnir design is already very good, and I have been considering adapting it into a cheaper version.

WARNING: THE HEPHAESTUS SECRET ADVISORY COMMITTEE HAS FOUND QUESTIONABLE CONTENT WITHIN YOUR POST.

1. THIS IS THE AMOUNT OF TIME IT TAKES FOR A SOD BRAIN TO GROW. HOWEVER IT ALSO TAKES TIME FOR IT TO BE TRAINED VIA VR INFORMATION INDUCTION AND DEEP HYPNOTIC SUGGESTION.  ASSUME THAT THE 30 DAYS TO CREATE A SOD WAS INCLUDING THIS, WHILE THE 3 TO GROW A BRAIN DID NOT. AS SUCH, ASSUME THE ACTUAL NUMBER TO BE CLOSER TO 3 BRAINS TO ONE FULL SOD.

2. IT IS ASSUMED THAT IN MOST SITUATIONS THAT ROBOTIC SODS WILL BE ADVISABLE. THEY ARE, AFTER ALL, MORE ROBUST. HOWEVER, THIS COUNCIL URGES YOU TO REMEMBER THAT NOT ONLY TO ROBOTIC SODS REQUIRE SPECIAL TOOLS AND MATERIALS TO REPAIR, TOOLS AND MATERIALS WHICH MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE ON ALL PLANETS THEY MAY BE DEPLOYED TO, BUT THAT THESE SODS SURVIVE ON NUTRIENT SLURRY WHICH, DUE TO THEIR CONTENT, ARE NOT EASILY MANUFACTURED IN THE FIELD. AS SUCH, WHILE THE DATA TO ADEQUATELY DETERMINE THE EXTENT OF EITHER SIDE'S ADVANTAGES AND HINDRANCES IS LACKING, WE CAN SAY WITH SOME DEGREE OF CERTAINTY THAT FLESH SODS MAY HAVE THE ADVANTAGE IN FAR FLUNG, NON INDUSTRIALIZED AREAS, INCLUDING THOSE OF PRIMITIVE WORLDS WHICH HAVE LIMITED INTERACTION WITH TECHNOLOGY.

3.WE LACK THE NECESSARY INFORMATION TO GIVE A DIRECT ANSWER. ROBOT SODS ARE UNTESTED IN UNCONTROLLED FIELD CONDITIONS, WE HAVE NO DATA ON THEIR REAL WORLD PERFORMANCE.

4. THIS HAS BEEN COVERED SOMEWHAT BY ANSWER 2.  HOWEVER, WE FEEL INCLINED TO BELIEVE THAT FLESH SODS WOULD WORK BEST IN GUERILLA WARFARE FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS, INCLUDING A CAPACITY TO BLEND IN WITH THE GENERAL POPULATION, A DISTINCT FEAR WHICH MANY CARRY FOR ROBOTIC BEINGS, AND THEIR CAPACITY TO SURVIVE WITHOUT SPECIALIZED NUTRIENTS.


5. It's often less about the length, more about the breadth. Having one topic explored in depth isn't usually too bad, but jumping between several topics and doing lots of different actions all at once is a bit much, both to follow and as an action.

>The biggest issue is that I do not have access to these materials as anything more then incomplete simulation data at the moment. To get a good idea, I'd need the actual materials to play around with. If you can get me the materials though, I can begin analysis and reverse engineering as you desire.

1) Where are these materials now, what would be needed to get them to Hep, and how fast could that be done? Gotta love dj chat. Apparently, at end of this batch of missions. good to know.

2) Where is FTL jump location in the Hep system? And how big is it?

3) Could the way I'm letting ARESTEVE design the armor be used for other kinds of projects as well? Could I let him, say, research and design exosuits, small arms, vehicles or other things? If yes, where's the limit? Do you approve of this way of designing things? Advantage is that neither of us have to technobabble our way out of it, just agree what works in-game or in terms of game mechanics.

4) What is the chance of the UWM having or finding a weapon or method that's super effective against robosods/robobodies? What could those look like? And what are the odds of something like this happening (according to Steve/ARESTEVE).

Yes, it does matter.  I said we can produce ten robotic sods for every flesh sod.  That is because we can produce them ten times faster, with the same infrastructure.  So, effectively, for every flesh sod you get, you are trading away ten robotic sods.

I do not know how many flesh sods would be needed for an 'extra failsafe'.  Which means I don't know whether ten times that number would be a 'small decrease', so I don't know if it's affordable.  That is why I am asking you, and telling you the time required to make a sod.  I assumed you would know the numbers, which leads back to my original question: are numbers or contingency more important?

I am not sure if ARESTEVE accounted for guerilla effectiveness.  I will ask him.  Although, if I may, I would imagine robotic sods are more effective as long as they aren't cut off from supplies for more than a few years; They are immune to sickness, require little maintenance, can survive with a complete lack of medical supplies and attention, and are barely affected by wounds.  Nutrient packs would be required, but if you're sending in any significant number of sods, a crate of nutrient packs to last a few years should be simple.

Lastly, what do you mean by raw data?  As in the calculations it made?  ARESTEVE didn't give me any- just the answer.  I'll ask him for them.
 
Why do you care, if I may ask?  I thought that was the type of thing you leave to us.  Do you want the rest of the information on production of robotic sods vs. flesh sods as well?

Message back:

I thought you were talking about resources, not time needed. You guys might have a lot of resources, and time might seem to be the more limiting factor, but it isn't as if robosods are free either. Besides, if we only (partially) use a single fleshpit for it, it's not like it would decrease the overall numbers catastrophically. Hell, you guys probably have a dozen of those already! You've been there for some time now, after all.

And that's why I wanted to see ARESTEVE's analysis, to see if the decrease was worth the added insurance. And also because I'm curios about some aspects of his analysis, like whether he thinks the UWM finding a weapon that's super effective against robosods a probable possibility. If he's really 'sure' it won't happen, then I'll be happy to just have a few for myself (though I will also be using robosods first and foremost of course). I don't need to see the data dump, but I'm interested in what scenarios he considered and what contingencies he accounted for.

And I have to admit I don't entirely know the ins and outs of this rebellion, and how our relationship with our allies will be. For all I know we'll have to covertly smuggle in those sods onto some worlds, in which case fleshies seem easier to work with for the newly minted rebels there. Again, ask ARESTEVE what he thinks about this, he knows the details better.

I'm getting involved because I'll be commanding those sods, so I wanna be on the ball about it. I made me promise myself I wouldn't interfere with your work too much and let you guys do as you see fit (under Simus' command of course) but for this I wanted to put my paranoia at ease. The UWM may be bloated and corrupt, but they're also tenacious and ruthless. They wouldn't have survived for so long otherwise.

And yes, it would be nice if you provided me that information. I think I know most of it (I've seen the robobodies in action well enough over the years) but getting my intell confirmed is always a good idea.


By the way, have you guys any ideas on what to arm our legions of new friends with?

((Might want to directly ask pw the strict duration difference between producing a flesh sod and a robosod (including body production, though that's probably the fastest process). Because it seems you are getting that 'ten times as long' figure from some info you got at different times and then combined, and pw tends to contradict himself or get woozy about details over time ("AND I HAVE THE DISTINCT FEELING THAT IF I GIVE ANSWERS I'M GOING TO CONTRADICT THE OLD ANSWERS."). Yes, I know you just got a big "nope" while asking him a question about this subject, but hey, winners never quit!))

The jump  point? It's a bit outside the solar system, and occupies an area the size of a small planet, through where you hit it doesn't matter.

Hmm. I dunno. You're gonna have to go a bit more indepth with what you mean. Like, have him design armor and then incorperate that metal into other stuff?

Anything which effects electronics would effect them, really. And, if you keep them unchanging and they pose a large threat, then the chances of a counter coming up for them is basically 100%.

Got anything the UWM really doesn't want its civilians to know but if mentioned would actually be believable?

Repeat. This time, narrow the parameters to what the older, more entrenched world's lower and lower middle class would care about. Particularly the younger ones.

Hard to say. If you had video evidence that would be pretty damning. You'd want footage from their counter revolution actions; nothing stirs people up like soldiers firing indiscriminately into a crowd of civilians.

((Once we finally figure out where we're putting the manipulator factory (I seriously don't want it in one of Hephaestus' Lagrange points, or anywhere else near the planet, for that matter - not that it'll probably matter if the containment plans are wrong or misbuilt - but still, maybe a trojan orbit around the gas giant?), here's an idea for a ship - Interdictor. A ship built around an automanipulator designed to take an area of space and 'solidify' (or, at least, "thicken") it, by attempting to stop or slow all (macro - it would probably be a lot more difficult to stop particle motion as well, even if it's just the interstellar medium) motion in that area. Use it like a wall (enemy ship hits the zone from outside), use it like a trap (activate it while an enemy ship is within the zone), use it like a shield (stopping gauss shots and missiles). Also, sorry for not posting, I've been waiting for a bit of personal research to come back. As far as I can tell now, there are two options for what happens to wounds in a vacuum where the rest of the body remains pressurized - my theory is that the blood around the wound site will outgas and it may bleed faster. The other is, using the example of Joseph Kittinger (who lost pressure to his hand while doing high-altitude (read - in near vacuum) testing and decided to work despite it), that the unpressurized site will swell so much that it blocks off bleeding.))

Examine the MkI suit - how does it do thermal insulation, radiation shielding, etc.

Thermal insulation is a combination of extremely good insulation meta-materials and heat conducting systems to keep the inside cool and not fatal.
Radiation shielding is done mostly through the same material and a thin layer of dense foil.  It's not very good.

((She also didn't tell Anton anything about whether he needs to coordinate his requisitioning of people for orbital survey with her.))

Anton Chernozorov

"XO, I'm sending you my final shipyard facility plans, as well as the design for a large mass driver facility to assist launching heavy ships into orbit. Requesting go-ahead. We'll need it if we want any sort of serious orbital presence.

I'm also sending you my plans for the refit of the Merchant freighter for FTL travel. Please review. We'll do what partial overhauling is possible on the ground, and have it launched into orbit for the rest of the refit. That will likely require another construction crew to complete in a reasonable timeframe since we lack dedicated orbital facilities."

Send Mass Driver project plan to Simus. Put it into action as soon as she gives the go-ahead.

Send Merchant overhaul plans to her as well. Await go-ahead, but start assembling booster rockets to lift it into orbit anyway.

Awaiting. Already forgetting when I said those would finish.