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[Talion]

The @Echo (or whatever) indicates where they start the turn, so Draig knows where to look to remove the fleet, whilst they are organised into groups by where they end the turn, so Draig knows which fleets will end the turn in the same system.

The issue is if you have forces @Foxtrot heading to Bravo, they could take multiple routes depending on if they want to be safe through Echo or patrol through Quebec.

[NUKE9.13]

Yes, and all orders that involve moving multiple systems have any systems en-route mentioned, eg "Orders: Move to Quebec System via Bravo. Deploy all forces"

[evictedSaint]

(5) Plan A: eS, Nuke, and Talion, BBB, Madman, probably

[NUKE9.13]

So, eS brought up a concern, regarding the troops we're sending to Tango. Currently, I have them headed to Quebec, but hanging back to avoid combat. eS is worried that if the Liir show up with a sufficiently powerful fleet and defeat our combat forces there, they might destroy the transports (and their cargo). To this end, he proposes we station the transports at Bravo instead- which would still let them move up to Tango next turn.
My concern is that if the Liir beat us and control the Quebec system, then our transports moving from Bravo to Tango may be caught when they try to move through Quebec, whereas if they are already in Quebec they can always 'retreat' to Tango (assuming the Liir were unsuccessful in hunting them down).

So, whilst I can see eS's point, I'm not completely convinced. Therefore, I'm looking for feedback from others. I'd be willing to change it if that's the consensus.

E: eS brought up another point, which is that if the transports are in Quebec, they might show up in the BR- tipping off everyone that we intend to land them on Tango next turn. I think for the moment I'm going to change it to them staying at Bravo.

[evictedSaint]

I was thinking about how we were mocking the Humans for failing to make Spartans (or at the very least, Doom Guy), and I wondered if we could do something like that ourselves.  Thus...

[OUR] (GIC) <Depriver> Gen A.1.0

Have I not proven myself? The [Silent Ones] have been driven before us, reduced to [Prey] by my hand. I have lead the campaign to drive them from our worlds, and crushed millions underfoot.  Who is more worthy of [Anointment] than I, your loyal Battle Princess?

-Princess [2.4.2.1.2.8], Battle Princess at Sierra (Depriver Taskforce 3)

Our Ground Infantry Commander "Depriver", Generation A, Version 1.0.

One of the ways a Princess may gain prestige and become worthy of [Anointment] (and thus become a Queen) is through exemplary prowess in combat.  With peace more or less enforced through the advent of the Council, these opportunities became exceedingly rare.  Now that [We] have worlds to colonize and enemies to kill, there is no shortage of Princesses willing to prove themselves on the battlefield.

The Deprivers is virtually the opposite of our Takers.  Small in number, the Deprivers are Elite Units consisting of exceedingly well-armed Princesses and their Prince consorts.  These Depriver units operate most efficiently when mixed with multiple units of Takers; Princesses are able to manage large groups of infantry psionically and delegate smaller groups to their Prince underlings. 

The Princesses are considered "Battle Princesses", which are essentially Princesses from breeds well-suited to combat.  Their equipment includes miniaturized Watcher-style shields over custon-built Alate armor, along with whatever weapon that Battle Princess chooses to wield.  Though well-equipped for battle, they are usually well-protected and handle intelligence, mission planning, and grand strategy for their campaign. 

The Prince Consort consists of more numerous Princes, who handle smaller infantry task forces as well as operating as organic processors for their Princesses.  They are equipped with similar Alate Armor, but not Watcher shields (as a Prince is considerably smaller than a Princess and would not be able to carry the generator). Princes also operate as Military Engineers, and oversee the construction of defenses. 

[NUKE9.13]

I like the idea, but have an alternative suggestion. It would be a two-step process; first develop a vehicle, then develop Deprivers where the princess rides her own customised version of said vehicle.
These proposals are similar to ones I made quite some time ago. It does kinda rely on not scrapping the Queen's Freedom, which I know eS has advocated for. I dunno, maybe I'm attracted to the idea of floating sci-fi vehicles more for the cool factor than actual practicality.
 

[OUR] (FFF) <Battleshrine> Gen A.1.0:
Sometimes Takers just aren't good enough, and a more substantial weapon is needed to secure the surface of an alien world. But surface conditions vary. A vehicle capable of traversing the mountains on one world may be unsuitable for crossing seas on another. Clearly, the vehicle needs to float in the air. It also needs to be a formidable piece of kit, to resist whatever the enemy throws at it. The answer is obviously [Our] (Formidable Fighting Floater) <Battleshrine>.

The Battleshrine is shaped like a step pyramid or wedding cake, except that the base is hexagonal, not square or circular. The base 'layer' is about 40 meters across, with each subsequent layer being 10m less. The (heavily armoured) bottom half of a (downsized) Queen's Freedom sphere juts out of the bottom. The exterior is red and gold, engraved with harmonic geometrical patterns- but do not mistake this for a pleasure craft; the armour is incredibly thick and strong, consisting of Alate plating over more common metal armour, on top of an already sturdy hull structure. Weight is of no concern, after all- indeed, the heavier the better.
A wide variety of weaponry adorns the Battleshrine, from gatling lasers for dealing with nearby infantry to missile launchers capable of taking down enemy vehicles from miles away, many of which are modular and can be swapped out depending on circumstances.
The Battleshrine is powered by a (downsized) hybrid Queen's Glory/Watcher reactor, which provides both power to all systems, and can be used to generate a Watcher shield around the craft. The aforementioned Queen's Freedom sphere lets the Battleshrine hover at arbitrary heights, as well as move in all directions. Electrical fans provide additional propulsion and stability.
A Battleshrine is commanded by a prince, and crewed by dozens of drones. A sensor suite provides the prince with a wealth of data, which can be shared with other Battleshrines or infantry commanders in the area. The interior is atmospherically sealed, allowing for safe operation in almost all conditions.
 
With absolute freedom of movement, a daunting array of weaponry, incredibly sturdy armour, and a competent commander at the helm, a single Battleshrine has the potential to turn the tide of a battle- and each attachment comes with several. [Our] enemies will quake when they see them coming, and know their days are numbered.

[OUR] (PLS) <Deprivers> Gen A.2.0:
The proposal to deploy battle-princesses to conquer foreign worlds has merit, but concerns were raised about putting a princess directly in the line of fire, with nothing but body armour and a Watcher shield between her and the enemy. Whilst some princesses may be excellent warriors, their greater strength will always be the leadership they provide. Therefore, this alternative proposal.

[Our] (Psionic Leadership Squadron) <Deprivers> is a force multiplier for any Hiver army, providing both the strategic brilliance of a princess, and the tactical option of superbly trained and equipped princes.

The princess herself goes into battle aboard a Royal Shrine; a modified Battleshrine, personalised by the princess in question to suit her preferred style of combat, equipped with only the very best armour and weapons. The armour is augmented with psimat conduits which can channel the psionic potential of the entire regiment into keeping the armour intact, rendering the Royal Shrine all but invulnerable, at least whilst enough of the regiment it is attached to survives. A powerful psionic broadcaster allows the princess to both stay in contact with far-flung elements of her regiment, and redistribute the regiment's psionic energy, so that troops who are not engaged in combat can still lend their mental energy to those that are.
The mere sight of a Royal Shrine inspires lesser Hivers to greater heights, even before the princess within reassures and focuses them with her psionic influence.

The princes are all perfect warriors, bred for battle, subjected to rigorous training for every day of their lives, and armed to the teeth with top-notch weaponry and armour. Their armour is primarily Alate plating, but like the Royal Shrine it has psimat conduits that allow them to channel psionic energy to strengthen their defences (although they have a more limited channelling range, meaning they are by no means invulnerable, just harder to kill than one might expect). Their weaponry is chosen for them by their princess, though most will be armed with an entangled-beam rifle (think a miniature Sunbeam) in addition to whatever specialised weapon they are designated.
They can serve as relays for the princess, letting her see through their eyes and transmit commands through them, as special forces capable of executing precision strikes against key enemy targets (using finesse and subtlety beyond common drones), or as semi-independent commanders capable of reasonably intelligent tactical behaviour.

(Even if we don't do this, I'd really recommend using PLS as the code for the Deprivers, since then a unit of Takers with an attachment of Deprivers would be PLS-GIB (or GIB-PLS, either works))

[dgr11897]

(Posting Slightly modified unfinished version here to put it somewhere I can easily find it to finish it.)
[our] (AUG) Decree of {ASH}:
Beneath one of our cities, we have unearthed something, something which predates us, and is suspected to be our origins. We have unearthed, a dead god, progenitor of the queens, whose name is stored in our prophecies of its awakening, {First} [Ancient] (Emperor) [Our] Ashbringer. Though they are long dead, their memories remain, and can be extracted. For now we have only managed to extract has been the use of one of its powers, a blast of holy energy, like the bursts used to fry the psychic organs of a traitor prince, but capable of incinerating entire ships. By using a massive walking psychic amplifier platform, carrying a queen (and in the shape of one), a retinue of princes and princesses, a set of technological devices designed to channel and store belief and psionic energy, and finally, a psionic memory storage device, loaded with the one memory we could find. Devices aboard the decree's carrier vehicle can project a field of awe, of belief that the massive hulking figure is a god reborn. This belief fuels the activation of the decree, or is stored away for future use, the operating queen channeling the raw power of its memories and the belief of many, to recreate the effect. Forming incredibly powerful blasts of holy fire, hot enough to instantly turn organic materials to ash, level large areas, or blow apart low flying spaceships. The storage system is designed to have practically no limits on the amount of belief and psionic energy it can hold, at least for any practical charge times.

[NUKE9.13]

Just in case anyone missed it in the Discord, I wrote a (potential) origin story for the Hivers, inspired by DGR's proposal above. It's open to suggestions, obviously.
(I changed the timeframe since I posted it in Discord- the Precursor was now buried 200k earth years ago, and the First Queen created 50k earth years ago.)

The Precursor:
Hivers haven't put much thought into their origins. The ancient past is of little concern to them. Many believe in the First Queen, yet few have questioned where the First Queen came from.
((Therefore, what follows is for [We] players' eyes only, as there is no way for anyone to actually know any of this IC))
Approximately 200,000 (earth) years ago, the star around which Regalis so perilously orbits fell under the inscrutable gaze of beings that we will refer to as the Precursors. These creatures, though technically of flesh and blood, had long since transcended past mortal concerns- their psionic powers were so vast and precise that they could sustain their bodies with thought alone, granting them effective immortality. Their homeworld, if they ever had one, was irrelevant now, as they instead travelled the stars in great psionically powered ships, crewed by slaves from species from across the galaxy, that the Precursors had abducted during their travels- not as a source of labour, for they had no need of such things, but rather to serve as amusements.

However, for the oldest amongst them, no amount of slaves could provide enough amusement to make their life worth living, and so it would come to pass that these immortal beings would seek death. When this happened, their compatriots would find them a suitable world to be entombed on- for the Precursors, perhaps not unjustly, considered themselves to be gods, and so insisted on proper ceremony and extravagance when a member chose to die. It was for this purpose that they travelled to the Alpha system.
The various planets in the system were considered. Alpha 3 seemed promising, with its relatively advanced ecosystem, and an existing species of sapients that could serve as guardians of the tomb, but for whatever reason the Precursor to be interred preferred Alpha 1, despite the harsh environment and lack of sapient species. And so, a great tomb was constructed deep, deep beneath the surface of the planet, and the Precursor who wished to die made itself comfortable within. It then stopped its heart, and their companions sealed the tomb over their corpse. The Precursors lingered for a few years, to make sure the tomb was stable, then departed upon their eternal journey once more.

Yet death does not come easy to such beings, and though its body was well and truly dead, the mind of the Precursor survived. It knew that it would fade away in time, but that may take many years. So it kept itself entertained by manipulating the ecosystems above it, moulding the existing life into a variety of more advanced species that would not normally be found in such a harsh environment. Foremost amongst these was a race of insects, that the Precursor elevated to sapience. As its mind decayed, it enjoyed the worship of these simple creatures, who considered the voice in their heads to be divine in nature.
This continued for about 150,000 (earth) years, during which time the Precursor grew steadily weaker. The sapient insects started to develop tools, fire, art and culture- all that good sapient stuff. In time, they may have developed into a totally average sapient species, and then been wiped out when the inhabitants of Alpha 3 invaded the planet.
But the decaying mind of the Precursor, for whatever reason, decided it would be funny, as its final act, to grant a single member of the species psionic powers. Although it was but a fraction of a fraction of the Precursor's power, it was still an immense boon, and the individual soon began to call herself a Queen, and subjugated thousands of others.
One can imagine the rest. The Queen manipulated her own reproductive system to produce more psionic individuals, although each possessing only a fraction of her power. She created psionically gifted males to serve as mates, and psionically gifted females to act as overseers of her many slaves. Her slaves began to die out, and so she created sterile drones to replace them. Inevitably, her offspring spread across the world, establishing hives of their own, and in time, the new society the First Queen created became dominant, whilst their non-psionic ancestors were completely forgotten.

[Madman198237]

Revision proposals, probably not really following the revision formatting but all of them are technically revisions to the Tremor torpedo:

[OUR] (NXRL) <Fury Shaped> Gen A.1.0:
Presently, we use massively inefficient nuclear weapons. Spherical detonation patterns, how crude. By redirecting the initial wave of x-rays from a nuclear detonation using an arrangement of copper rods, we can produce a single shot x-ray laser of immense power. By using such a system combined with a very large multi-stage nuclear bomb, we can refine the blast to be much more efficient, burning a large hole straight through an enemy warship's hull plating by heating it with high-energy radiation.

[OUR] (NEFP) <Piercer> Gen A.1.0:
Based on present nuclear weapons, <Piercer> is effectively a modified variant of them. Using the immense radiation and shockwave generated by the initial blast, a sort of shaped charge effect can be produced, capable of turning a piece of the containment vessel (which allows the fusion-fission-fusion-fission-fission-etc. reactions to happen *before* the bomb blows itself apart) into an armor-piercing jet which behaves just like a normal shaped charge, i.e., a molten kinetic penetrator. Except this one is faster, harder-hitting, and more powerful.

[OUR] (NRB) <Star's Light> Gen A.1.0:
Right now we probably use some form of thermonuclear weapon with a few measly stages. Using a much larger bomb optimized to emit a massive burst of x-rays and other high-energy radiation. This sudden burst is potentially capable of damaging close-by fighters through EMP and even melting some hull plating. More importantly, however, is that this version of our nuclear missiles is intended to be fired at Gaian wire clouds and shrapnel bursts, where the immense radiation pressure and heating will evaporate large sections of wire into plasma and melt and disrupt the clouds of shrapnel, reducing the effectiveness of those clouds against formations of our fighters.

[evictedSaint]

[OUR] (NAST) <Tremor> Gen A.2.0

Despite their crucial role in battle, it is safe to say the Tremor was an abysmal failure.

Of the hundreds or so torpedoes launched, only a couple dozen hit in any engagement - and universally with lackluster results.  The torpedo-laden fighters suffered heavy, heavy losses due to their inability to dogfight, and their effect on the outcome was not anything to be proud off.  The original A.1.0 is a venerable weapon which served well in [Our] first inter-planetary war, helping us to reduce Alpha 3 to ash from orbit and scoring numerous kills on orbiting warships.  Our new enemy is much deadlier, and the Tremor is in need of an upgrade.

Our Nuclear Anti-Ship Torpedo "Tremor", Generation A, Version 2.0 capitalizes on the advancements made in Version 1.2, as well as adding improved ship-killing capabilities that it has thusfar been lacking.  The new version makes proper use of the reduced size allowed by the Stable Binary Fuel Mixture that we were previously unable to fully utilize. 

Point-Defense juking has been a failure in all attempts to do so, so Version 2.0 features a Multiple Independently Targetable (MIT) second-stage warhead.  The MIT deploys three smaller warheads once the torpedo reaches terminal phase of its flight path.  These three then separate to hit different areas of the target and thus hopefully avoid a single Point Defense countermeasure.  Additionally, due to the higher thrust-to-weight ratio of these smaller warheads, they experience a sudden increase in acceleration as they separate from the more efficient (but slower) primary stage of the torpedo.

Lastly, the warhead itself is changed to form a nuclear "shaped charge", projecting a higher-velocity stream of nuclear plasma ahead towards the target.  This allows the warhead to direct the majority of the nuclear energy into the target, rather than allowing roughly 50% of the blast to dissipate into space.

Overall, Version 2.0 actually contains less nuclear payload than the previous version.  Despite this, we are projecting higher kill values due to the new-found ability to evade Point Defense and direct a larger portion of the payload into the target.

Like the previous Tremor, this version can optionally be equipped with re-entry caps to enable orbital bombardment.

Just a tentative design.  I know we probably won't be able to do this for a while (if we do at all), but I just wanted to get the idea out.  Feedback is appreciated.

[Madman198237]

[OUR] (NAST) <Quake> Gen A.1.0:
I don't know what our present nuclear weapons are. So we're going to make them substantially more awesome. First off, the delivery system. The Tremor is....well, bad. This new torpedo is given a two-stage propulsion assembly. The first stage is nothing more than an extremely large and powerful rocket engine with no maneuvering ability, accelerating the torpedo to intercept velocity quite rapidly, before being ditched. Once the torpedo has attained maximum velocity and the first stage is out of its high-performance Stable Binary Fuel Mixture, the stage is jettisoned.

The second stage is all about maneuvering, instead of adding velocity. High-performance SBFM rocket engines face roughly equally in every direction, giving it fantastic ability to try and not get shot down, while retaining some ability to increase its towards-the-target velocity in random bursts to further throw off targeting. During the first stage burn, the second stage's engines are responsible for aiming it at the target. Afterwards, the engines are used to make the projectile follow a random path towards the target.

This new missile system comes with two slightly different warheads. Both are a two-stage thermonuclear weapon, refined from our crude, last-generation Tremor warheads, contained with a thick reflecting shell of depleted uranium. On one side, there is an opening, with a cone-shaped container of a chemical which converts the reflected and emitted x-rays into a thermal expansion shockwave.

The first variant is capped with an incredibly heavy and very thick tungsten plate. When the nuke detonates, the converter chemical is heated by the x-rays and heats and pushes the tungsten plate with immense force, partially melting it and accelerating it, adding multiple kilometers per second to its velocity, like a shaped charge. The difference between this and a shaped charge is that while a shaped charge penetrator is stretched out during the explosion and fragments into uselessness after some distance, this penetrator is entirely ejected by the blast, and thus remains a viable penetrator for an infinite distance...oh, and it's also been accelerated by both its rocket engine and the blast. And may be up to several meters wide. This device can be detonated a large distance from its target, making it nigh impossible to shoot down using short-ranged defenses. The projectile has no maneuvering capability on its own, of course, but is moving very fast. This version, due to the very heavy tungsten plate, is fired with only one warhead per torpedo, and thus has a single large second stage, and no armor. After all, the entire top of the warhead is literally just a gigantic plate of thick metal. Adding armor to protect your basically-an-armor-plate-anyway is somewhat...redundant.

The second variant only has an extremely thin plate on top. When the converter is heated, it expands and rapidly heats the plate, which is turned into a cone-shaped jet of particles. If the plate is made larger and thinner, it absorbs more energy and is stretched into a *thinner* cone, making it longer-ranged and more damaging. If the cone is widened, it can be used to cover a larger area with what amounts to a particle-accelerator barrage, vaporing the surfaces of anything caught in the blast. This wider cone is our weapon of choice, used to do damage to fightercraft and also eliminate things like enemy missiles and those pesky Gaian wires and shattergun blasts. The much-reduced weight of these projectiles allow many more of them, with correspondingly smaller second stages, to be mounted to a single torpedo first stage.

This torpedo is optimized for use in Small mounts, much more than the Tremor. A herculean effort has been undertaken by several engineering Princes to make a launcher system capable of firing and reloading two torpedoes at a time from a single Small hardpoint, without too much of an adverse affect on performance or the number of torpedoes carried.

[Draignean]

Echo | Quebec | Bravo | Charlie | Papa
Planetary surveys have been completed, and, despite the bizarre softness of these worlds in comparison to Regalis, a number of new promising nesting sites have been selected. The fragile colony tenders will be on their way soon, and the reach of [We] will grow long indeed.

Size: 8
T: 2240 | 9%
O: 10305 | 6%
M: 7210 | 2%
E: 5965 | 14%
S: 800 | 0%

Size: 3
T: 1100 | 15%
O: 2405 | 11%
M: 3150 | 11%
E: 2770 | 21%
S: 300 | 0%

Size: 1
T: 475 | 18%
O: 945 | 20%
M: 1495 | 1%
E: 700 | 22%
S: 100 |  0%

Size: 5
T: 2240 | 20%
O: 6675 | 6%
M: 6275 | 12%
E: 2540 | 17%
S: 500 | 0%

Size: 6
T: 1565 | 1%
O: 5210 | 2%
M: 8940 | 18%
E: 3732 | 6%
S: 600 | 0%



Design Phase of Year 4
Resources
Dice: 6
T: 11368 + 3416
O: 32106 + 9077
M: 10557 + 10368
E: 8064 + 7227
S: 2671 + 500

Alate has auto-completed!

Spoiler: Projects (click to show/hide)

Belief Engine: 14/16 [2] | 150O  + 100M + 75E + 20S | Rushed 0 Times | Nothing Invested
Queen's Freedom: 6/14 [1] | 30T + 150M + 50E +15S | Rushed 0 Times | Nothing Invested
Amplified Credulity Lab: 10/16 [2] |  80O +80M + 40 Synthetic | Rushed 0 Times | Nothing Invested
Queen's Whisper: 6/16 [2] | 50T  + 125O + 60M+ 75E | Rushed 0 Times | Nothing Invested
Tidepool: 4/12 [2] | 30T + 70M + 10E +0S | Rushed 0 Times | Nothing Invested
Hivemine: 6/10 [3] | 0T + 175O + 100M + 50E +0S | Rushed 0 Times | Nothing Invested
Watcher Gen 2.0: 3/14 [3] | 120T + 70O + 100M + 150E | Rushed 0 Times | Nothing Invested
Cinder Spires: 3/12 [3] |  220O +150M + 25E| Rushed 0 Times | Nothing Invested

[We] Technology List
[We] Empire Planner

Spoiler: Current Deployment (click to show/hide)

Echo
Fleets
- Fleet 1
3x Heavy Fighter Destroyer
1x Boreless Heavy Fighter Destroyer
1x Command Cruiser ("No Fair Fight") Very Heavily Damaged, 25% of ship cost to repair
Overall Issues: 22 Relentless Fighters over fleet capacity. Excess fighters will be destroyed at the end of this round. You can use these to reduce the cost of a new wing if brought home.

Ground - 10/10
8x Takers
-----

Oscar
Fleets
- Fleet 6
1x Boreless Heavy Fighter Destroyer  Heavily Damaged, 20% of ship cost to repair
1x Heavy Fighter Destroyer  Very Heavily Damaged, 25% of ship cost to repair

-Transport Fleet 3
1 Transport Destroyer [+2 Tremor Mount with bombardment caps]

Ground - 7/10 - 3/10 Gaian Regime
16x Takers
-----
Quebec
Fleets
- Fleet 5
3x Boreless Heavy Fighter Destroyer
3x Heavy Fighter Destroyer
1x Command Cruiser 

-Transport Fleet 1
1 Transport Destroyer [+2 Tremor Mount with bombardment caps]
Ground - 10/10
8x Takers
------
Sierra
Fleets
- Fleet 3
4x Heavy Fighter Destroyer
2x Boreless Heavy Fighter Destroyer
1x Command Cruiser [+5 Alate Sections, + Belief Engine,  -All Small Tremors]
1x Combat Cruiser ('Pulsar')

-Transport Fleet 4
3 Transport Destroyer [+2 Tremor Mount with bombardment caps]

Ground - 4/10 Gaian Regime 6/10
12x Takers
------
Bravo
Fleets

- Transport Fleet 2 [All Transports]
3 Transport Destroyer - 12x Takers

Ground - 10/10
3x Takers
------
Charlie
Fleets

Ground - 10/10
3x Takers
------
Papa
Fleets

Ground - 10/10
3x Takers
------
Alpha
Fleets

- Fleet 2 [All Transports]
1 Transport Destroyer

Ground - 10/10
------

[evictedSaint]

Designs:
(1) Hivemine A.2.0: eS
Progress:
(1) Tidepool (1 Die, 1 Rush): eS
(1) Watcher 2.0 (1 Die, 1 Rush): eS
Scrap:
(1) Scrap the Hivemine 1.0: eS
(0) Don't Scrap:
Dice Spending:
(1) Spend 5 of our 6 Dice: eS

[NUKE9.13]

[OUR] (DMN) <Hivemine> Gen A.2.0:
The strife between the [Deep] and the... shallow(?) is a serious detriment to [Our] society. Clearly, the sensible solution is to enforce segregation between the two- still granting the [Deep] more resources and benefits than they've ever had before, whilst simultaneously making it clear that they are a distinct caste. The establishment of a <[Deep][Council]>- a governing body for the [Deep] with a similar structure to the regular [Council], with a degree of autonomy (though ultimately subservient to the [Council])- will allow [Deep] Queens to have positions of power and respect, whilst not intruding on the positions of their higher cousins.

A sociological study will determine the optimum method of segregation, to ensure that all parties feel (mostly) satisfied, and strife is minimised. Subsequently, the Hivemine project will be restarted. With the social issues solved, it is expected to go a lot smoother this time.

So, yes, this is a horrible thing to do from a human perspective. But let's be honest, we already look pretty bad from a human perspective. And I think it would be better for all parties than the current situation.

I'm pretty much locked in on doing the Hivemine A.2.0 this turn (we need more metal, like, yesterday), but I'm not totally sure what to do with the other three dice. Project progress makes sense, but so would a number of other things. I think combat on both fronts has shown the need for a smaller combat ship that can deal with lesser threats, whilst the cruisers focus on bigger problems.
I was going to suggest a reactor design, but on reflection, we only put one (pre-completion) revision into improving the QG's output, so I think we might be able to use a revision to apply the self-bottling tech from the Watcher 2.0 and get a decent boost in output (I think we need at least a 25 power boost to make a combat destroyer viable, and more would be better).
Starting a Tremor 2.0 makes some sense- it definitely needs some major TLC-, but it may not be the highest priority, if only because it's likely to be a (relatively) quick project.

I'm going to think about it some more.

[joha4270]

Designs:
(2) Hivemine A.2.0: eS, joha4270
(1) <Quake> Gen A.1.0 joha4270
Progress:
(1) Tidepool (1 Die, 1 Rush): eS
(1) Watcher 2.0 (1 Die, 1 Rush): eS
Scrap:
(1) Scrap the Hivemine 1.0: eS
(0) Don't Scrap:
Dice Spending:
(1) Spend 5 of our 6 Dice: eS
(1) Make 2 designs joha4270