Now that I've worn down my Skyrim craving, I finally got back to my conventional start game.
As things stand, I'm 15 years in, in early January 2030. The 1st MI Division is deployed on Mars to provide protection for the division of engineers exploiting the alien ruins, and the combined forces of the old national governments are being systematically broken down into the cadre that will form the basis of future T/N units. For now, the 1st Brigade of the future 1st Assault Division is in training.
Spaceside, the two aging Harrington class geosurvey vessels have completed their circuit of the Solar system, revealing useful resource deposits, including large traces of gaseous Sorium in the inner atmosphere of Jupiter, roughly estimated as the equivalent to 2.9 million tons. Meanwhile, the first and likely only Prince Henry class gravsurvey vessel has begun its own trip, and has already detected 3 gravitational anomalies within the orbit of Saturn, each of which is consistent with the theorized wormholes, or "Jump Points", as they have come to be referred to among the scientific community.
Early prototype jump drives have been designed, and preliminary plans for two classes of jump-capable survey ship have passed the approval process, but there are currently no shipyards capable of producing them, with the earliest being a single slipway yard which will become available in 2034. This difficulty is due to the fact that these vessels are 1650 tons, and the Norfolk Naval Yard, which had produced the three in-system survey ships, cannot support construction of ships larger than 1000 tons. Because this yard has a total of 4 slipways, it will not complete the current expansion efforts until late 2043. Meanwhile, research continues on a new generation of high-power reactors, efforts to increase the range and tracking capabilities of fire control systems, and perhaps most importantly, a promising addition to existing Jump Theory which proposes the construction of stabilizing energy fields around active Jump Points, allowing ships without jump drives to transit safely.
Meanwhile, the planetary government is torn between three primary factions. The Isolationists, who wish to abandon efforts in Jump Point research and extrasolar exploration entirely for now, in favor of heavily exploiting the resources of the Solar System and building up a substantial fleet, on the basis that even a single hostile interstellar foe could obliterate humanity if hasty, uncontrolled expansion was allowed to outpace military development. The Expansionists hold the view that the best protection humanity can possess is territory, or more precisely, large numbers of colonies. They believe that in the event of a catastrophic defeat, there would be a strong possibility of a single or small cluster of human colonies escaping notice long enough to rebuild, or to hide very, very well. Finally, the Universalists believe that it is impossible for a warlike sentient species to develop to the point of possessing the capability of interstellar travel without destroying itself, and that other starfarers would likely hold the same views and wish to cooperate for mutual benefit. Ultimately, however, the views of the representatives hold little weight in this era of rapid expansion and development; already, a number of flag rank officers and industrialists have emerged as the true leaders and policy setters, and there are growing concerns among the population at large over the ability of such a rudderless elected body to rule effectively. Some whisper that the true prize of Trans-Newtonian technology is the return of empire.
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Topic: Aurora - The Dwarf Fortress of 4X Games (Read 2818290 times)