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[Egan_BW]

((My preference looks something like this: jump the battle cruiser to a nearby middle-ring system rich in minerals. Start using our mining and scooping ships to gather resources. Send small craft to various inhabited outer ring systems, using manufactured goods to hire crew and fly them back to the cruiser. Then we can use the cruiser to ??))

[Imp]

I start research into reducing the crew needed for... shield control and use.  I am guessing that we need every sort of help and it'll be hard to predict when we need it.

I comment to those around, "I prefer us not to sell anything we'd have trouble replacing.  Selling stuff that we don't lose when we sell it, like information, that may be best if we see a way.

Do we even need money right now?  And for what.

Do we even need more crew right now?  And for what.

I'm fine with us here and hidden, if we really want to go mess around with stuff that could mess us up, sure let's.  But why?

Another option, stay here, learn and grow.  Raise our kids, form our own culture and country of a sort.  Study and remain aware of what the rest of the universe seems to be doing, but - what do we really want to do anyway?  One day when our kids' kids' are grown and many, we won't have to onboard strangers that might overpower us and take what we could have had.  I ain't bored, hungry, or suffering here, what about the rest of you?"

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Name: Aunaewan
Additional details: Reclusive prompt engineer who got embroiled in this situation through a lengthy series of unlikely and unexpected events.  Might take a liking and assist someone or anyone.
Specialty (primary): Diplomacy
Specialty (secondaries): Sensors, Engineering

Edited to add:

"Oh, and I like Esperanza as a ship/AI name.  Esk for short, right?"  Auneawan laughs.  "Also, Zakharov/Radio Controlled, sure.  You're welcome to help, plenty of AI for all the users and way more.  Not quite sure what we're trying to do, but glad to have you do it too if you want."

[Pancaek]

"If I might offer a suggestion," Ceglan chimes in over comms from the deserted hallway he is currently walking through, "I would like for us to check this ship's library and other databases to see if it might contain something concerning cloning technology. If we might find such technology on board, it might solve both our problem of crew and avoid problems that strangers in our mids might bring, as comrade Aunaewan cautioned. If you want something done right, you have to it yourself, in a certain manner of speaking."

Spoiler: ceglan (click to show/hide)

Name: Ceglan

Additional details: Has sickly grey skin, owing to the toxic athmosphere of his home planet. His face and head are clean shaven, a holdover from when he needed to guarantee good seals on environmental gear. He no longer constantly wears the full body environmental gear as his fellow countrymen have the habit of wearing, but oftentimes still walks around with a rebreather because it comforts him, leaving only his eyes as the only visible part of his face. His body is criss-crossed with all manner of tattoos, though the vast majority are covered up by his clothes and gear.

Specialty: Ground Combat

Secondaries: Engineering, Logistics

[NJW2000]

"I won't take anyone on board without group agreement, but it's going to take a lot of dedicated effort to get her spaceworthy without recruiting people. We can gather and process some raw materials for trade if needs be, but payment at the point of hire isn't always necessary. 

"As for cloning or raising a generation of crew... well, I suspect that would be pretty involved and time-consuming, to say the least. Heavy automation might be more feasible.

"Maybe we should vote on it: recruit some new crew, or try to find another way around our manpower issues."

[Xvareon]

"My vote's for heavy automation, with human supervision. You don't whole hog it one way or another. Clones bring their own problems. Who are we gonna clone them off of, anyway? You need DNA to start. Do we even have the facilities to scan DNA and minimize the risk of some crazy disease wiping them all out? Good ol' home-grown people don't have that problem."

[Imp]

"Reproductive tech's a lot more than clones, but checking for clone options helps inform about what we can do, even if it's not clones.  And y'right; clones are about 7 messes and kinda the hardest way to handle this kinda stuff.  Which is why if clones were solved, I'd know a lot else was too.

I think we should make it a priority not to lose control of this ship; not to let or allow anyone to come in and take it from us.  Which I think wouldn't be awful hard to do right now, I don't think Esperanza would prefer us to any other possible crew choice once the others are onboard.  They might even know more key codewords than us or something.  Though I think Esp would help us keep problem people off-ship if we were trying to, even if they had some pretty words from the past that our ship knows and likes.

Esperanza means, for us, maybe end-of-scarcity.  We can live however we want on this ship and do it pretty well.  I say let's make it a legacy, and prep for our next generations.  As is, as we roam around we risk the problems of being 'too few'.  But what are the problems of being too hasty?  We can make a civilization that we can grow into, and do it right well, right here.  And when we and ours are ready, then go take the chances we grew into.

We're all made of DNA, if we went clone-route we have more than enough of the DNA of all of us who agree to participate in that.  Better is what we can source of reproductive assistance tech, artificial wombs are safer and tremendously freeing for the women of our ship, plus can get us more folks with us faster and more frequently.

I'm open to automation too, but we may just need more brains for more humans in the loop, period.  If that's the case, well, I'd rather raise them than onboard people who might decide they can take this ship from us.  And I'ma point out I think most governments would notice us and are very well prepared to try and take this from us.  So we should be real subtle if we decide we need supplies or to recruit; go in our scavenger ship maybe and spin tales that don't even hint at our prize."

Then Aunaewan goes back to researching that reduction of crew needed for shield control and use.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Name: Aunaewan
Additional details: Reclusive prompt engineer who got embroiled in this situation through a lengthy series of unlikely and unexpected events.  Might take a liking and assist someone or anyone.
Specialty (primary): Diplomacy
Specialty (secondaries): Sensors, Engineering

[Devastator]

(I'm going to go with the name Esperanza if there isn't an overwhelming vote for something else.)

There seems to be four options as to where to go next

1. An outer-ring or outside the zone system that's populated, civilized and ordered.
2. An outer-ring system that's populated, but full of rogues and freebooters.
3. A middle-ring system with harvestable resource
4. An unexplored inner-ring system with unknown wonders.

Research actions and such are independent.  If you want to study something or work on developing better automation projects or cloning or weapons or systems, or investigate part of your ship, it's an independent action and can be done regardless of where the ship goes.

[Egan_BW]

A middle-ring system with harvestable resources. We'll be in a better spot once we can start making things.

[Radio Controlled]

A middle-ring system with harvestable resources. We'll be in a better spot once we can start making things.

+1

[Xvareon]

A middle-ring system with harvestable resources. We'll be in a better spot once we can start making things.

+1. I'm sticking to my own plan -- figuring out what kind of deliverables we can make with the shipboard foundries that would be worth something to people. And maybe, what tech we already have that we could sell but also replace. Let's be seen as reasonable businessmen, not as conquerors. At least at first. Having raw materials to work with and test the foundries is perfect.

In my spare time between, I'll also make myself open in case anyone wants to come visit ol' Jake and talk, unburden themselves about dealing with a find this huge. I dunno if I'm the only legit chaplain on this boat or not, but I take the job seriously. Tech-mining makes a lot of people nervous and questioning the world. It'd be good to get a feel for morale if I can.

[Imp]

A middle-ring system with harvestable resources. We'll be in a better spot once we can start making things.

+1.  Doesn't directly say so, but this is unpopulated and a rarely traveled system, right?

[Devastator]

A middle-ring system with harvestable resources. We'll be in a better spot once we can start making things.

+1.  Doesn't directly say so, but this is unpopulated and a rarely traveled system, right?

Yup.  Middle-ring systems are unpopulated, and you've been through a fair number of them, so it'll be one you've mapped.

[Xvareon]

Yup.  Middle-ring systems are unpopulated, and you've been through a fair number of them, so it'll be one you've mapped.

Do we have the capacity to set up navigation/communication buoys, which we could interface with the Esperanza's systems? It'd be nice to have what's basically GPS satellites in interesting systems, which could send us data on movements of stellar bodies, planets and asteroids, not to mention carry messages to and fro. Knowing in advance if there's gonna be a solar flare/CME and where it's headed would help a lot, too.

[Imp]

Yup.  Middle-ring systems are unpopulated, and you've been through a fair number of them, so it'll be one you've mapped.

Do we have the capacity to set up navigation/communication buoys, which we could interface with the Esperanza's systems? It'd be nice to have what's basically GPS satellites in interesting systems, which could send us data on movements of stellar bodies, planets and asteroids, not to mention carry messages to and fro. Knowing in advance if there's gonna be a solar flare/CME and where it's headed would help a lot, too.

+1, we can also watch for the movement of other ships and track other communications too.

[NJW2000]

+1 to the middle ring system with resources.