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[Chiefwaffles]

Going to address the following quote again, since my previous answer was pretty simple and quick.

@Away Team Size: Are we allowed to send more than one team per destination?

Kind of. The general idea is that you have a single 'main' team which the mission narrative is based on, and is the one that engages in combat. Other teams can be present, but they won't be doing exploring in the extreme majority of circumstances. They're really just the same as sending an equivalent number of regular 'non-squad' soldiers.
So really, what I'm saying is that you can have non-squad forces (read: soldiers or personnel that don't form the 6-man 'away team' style squad.) deployed to a destination at the same time as an away team-style squad.

It could be something like the actual squad performs a tactical strike while you have 20 soldiers and a specialist doing some more 'passive' action in the background, like evacuating refugees. Or something.

Basically the missions go like this:

A.) A single squad explores the destination and does various stuff in the name of research/exploration/etc.
B.) A single squad fulfills a covert/special-ops combat role
C.) IRW Forces engage the foe

A and B are both based on the single squad, and C is wihen you simply just send soldiers to fulfill an objective. Though you can send in non-squad forces for more than just larger-scale combat.

Anyways, this is simply a mini-update to finish the requested catalog additions. Actual update is still to come.
Before you start going over what happened this week, you decide to quickly grab the prices and possibilities of various items that would prove useful to the IRW.

Spoiler: Catalog Additions (click to show/hide)

Personnel:
Spec Ops (stealth soldiers specifically):
The role of Spec Ops and stealth can be fulfilled by combat-oriented specialists, and you can't specifically 'purchase' soldiers trained for spec-ops from the Committee.

Combat Engineers: $20,000 + 500/Week; Soldier Slot
Combat Engineers perform as well as regular soldiers in combat, but are also able to construct and repair structures and other objects on the field.

Linguists: $20,000; Scientist Slot
Linguists are another form of R&D staff (covered under R&D Staff in the actual catalog) that specialize in linguistics. Highly trained in many ancient languages and ready to discover new ones.

Diplomatic Advisors:
Diplomacy is covered by either you or a specialist, and a speech-writer is something you can't really convince your higher-ups to accept.

Structures:
Advanced R&D: 1x1; -7p; $650,000
Advanced R&D is pretty simple. While a fair bit more expensive than the standard R&D room, Advanced R&D completely foregoes effective non-prototype manufacturing capabilities for more space for equipment. This, along with more expensive equipment, allows for 30 R&D personnel to fit in the room. Advanced R&D is, of course, still R&D, and is still effective at discovering new applications of technology as well as the technology itself.

Workshop: 1x1; -10p; $400,000
The workshop is a dedicated manufacturing space for producing items invented by R&D. While the workshop can't be used to research anything with, it does have to be staffed by up to 5 engineers for max efficiency.

Missile Silo & Guidance System
A missile silo isn't particularly useful unless you have an urge to send a missile somewhere on the local planet. However, missiles can be stored in an Underground Hangar.
Even Larger Nuclear Reactor
A larger nuclear reactor isn't particularly feasible for the scope of your project.
Large Medbay (two space?)
Large Barracks (two space?)
Even Larger Staff Quarters (two space?)
All three of these 2-space versions are redundant, as they would give no benefit compared to simply putting two of their smaller room versions side-by-side with an entrance connecting them.

Above Ground Hanger Connected to Below Ground Hanger
The underground hangar is underground for numerous reasons. The underground nature of the hangar allows for it to be more accomodating for more specific vehicle types, such as boats, and allows for easy transport of vehicles in and out of the base.

Improvements:
Machine Gun Emplacements in the Gate Room
Considering the relatively low price of machine gun emplacements and your supply agreements with your higher-ups, you're able to get 2 machine gun emplacements fitted into the Warpgate room as of now. This upgrade is already in effect.

Automated Machine Gun Emplacements in the Gate Room
The current level of accessible military technology is not advanced enough to allow for this, sadly.

General Gate Room Defense Upgrades like a thick gate that can be put into place manually or automatically
You really don't know what you meant when this idea came into your head.

Better Elevators
Your elevators are already able to be easily cut, but you probably don't have sealing. Though to invest in the capability to seal the elevators, you decide to think more about how exactly you'd be sealing the elevators.

Vehicles:
Quad ATV (SATT-30): $8,000; Tiny
A single seat all-terrain quad ATV. Has a small amount of storage space in the back for storing supplies.

Unarmored Truck: $20,000; Small
A small unarmored truck. Can fit about 8 people comfortable inside, including the driver and passenger seat. Though the back is best for carrying supplies and equipment.

Aerial Robotic Surveillance Unit (ARSU): ((Yes, I know what the initialism sounds like.))
While this is not going to be listed in the catalog, like the RSU, you have what's effectively an unlimited supply of these. While these units can fly, they are extremely flimsy, and have much less scanning and surveillance equipment than a RSU.

Tank
You simply cannot fit a tank through the gate. If only. You sigh and continue on.

Unmanned Military Drone
Soo... an RSU?

Unmanned Combat Military Drone
While these things to exist, they work via operators at stations located at a base remotely controlling the drone. This simply isn't effective for your scenario, as that would mean the drone would stop working as soon as the gate disconnects.

Heavy Duty RSU: $20,000; Tiny
A heavy and reinforced RSU. Still equipped with the same instruments as a regular RSU, but the various reinforcements and such allow it to operate in much more hostile environments.

Submersible (ESTU-3): $40,000; Moderate
Fits 6 people including the driver. This submersible is reinforced wot withstand high pressures, radioactivity, acidity, as well as other hostile elements that could be present. Pretty cramped, though.

Portable AA Gun (DMAA-536): $15,000
A portable (either dragged by hand or stored in a transport vehicle) AA gun that can fit through the gate.

Weaponry:
IRM12 MANPADS: $150 per deployment
An IR-guided shoulder-mounted SAM launcher.

Automatic Shotguns with FRAG-12 HE-AP ammunition
These can be equipped at will, and are not special weapons.


Mortar (MOM-631): $200 per deployment
A very basic mortar that can be easily carried around and quickly deployed on the field.

C4 Explosives:
C4 can be equipped freely and is not a special weapon.

Claymore Mine: $30 per deployment
Fairly self-explanatory. A claymore mine.

Missiles of various strengths
Unfortunately you'd have to be more specific about the kind of missile you'd want.

Artillery (the cannons that once set up are able to fire on positions many km away)
Apparently the Committee feels that artillery falls out of the scope of this project.

Remote Detonation Systems
C4 already has this, and you would more or less have to redesign and over-engineer the grenade to achieve this.

Heavy Machine Gun: $40 per deployment
A standard deployed heavy machine gun.  Can be quickly deployed in the field, and is best operated by 2 men.

Suppressor
These can be equipped freely as they're not special weapons.

Misc:
Better Environmental Suits
Unfortunately this was never needed by your military and thus does not exist.
Helmet Display Systems:
A display system like this is still under development by the military. You'd have to develop your own to use it.

New skill discovered: Stealth
Emma Dawson has gained 1 point in Stealth.

[somemildmanneredidiot]

@Away Team Size: That makes sense and is definitely something we can work with. We'll probably want to have a CharlieB squad or something similar guarding the gate while the exploration team does their thing.

Spoiler: A response to price checks (click to show/hide)

@Stealth: Makes sense. Hooray for the 1up on Dawson!

I motion that we make sure to check weekly for new specialists. The Committee might not have any and we might not be in a position to purchase them, but it's good to get a list going and to see if we can ear mark any once we have more funds.

@New Personnel Options: Very nice.

@Advanced R&D:  I completely forget if we're able to upgrade structures for a reduced cost. If we can, then next payday we could turn our R&D into this to open up 15 more R&D slots, and then fill up those slots for 300,000 (I'm thinking something like 7 linguists, 3 scientists, 3 engineers, and 2 techs). We're not really in a position to be manufacturing anything new at the moment so we could probably set up a Workshop in time to produce any items we'd need.

@Missiles: To confirm, that means that we can safelyish fire missiles through the Gate if we have an Underground Hanger?

@Above Ground Hanger: Ah well, it would be a bit too base exploity. Though it might have some benefit as a cover for the base (misc military storage) I'll leave the idea be.

@Build it Larger: Makes sense.

@Security: Hooray for more defensive options! For the thick gate, I was remembering the Stargate movie. When the Gate opens, they have this like 2ft thick steel door about the size of the wall in place preventing anything from leaving the Gate room, which they then opened a small amount to let soldiers, a RSU, and Jackson in. I was thinking that, but with an option to manually close it from the not Gate room side. I definitely should have been more clear on what I meant. For elevator sealing, I was thinking something like the previously mentioned for the entrance to the Exit from base side and one at the top as well.

@Vehicles: Nice. For the Unmanned Military Drone and Combat version, again I should have been more detailed. I was thinking of something like this and this respectively. We should look at a few boat options while it's been mentioned, something like a speed boat, a rescue boat, and an armored boat. We probably won't use them for a while, but it's an option.

@Weaponry: Very nice. For missiles, I'm thinking a guided one designed to blow up a tank, a guided one designed to bring down armored aircraft, and a guided one designed to blow up a bunker. That should about cover the degrees we could need.

@Misc: We should tap our space program for this. The other space program I mean. With the rockets and stuff. If we don't have one, then we probably have an ally who does. Once we get that advanced circuitry sorted out we can probably set R&D to HDS which upon success will probably provide us with some amount of budget increase.

All in all, I'm excited to see what happens next!

[stabbymcstabstab]

OK, since squad makeup is figured out lets, Question the Refugees on who they are and how they arrived on at the planet.

[VoidSlayer]

A team should be sent to destination 4 to see what is up with the island.  I would also say exploring the pylon thing would be a good idea.

I am sad we did not get any more weapons from the few enemies we downed.

[somemildmanneredidiot]

A team should be sent to destination 4 to see what is up with the island.  I would also say exploring the pylon thing would be a good idea.

I am sad we did not get any more weapons from the few enemies we downed.

D1 or D6? Both have a pylon. Once we have money again we'll be able to buy a HDRSU to better examine the one at D6. Also we kind of need an Underground Hanger to store those.

For the Island, sending Galilei once Stevens is recovered would probably work fairly well, though that leaves us with a few weeks where we are just sitting in base.

[Chiefwaffles]

EDIT: Forgot to mention that I'd appreciate it if you simply asked each time for a new list of hire-able specialists. Just say what kind of specialist you want and I'll make a list of relevant ones you can hire.

This update is fairly light because most of the action suggestions weren't really 'ready' to be used in an update, but since it appears that there isn't going to be any more discussion surrounding actions, I'll go ahead and make the update.

And by their readiness, I mean the actions are pretty vague. "Send a team to D4" isn't particularly useful or helpful when I don't know what team to send.

But for the future, I would appreciate it (but it isn't required) if submitted (as in, "this is exactly what I want to do next update") actions were bolded. Because I'm not going to use an action if I have to put too much interpretation into it, possibly doing something that no one wanted to happen.

One more comment about how research is handled: I'd just like to let everyone know that lots of, if not most, projects happen instantly - that is, they're finished by update following the action suggesting the project. In this case, R&D staff just determine the quality of the findings. The projects that take more time are the bigger ones. You may be able to find out what something is pretty fast, but finding out how exactly it works is a different story.
Interplanetary Research Ward: Week 5
"Normalcy"

Not much really happens this week. The four recovering soldiers have been released from the medbay and are ready to serve again. Dan Stevens is still expected to be in there for a week, and the refugee is likely going to take two more weeks to recover. The head doctor from the Medbay tells you again that there won't be any space in quarantine for the wounded refugee once he recovers.

You considered the possibility of somehow translating the unknown language of the refugees in order to be able to ask them questions, but you haven't had any luck with that this week. Greenfield tells you that since you have controlled environments and actual speakers of the language, even one linguist should be able to gain a basic understanding of their language in time. But for now, the refugees are cared for in quarantine while you figure out what to do with them.


At some point earlier this week, you also turned your attention back towards R&D. While unable to research the alien circuitry due to it not being fully intact thanks to the deconstruction of the alien weapon, you still have the power source in storage.

Greenfield tells you that the first thing he did was to split the the R&D personnel accordingly. The scientists started studying the fairly small amount of the unknown "liquid" inside the container, while the engineers and R&D techs handled the rest of the container itself.
The liquid appears to be an unknown type of molecule, and as was determined earlier, it possesses extreme potential for energy. It seems to give off this energy naturally as well. Some analysis suggests that something powered off of this would likely last a bit over a century before the energy 'dries up'. Some basic preliminary research into the possibilities of manufacturing this resource show that it's likely never going to be artificially made, sadly.

The actual container is much harder to research. But it does appear that the container uses some kind of simple yet unknown alloy to "absorb" the radiation from the liquid. The rest of the operations of the container can't really be figured out. Simply using the alloy isn't enough - the rest of the container fills a pretty vital role, but R&D hasn't had any luck deciphering how it accomplishes the rest.

The power source is effectively 'gone' after this research, sadly. The deconstruction required means that there wasn't much left by the end of the week.


In the meantime, routine check-ups on the RSUs stationed at Destination 2 reveal some more data. From what the RSUs have seen, there appears to be a single humanoid robot patrolling the area around the ruins. The robot does seem to be holding some kind of unknown weapon, but you and your staff haven't been able to determine what the weapon actually is. Other than that, nothing has changed at D2.

Spoiler: Galaxy (click to show/hide)

Explored Planets:
Planets where some effort was given by the IRW to be explored - ordered by most recent data. All information is based off of the last piece of information gotten from the destination.

[Week 5] Destination 2: [RSU Presence] Vacuum; Ruins with autonomous defenses. Single humanoid robot seen.
[Week 4] Destination 5: [Enemy Presence]  Ruined village attacked by hostile forces.
[Week 2] Destination 1: Suspiciously perfect soil/water/air/vegetation; huge pylon seen in the distance from the gate.


Visited Planets: (Planets known of but not explored in any 'real' way- data may not be up-to-date.)
Destination 1: Breathable atmosphere. Apparent forest and general apparent 'friendly' environment. Surveillance unit returned after two days completely unharmed.
Destination 2: Vacuum (no atmosphere). Apparent ruins. Surveillance unit stopped responding roughly a minute after arrival. (Note - This counts as 'surviving')
Destination 3: Immense heat and destruction within seconds of arrival. Likely sun or other extreme hostile destination.
Destination 4: Breathable atmosphere. Small island surrounded by sea. Repeated signal interruptions, but unit returned safely after two days.
Destination 5: Breathable atmosphere. Regular terrain, and what appears to be a village in the distance. Unit immediately returned to prevent contact.
Destination 6: Immense heat - unfit for human life. A huge toppled pillar/building next to the Warpgate.
Destination 7: Underwater. High pressure, acidity, and radiation.

Coordinate Index currently houses extreme amounts of Warpgate coordinates. Any one of these can be dialed on Switchboard.

Spoiler: Species (click to show/hide)

Hostile Species #1:
Encounters: (1 total)
Encountered at Destination 5.

Funds: 92,170 Credits

Spoiler: Waypoint Base (click to show/hide)

Base Size: 5x5 tiles


(White border means the two rooms are connected via passageway.)

Power Usage: 62/100.
(-10p) Control Room: A room that houses the Switchboard along with control & support staff. Has a window to the Device Room, controls the Device room entirely, and has equipment for controlling/managing the entire base as well as supporting + managing away teams.
(-30p) Warpgate Room: The room housing the Warpgate. Holds ramping to it as well as various equipment dedicated to controlling aspects such as direct input and powerflow to the Warpgate.
- Warpgate Ventilation Upgrade: The Warpgate Room has independent life support systems that can be remotely activated and that will last a few weeks before having to switch back to the main base ventilation.

(-5p) Security Room: A 2-tile wide room with equipment and fortifications to help defend against attacks - cover, cameras, blast doors and regular heavy doors, checkpoints, and more. Manned by up to 12 personnel and has 2 MG emplacements facing towards the Warpgate Chamber entrance.

(+50p) Nuclear Reactor: A self sufficient nuclear reactor providing 50 power.
(+50p) Nuclear Reactor 2: A self sufficient nuclear reactor providing 50 power.

(-5p) R&D Lab: A room housing basic fabrication facilities and research equipment for both engineering and research. Manned by up to 15 research pesonnel.

(-1p) Staff Quarters: Has enough room and housing for 60 personnel.
(-1p) Small Staff Quarters: Has enough room and housing for 30 personnel.
(-3p) Barracks: Armory and barracks for soldiers. Has enough room for 20 soldiers and large amounts of weaponry + armor.
(-3p) Barracks: Armory and barracks for soldiers. Has enough room for 20 soldiers and large amounts of weaponry + armor.
(-3p) Small Medbay: A medbay with room for 10 people in medical care, and 20 in quarantine. Most efficient when staffed with 5 medical personnel.

(-1p) Exit: Self-explanatory. Multiple elevators (freight and otherwise) to the surface.

Surface Buildings/Emplacements
Helipad: Can fuel, maintain and hold up to 2 large helicopters.

Spoiler: Squads (click to show/hide)

A squad is a group of specialists and soldiers with a set equipment loadout. There is a 6 person max in squads, and the same specialist can be in different squads. That just means both squads can't be deployed at once.
Squads are primarily for exploring, strikes, operations, diplomacy, and more. For more 'brute' matters, simply sending in a number of soldiers works.


There are no squads set at this time.

Spoiler: Staffing & Personnel (click to show/hide)

37/40 Soldiers
32 Trained Soldiers
- 32 waiting at Waypoint Base
5 Specialists
- 4 waiting at Waypoint Base
- 1 in Medbay

70/90 Regular Staff
Research
4 Scientists
4 Engineers
7 R&D Techs

Trained
5 Medical Staff (Medically trained; staff medbay)

General
20 Technicians (Keep base running)
10 Control & Support Staff (Manage away teams and staff Control Room)
5 Management (General upper-management of program)
15 General Staff(Food, Custodial, Etc.)

Other
21 Refugees
- 20 in Quarantine
- 1 in Medbay

Spoiler: Medical & Quarantine (click to show/hide)

Quarantine slots filled: 20/20
Other
20 Destination 5 Refugees

Medbay slots filled: 2/10
Regular Personnel
None

Specialists
Dan Stevens - Moderate wounds[/b]
- 1 week to recover

Other
1 D5 Refugee - Major wounds
- 2 weeks to recover
- Warning: There is no space in Quarantine for this refugee once recovered.

Spoiler: Specialists (click to show/hide)

40/40 Barracks Slots filled

Dan Stevens (Waiting at Waypoint Base)
Combat: 1, Science: 1, Xenotechnology: 1, Archaeology: 3, Language: 3, Diplomacy: 1, Stealth: 1
Sarah Leaf (Waiting at Waypoint Base)
Combat: 2, Science: 2, Xenotechnology: 3, Archaeology: 1, Language: 2, Diplomacy: 1, Stealth: 1
Charles Greenfield (Working at Waypoint Base)
Head of R&D
Combat: 1, Science: 3, Xenotechnology: 2, Archaeology: 1, Language: 1, Diplomacy: 2, Stealth: 1
Emma Dawson (Waiting at Waypoint Base)
Combat: 3, Science: 1, Xenotechnology: 1, Archaeology: 1, Language: 1, Diplomacy: 3, Stealth: 2
Jason Lerth (Waiting at Waypoint Base)
Combat: 1, Science: 3, Xenotechnology: 1, Archaeology: 3, Language: 1, Diplomacy: 1, Stealth: 1

Spoiler: Inventory (click to show/hide)

Notable Items
Note: Only items of higher value or that are worth noting are listed here.

- Warpgate
- Switchboard

- Artifact #2

Other Items
Mostly just things that are important to know that you have/
- "Infinite" RSUs (Robotic Surveillance Units
- "Infinite" Basic EVA Suits (Hazmat, Vacuum, etc.)

Spoiler: Artifact and Specimen Log (click to show/hide)

A log of all gathered artifacts + specimens and their planet of origin.
- Artifact #1 - Alien Energy Weapon
Belongs to Hostile Species #1
Found at Destination 5
- Artifact #2 - Alien Armor
Belongs to Hostile Species #1
Found at Destination 5
- Artifact #3 - Alien Energy Source
A container of a relatively-volatile liquid with extreme energy potential. Uses a simple metal alloy and unknown technology to efficiently convert radiation from contained liquid into power. Can possibly last for a little over a century.
Belongs to Hostile Species #1
Found from deconstructing A#1.

- Specimen #1 (Dissected) - Hostile Species #1 Corpse; Killed by IRW Forces; Found at Destination 5

Spoiler: Finances (click to show/hide)

Wages handled by Government.
Maintenance handled by Government.

Income
Funding session in 2 weeks. Expected funding: +$600,000

Purchases:
None: -0

Upkeep/Expenses
5 Specialists: -$25,000
Expected Upkeep (next week)
5 Specialists: -$25,000

Funds Change since last base update: -$25,000
92,170 Credits

[stabbymcstabstab]

Ok how about Locate a Linguist we can house on base to help translate the refugee's language and all future ones, and Two send a team composing on all four specialist that aren't department heads and two soldiers to D1.

And what do you guys think about either tearing apart the armor to see how it's made and what it's made out of, or shooting it with different caliber weapons till we find one capable of reliable piercing it with AP rounds.

[somemildmanneredidiot]

Motion to purchase 2 Linguists.
Until we explore other worlds we aren't really going to have much luck advancing any tech, so we can afford to use two slots in R&D on linguists. Budget wise, we'll be just managing to break even before our next income session.

Research:
Linguists: Villager Communication. Have Leaf and Stevens sit in when possible.

Specimen #1: Might as well try to do a chemical analysis and get an idea of how their biology works beyond what the initial autopsy showed. Probably won't get far due to lack of specimens, but it's something to do.

Adapting Armor: Artifact #2 didn't yield much and while we probably didn't miss anything on the first pass, there might have been something. After a second look through, they should try to tailor the armor so that one of our soldiers can use it.

If there is time in the week leftover, look into the specifc properties of the liquid of D7.



After scouting with RSUs and ARSUs, send Bravo Squad to D4 with a Charlie! squad covering the Gate while they explore.

Spoiler: Squad Configurations (click to show/hide)

Bravo: Dawson, Leaf, Lerth, 3 Soldiers.
Respective Loadout: AMR, AR, AR, LMG, MANPADS, GL
Charlie: As above
Respective Loadout: SR, AR, AR, LMG, GL, GL

Any squad designated with ! is composed fully of soldiers.

I wanted to wait for Stevens to be up and ready before we went to D4, but if we want to have some positive progress before the next funding session, we're going to have to start it this week at least.

Scout D5 with several RSUs and ARSUs. Make sure that all security features are manned and that we're on alert. If preliminary results show that it appears to be safe enough, have Cobra squad investigate, specifically where the ship was as well as Farpoint. Have Rhino squad guarding the Gate to provide support if the ship returns. If enemy contact is had, general guidelines are to survive and if contact is not the ship, secure what the Team can from the encounter and return to Waypoint ASAP.

Spoiler: Squad Configurations (click to show/hide)

Cobra: Leaf, 5 soldiers
Respective Loadout: AR, AR, GL, GL, MANPADS, FT
Rhino: Dawson, 5 soldiers
Respective Loadout: AMR, LMG, LMG, RL, RL, MANPADS

We need to know what happened. We might get lucky, we might not, and hopefully RSU and ARSU scouting will help us get a solid picture before we commit personnel over. We seem to have a small time window before they send over anything to investigate, and from there, before the ship appears,  so hopefully we'll be able to find something of what's going on that we can use.


Roll the dice and explore 3 more unknown coordinates with RSUs and ARSUs. For every coordinate that leads to an unexplorable immediately planet (anything that would require a HDRSU or other assistant vehicle, or is hypothesized to be a sun), check another coordinate.
We need more data and more options. This is the cheapest way to get both.

Inquire about Stealth, Language, and Combat Specialists. Someone to lead covert missions would be useful as would having a second person to lead combat teams.
Basically, I'd like to have someone specialized in Stealth to lead more covert missions, having a second Combat specialized Specialist would definitely be useful, and Stevens is the only one with Language 3 and that needs fixing.

Ok how about Locate a Linguist we can house on base to help translate the refugee's language and all future ones, and Two send a team composing on all four specialist that aren't department heads and two soldiers to D1.

And what do you guys think about either tearing apart the armor to see how it's made and what it's made out of, or shooting it with different caliber weapons till we find one capable of reliable piercing it with AP rounds.

I typed this out before I read your post, so I have my opinion on Linguists listed. For the armor, as listed, I think we should do another examination of it and then see what we can do to turn it into something we can field deploy.

The perfectness of D1 has my brain screaming trap. Plus we only have 3 specialists who are combat capable and aren't Greenfield. Once we have our next funding session and have a better position, I think investigating D1 could be useful. Of course, if D1 was meant as the tutorial destination and D5 was the boss, I'm going to laugh at how hard this got screwed up.

@Chiefwaffles: Two questions. Are we able to upgrade facilities for the cost of the upgrade minus the initial investment aka can we upgrade our R&D into an Advanced R&D for 150,000Cr? For D6, when the heat is listed as unfit for human life, are we talking "wow this desert is hot" unfit or "water is boiling right now" unfit?

[Chiefwaffles]

To the "tutorial mission and boss" theory, that isn't the case. While destinations vary greatly in effective 'difficulty', I don't have any sort of linear progression in mind.
To your actual questions: When you upgrade an existing facility to a better version of the same size, you can get a 50% refund on the original price of the facility being upgraded. And as for D6, it's around the latter 'boiling water' option. Given extensive preparation and very careful actions, a team can be sent there if wanted.

[somemildmanneredidiot]

Hmmmm, we could get an AR&D for 400k, which is within budget, but at that point we might as well hold onto 200k and wait for the next funding period to grab it. Being able to upgrade the one, purchase another, and fill both with all sorts of personnel within a few turns would be nice, but probably improbable. We're going to need a couple more Small Staff Quarters as well soon, especially considering that we're probably going to end up employing the refugees.

What type of preparation are we talking and how much would it cost?

[Kashyyk]

I agree with mild mannered's actions.

I suspect our team would have to wear some form of modified space suit, as that's the only thing I can think of that has to deal with that sort of temperature difference.

[stabbymcstabstab]

Should we get some space suits so we could start upgrading them to work in the conditions we need them too?

[somemildmanneredidiot]

I agree with mild mannered's actions.

I suspect our team would have to wear some form of modified space suit, as that's the only thing I can think of that has to deal with that sort of temperature difference.

Should we get some space suits so we could start upgrading them to work in the conditions we need them too?

@Misc: We should tap our space program for this. The other space program I mean. With the rockets and stuff. If we don't have one, then we probably have an ally who does.

Inquire about getting Spacesuits. If we don't have a rocketry based space program, one of our Allies almost certainly do.

Edit: I just noticed the edit about requesting specific specialists. I amended my suggestion post to include that.

[Chiefwaffles]

I would slightly appreciate it if you didn't 'overload' the list of destinations - sending RSUs to new destinations way faster than the rate at which you're actually exploring them in person. It's not that big of a deal at all, but I only have so many ideas for destinations based on your current level of technology.

Sorry if you didn't want to straight out replace R&D personnel with linguists, but considering you didn't mention what to do there, I figured it was the best interpretation given the fact that the R&D lab was full. I also removed the "Squads" spoiler. It felt unnecessary and redundant. Just give the squad loadouts when sending out squads in the future, like how it's already being done.
Interplanetary Research Ward: Week 6
"Vacation"

The first thing done this week was the hiring of two skilled linguists. Unfortunately, you had to let go two R&D techs to fit in the linguists. The R&D techs would probably have to be rehired at full price in order to get them back. The next thing you did was contacting some people in the military for the possibility of acquiring more specialists.

After an hour or so of searching for specialists skilled in combat, stealth, and language capabilities, you unfortunately only find two specialists suitable for work in the IRW.

Spoiler: Specialists (click to show/hide)

Nicholas Hodges:
Combat: 3, Science: 1, Xenotechnology: 1, Archaeology: 1, Language: 1, Diplomacy: 1, Stealth: 3

Steven Kolth:
Combat: 2, Science: 1, Xenotechnology: 1, Archaeology: 1, Language: 2, Diplomacy: 2, Stealth: 1

After looking over the list of specialists, you start devoting the rest of your time to looking for some kind of spacesuit from your nation's space program that could withstand the heat on D6. Your contact tells you that with modifications, the spacesuits currently used by the country could very likely be used at D6. After some more research and conversing with the people from R&D, you determine that for $60,000, R&D could develop the Heatsuit. The heatsuit would be able to survive extreme temperatures, and once developed, you would have an effectively unlimited supply of them.

A bit later that week, the two new linguists along with the help of Leaf and Stevens start working with the refugees to decipher the new language. By the end of the week, they report some progress. Specifically, the refugees' language appears to be similar to the text seen at Farpoint. Not particularly similar, but they believe that the Refugees actually speak a language descending from the language used in the signs. This is helpful, as it means that the refugees' language is also distantly connected to ancient languages already recorded and translated.
The linguists tell you that they believe a basic understanding of the language - enough for questioning purposes, at least - can be acquired in approximately two weeks.

The day after, Greenfield comes into your office to discuss the R&D projects completed since you gave their order.
"Well, I don't really know what we expected. Specimen one is actually extremely similar to a human. The extra investigations just seem to prove this. Given their difference in appearance and number of legs, you would at least assume some kind of difference, but nope. I'm sorry that we can't give you much else to go on, but right now my leading theory is that this has to be intentional - some kind of genetic modification or engineering, likely." He does a few actions on the tablet he's carrying, and continues. "And as for the armor, we haven't had much luck there either. Like I've told you, the aliens' biggest difference to humans is their external body. Nothing that really matters by itself other than the three legs, but just the changed shape of their bodies means this armor can't be fit without adaption onto a human. And adaption, sadly, isn't an option for us. The material the armor is made out of simply prevents any changing of the armor's structure. The techniques we'd use would, at best, just end up with a large chunk of this alloy and nothing else." His frown lessens a bit as he starts talking again. "But as for further investigation into the armor itself, we've gained a bit more understanding about the 'life support system' I believe I mentioned last time I told you about it. It's a subtle gas mask. Completely unpowered, and it seems to block out all of the potentially harmful gases that we've tested."
After finishing, Greenfield immediately walks out of the room without giving you a chance to talk to him.

You take the opportunity to look at the report just recently submitted concerning the water at D7. Apparently, some analysis of it seems to show unknown contaminants present. The report states that while the exact source of the contaminants and what they are is unknown, they do seem to be some kind of waste. The contaminants seem to be too complicated to occur naturally in the extreme majority of cases, but they don't appear to fulfill any particular role to be put in the water on purpose.


In the mean time, RSUs are sent through the gates to find new destinations. D8, D9, and D10 are all catalogued.
Destination 8: The RSU saw a river running by the Warpgate, with forests close by. Everything seems to be relatively similar to terrestrial landscape and life. The ARSU flyover shows nothing out of the ordinary. No intelligent life or artificial structures was seen.
Destination 9: The RSU detected a town relatively close by. From this distance, it can be seen that the town looks sometime medieval in terms of technology. Stone walls surround the town with people seen patrolling it. An ARSU wasn't send to avoid drastic interference before a better plan of action can be decided.
Destination 10: By far the strangest planet of the bunch. The first thing observed was another one of those pillars in the distance, but something seemed different about it - from what the RSU could see, it looked like the structure was doing ...something. In addition to this, the RSU witnessed extreme weather patterns along with a village. Though it seems like human life couldn't survive for long unaided in these conditions.

By the end of the week, the Refugee in medbay has recovered fully. He's sent into Quarantine along with the others, but the medical staff implores you to find more space, as Quarantine is currently overfilled with refugees.

Destination 5
You start getting soldiers ready for a reconnaissance trip to D5. As Bravo Team stands in the gate room, you start the dialing of D5. But something strange happens. At the time when normally a connection would be made, nothing happens. The Warpgate shuts down completely. You look at the technician handling the dialing, and he looks equally confused. You have the dialing be done again, and the same thing happens.
For some reason, your Warpgate just won't make a connection to Destination 5's gate.

Destination 4

Spoiler: Bravo Squad (click to show/hide)

Dawson, Leaf, Lerth, 3 Soldiers.
Respective Loadout: AMR, AR, AR, LMG, MANPADS, GL

Spoiler: Charlie Squad (click to show/hide)

6 soldiers
Respective Loadout: SR, AR, AR, LMG, GL, GL

About an hour after giving up on D5 for the time being, Bravo and Charlie squads are ready for departure and the connection to Destination 4 is successfully made. They both enter through the gate, and a couple seconds later, confirm their trip.
-$200 in Deployment Fees

You wait for their next report, as it's been considered best to wait for the team to report in on their own time as the Warpgate needs to be open for any actual communication. Ten minutes later, the gate opens and their signal comes through. Dawson's voice comes in through the speaker.
"It's been straightforward so far, sir. The island is pretty small. Mostly just sand, a couple trees, and nothing else. Leaf tells me she's getting some periodic bursts of some kind of energy. she says that while it shouldn't be harmful to us, it's probably what caused the probe's signal interruptions. She got the general direction of the bursts' origin. It's in the water, and when we look at where she says it should be, we can see some debris through the water.
Orders, sir?"

Spoiler: Galaxy (click to show/hide)

Explored Planets:
Planets where some effort was given by the IRW to be explored - ordered by most recent data. All information is based off of the last piece of information gotten from the destination.

[Week 6] Destination 4: IRW Presence] Small island surrounded by ocean. Debris can be seen in the water along with a mysterious source of harmless energy bursts.
[Week 5] Destination 2: [RSU Presence] Vacuum; Ruins with autonomous defenses. Single armed humanoid robot seen.
[Week 4] Destination 5: [Enemy Presence]  Ruined village attacked by hostile forces. As of Week 6, the gate cannot be reached.
[Week 2] Destination 1: Suspiciously perfect soil/water/air/vegetation; huge pylon seen in the distance from the gate.


Visited Planets: (Planets known of but not explored in any 'real' way- data may not be up-to-date.)
Destination 1: Breathable atmosphere. Apparent forest and general apparent 'friendly' environment. Surveillance unit returned after two days completely unharmed.
Destination 2: Vacuum (no atmosphere). Apparent ruins. Surveillance unit stopped responding roughly a minute after arrival. (Note - This counts as 'surviving')
Destination 3: Immense heat and destruction within seconds of arrival. Likely sun or other extreme hostile destination.
Destination 4: Breathable atmosphere. Small island surrounded by sea. Repeated signal interruptions, but unit returned safely after two days.
Destination 5: Breathable atmosphere. Regular terrain, and what appears to be a village in the distance. Unit immediately returned to prevent contact.
Destination 6: Immense heat - unfit for human life. A huge toppled pillar/building next to the Warpgate.
Destination 7: Underwater. High pressure, acidity, and radiation.
Destination 8: Breathable atmosphere. River running by the Warpgate, with forests close by. Everything seems to be relatively similar to terrestrial landscape and life. Nothing out of the ordinary. No intelligent life or artificial structures was seen.
Destination 9: Breathable atmosphere. Town relatively close by. From this distance, it can be seen that the town looks sometime medieval in terms of technology. Stone walls surround the town with people seen patrolling it.
Destination 10: Breathable atmosphere. Artificial pillar in the distance, seemingly doing something. Extreme weather patterns along with a village. Though it seems like human life couldn't survive for long unaided in these conditions.

Coordinate Index currently houses extreme amounts of Warpgate coordinates. Any one of these can be dialed on Switchboard.

Spoiler: Species (click to show/hide)

Hostile Species #1:
Encounters: (1 total)
Encountered at Destination 5.

Funds: 92,170 Credits

Spoiler: Waypoint Base (click to show/hide)

Base Size: 5x5 tiles


(White border means the two rooms are connected via passageway.)

Power Usage: 62/100.
(-10p) Control Room: A room that houses the Switchboard along with control & support staff. Has a window to the Device Room, controls the Device room entirely, and has equipment for controlling/managing the entire base as well as supporting + managing away teams.
(-30p) Warpgate Room: The room housing the Warpgate. Holds ramping to it as well as various equipment dedicated to controlling aspects such as direct input and powerflow to the Warpgate.
- Warpgate Ventilation Upgrade: The Warpgate Room has independent life support systems that can be remotely activated and that will last a few weeks before having to switch back to the main base ventilation.

(-5p) Security Room: A 2-tile wide room with equipment and fortifications to help defend against attacks - cover, cameras, blast doors and regular heavy doors, checkpoints, and more. Manned by up to 12 personnel and has 2 MG emplacements facing towards the Warpgate Chamber entrance.

(+50p) Nuclear Reactor: A self sufficient nuclear reactor providing 50 power.
(+50p) Nuclear Reactor 2: A self sufficient nuclear reactor providing 50 power.

(-5p) R&D Lab: A room housing basic fabrication facilities and research equipment for both engineering and research. Manned by up to 15 research personnel.

(-1p) Staff Quarters: Has enough room and housing for 60 personnel.
(-1p) Small Staff Quarters: Has enough room and housing for 30 personnel.
(-3p) Barracks: Armory and barracks for soldiers. Has enough room for 20 soldiers and large amounts of weaponry + armor.
(-3p) Barracks: Armory and barracks for soldiers. Has enough room for 20 soldiers and large amounts of weaponry + armor.
(-3p) Small Medbay: A medbay with room for 10 people in medical care, and 20 in quarantine. Most efficient when staffed with 5 medical personnel.

(-1p) Exit: Self-explanatory. Multiple elevators (freight and otherwise) to the surface.

Surface Buildings/Emplacements
Helipad: Can fuel, maintain and hold up to 2 large helicopters.

Spoiler: Staffing & Personnel (click to show/hide)

37/40 Soldiers
32 Trained Soldiers
- 19 waiting at Waypoint Base
- 13 at Destination 4
5 Specialists
- 1 waiting at Waypoint Base
- 3 at Destination 4
- 1 in Medbay

70/90 Regular Staff
Research (15/15)
4 Scientists
4 Engineers
5 R&D Techs
2 Linguists

Trained
5/5 Medical Staff (Medically trained; staff medbay)

General
20 Technicians (Keep base running)
10 Control & Support Staff (Manage away teams and staff Control Room)
5 Management (General upper-management of program)
15 General Staff(Food, Custodial, Etc.)

Other
21 Refugees
- 21 in Quarantine

Spoiler: Medical & Quarantine (click to show/hide)

Quarantine slots filled: 21/20
Other
21 Destination 5 Refugees

Medbay slots filled: 1/10
Regular Personnel
None

Specialists
Dan Stevens - Moderate wounds[/b]
- 1 week to recover

Other
None

Spoiler: Specialists (click to show/hide)

40/40 Barracks Slots filled

Dan Stevens (Waiting at Waypoint Base)
Combat: 1, Science: 1, Xenotechnology: 1, Archaeology: 3, Language: 3, Diplomacy: 1, Stealth: 1
Sarah Leaf (Destination 4)
Combat: 2, Science: 2, Xenotechnology: 3, Archaeology: 1, Language: 2, Diplomacy: 1, Stealth: 1
Charles Greenfield (Working at Waypoint Base)
Head of R&D
Combat: 1, Science: 3, Xenotechnology: 2, Archaeology: 1, Language: 1, Diplomacy: 2, Stealth: 1
Emma Dawson (Destination 4)
Combat: 3, Science: 1, Xenotechnology: 1, Archaeology: 1, Language: 1, Diplomacy: 3, Stealth: 2
Jason Lerth (Destination 4)
Combat: 1, Science: 3, Xenotechnology: 1, Archaeology: 3, Language: 1, Diplomacy: 1, Stealth: 1

Spoiler: Inventory (click to show/hide)

Notable Items
Note: Only items of higher value or that are worth noting are listed here.

- Warpgate
- Switchboard

- Artifact #2

Other Items
Mostly just things that are important to know that you have/
- "Infinite" RSUs (Robotic Surveillance Units
- "Infinite" Basic EVA Suits (Hazmat, Vacuum, etc.)

Spoiler: Artifact and Specimen Log (click to show/hide)

A log of all gathered artifacts + specimens and their planet of origin.
- Artifact #1 - Alien Energy Weapon
Belongs to Hostile Species #1
Found at Destination 5
- Artifact #2 - Alien Armor
Belongs to Hostile Species #1
Found at Destination 5
- Artifact #3 - Alien Energy Source
A container of a relatively-volatile liquid with extreme energy potential. Uses a simple metal alloy and unknown technology to efficiently convert radiation from contained liquid into power. Can possibly last for a little over a century.
Belongs to Hostile Species #1
Found from deconstructing A#1.

- Specimen #1 (Dissected) - Hostile Species #1 Corpse; Killed by IRW Forces; Found at Destination 5
Insectoid in appearance, but humanoid in nature - surprisingly similar anatomy to that of a human. Reduced flashbang effectiveness and 3 legs are primary non-visual differences.

Spoiler: Research Projects (click to show/hide)

D5 Refugee Language
The learning of the unknown language used by the refugees from Destination 5.
Assigned Staff: 2 Linguists, Specialist Leaf, Specialist Stevens
Status: Preliminary research done.
Expected Future Progress: Basic understanding in two weeks.

Spoiler: Finances (click to show/hide)

Wages handled by Government.
Maintenance handled by Government.

Income
Funding session in 1 week. Expected funding: +$600,000

Purchases:
2 Linguists: -40,000

Upkeep/Expenses
5 Specialists: -$25,000
Destination 4 Deployment Fees: -$200
Expected Upkeep (next week)
5 Specialists: -$25,000

Funds Change since last base update: -$65,200
26,970 Credits

[stabbymcstabstab]

Recall both squads, and lets acquire some scuba gear for further exploration.


Lets, consider sending bravo squad to D9 and a squad of six soldier to secure the area around the Pillar at D1, they seem to be a terraforming device which would explain why both Destinations are so strange.