Nikolai: Of course! Anything for a loyal reader.
stnylan: Such is, unfortunately, the computer gaming life. I certainly will post an update here - if nothing else, I already have an idea for the title, and reading various AARs recently has inspired me. I've been thinking about ideas for scenes for future stories, and I've been enjoying my current Utopia game (recently winning an 18-year-long war against some Fanatical Purifiers and taking 4 planets from them), which I've currently played to 2300. I hadn't really planned to write this update and edit these screenshots
tonight, but doing so sounded more enjoyable than studying or whatever I *should* be doing.
Chapter 6: Insults and Investigations
03/2209 - 08/2210
Two new D’Pollog-class corvettes were ordered [early March 2209] a few days before Emperor Tabhuk of the Saiiban Autocracy contacted Chancellor Dackam directly. If the translation software could be believed, the Saiiban Emperor was asking if the Chancellor was in great pain, or merely thinking.
It was decided that this was intended as an insult, possibly as an attempt to instigate conflict. Chancellor Dackam decided not to respond directly, though the Saiiban message was briefly mentioned near the end of that day's daily press conference- “Earlier today Chancellor Dackam received a message from the Saiiban Emperor, and we look forward to continuing close relations with our Saiiban friends.”
Of course, anyone who followed current events knew that the Saiibans had closed their borders to Scyldari ships. It wasn’t exactly advertised, but the Autocracy rarely communicated with the Confederacy. There were occasional propaganda transmissions touting the benefits of a strong claw guiding the nation to progress and prosperity, and how a single individual making decisions for the good of all was superior to rule by the rabble, but these were mostly ignored by Scyldari society. The Confederate Intelligence Service and various scholars viewed these transmissions with some interest, though.
Bur B’Donag, commanding SCS
Y’Kanas, was already known as one of the Confederacy’s preeminent living scientists, but this was reinforced with the publication of a paper describing an improved data analysis algorithim with applications both in the field and in the laboratory. This particular paper was published while the
Y’Kanas was surveying the Zithri system.
In early May the
D'Pollog-class corvette SCS
Y'Parga was completed and commissioned into the Confederate Star Navy, followed (in July) by the SCS
D'Rila. The Confederate Star Navy announced new doctrine based on analysis of data from Admiral Pud J’Dallot’s defeat of the Skull Clan pirates at Ehsmyke III and the destruction of the Skull Clan station in the Nemozi system.
It was believed that this innovation would allow the Confederacy to support more ships, if further naval expansion was desired. The Society Research Department’s next assignment was to investigate the possibility of training diplomats for negotiations with alien races.
It was hoped that the next alien race encountered would be more friendly than the Tezekians or the Saiibans.
Pud B’Than reported that the SCS
T’Derikam had found ancient geothermal extractors on Nemozi I.
The immense machines were on the verge of shutting down, and their storage capacitors were broken or leaking, but Pud B’Than did report that it was possible to siphon some energy from the ancient machinery.
The distress signal that had been detected near Nemozi IV proved to be from a derelict ship orbiting the planet. It seemed to be drifting, and no heat signatures were detected.
Pud B’Than was given permission to investigate, and reported that the crew had been found dead. The crew appeared to have been killed by a brain parasite, but Pud B’Than’s findings allowed the crew of the
T’Derikam, and eventually other ships, to be protected.
After investigating the asteroid BK5-863, Bur B’Donag reported that it appeared that the Irassian military had constructed a small listening post inside the asteroid.
None of the sensors aimed at neighboring systems were still functioning, and it appeared that the listening post had already been looted at least once in the past. Bur B’Donag was uncertain about the capability to further investigate the outpost, so further investigation of the asteroid was postponed until the knowledge or skill required existed.
On [01/01/2210] the campaign to elect a new Chancellor of the Confederacy began.
Four candidates announced their intent to run - Chancellor Dackam, Cal B’Eren, Mor J’Khanna, and Gan J’Bassim. Dackam was already widely known as the incumbent and enjoyed support on both Scyldaria and Philon's Port, but the other candidates weren’t as well known. Cal B’Eren was president of the Miner’s Union (the second-largest group of supporters after Dackam's), Mor J’Khanna was an officer in the Confederate Army whose candidacy was supported by a small group on Philon's Port who called themselves the Loyalist Bloc, and Gan J’Bassim, a scientist from the private sector whose few supporters on Scyldaria called themselves the Moderates. Dackam and Cal B’Eren supported the expansion of off-world mining, while Mor J’Khanna and Gan J’Bassim instead campaigned on a promise to increase funding for scientific research by constructing more orbital research facilities.
Initial polls suggested that the four candidates had a nearly equal chance of winning the election, despite Mor J’Khanna and Gan J’Bassim having very few supporters and Dackam and Cal B’Eren having the most name recognition and support. Shortly after the campaign began and Dackam announced her intent to seek re-election, her supporters funded an influential ad campaign citing her experience and interests in colonization and agriculture as reasons why she was the best candidate for Chancellor. This had quite an effect in the polls- the other three candidates lost some supporters, and Dackam became the popular favorite.
Polling results in early 2210
The other candidates tried to compete with their own campaign advertisements and in the debates, but they were unable to muster more than 20% of support in the opinion polls for the remainder of the election.
Shortly after the beginning of the 2210 election campaign, Mor J’Bassim, Confederate Head of Engineering Research, published a paper on increasing the efficiency and productivity of research and development.
Pud B’Than investigated the ruins that had been found on Vilcot’s Pursuit (Scyldon II), and concluded that the structures had been misdated, and that they appeared to be some kind of playground.
monthly society and engineering income on left for comparison purposes
As expected, after the three month campaign season Dackam was re-elected as Chancellor of the Scyldari Confederacy with approximately 39% of the vote (compared to her three challengers, who each earned about 20% of the vote).
The next day, Head of Engineering Research Mor J’Bassim presented the ion thrusters the Engineering Research Department had been developing.
Mor J’Bassim’s next assignment was developing a plan to expand and improve Scyldaria Spaceport, which might one day be used as a model for a spaceport orbiting Philon’s Port, and possibly even other planets.
Pud B’Than was ordered to investigate an ancient vessel with a solar sail that had been found orbiting Whaskar III during Bur B’Donag’s survey of the Whaskar system in September 2202. A couple days later Bur B’Donag was ordered to investigate a station that had been found near Whaskar VIIIa.
On July 1, Chancellor Dackam signed into law new regulations for safer working conditions for industrial workers that the Miner’s Union had proposed and supported.
The new regulations had passed in a referendum. The same day, the mining and research stations in the Ehsmyke system reported sighting a Saiiban ship, though the ship hadn’t replied to the stations’ attempts at contact.
Long-range sensors indicated the vessel was similar to the science vessels
Y’Kanas and
T’Derikam, and an intercepted communication revealed the ship was the SAS
Brisk Plumage, commanded by a Saiiban particle physicist named Tryykad.
While some thought that there was nothing wrong with letting the Saiibans survey in Scyldari space if they wanted to, the predominant viewpoint on the Confederate Defense Council was that this ship might be in Scyldari space for an intelligence mission. It was decided that the Saiiban Autocracy would henceforth be considered a rival of the Scyldari Confederacy. Chancellor Dackam contacted Emperor Tabhuk personally to protest the incursion and warn of the potential consequences of further unauthorized entry into Scyldari space. As Chancellor Dackam would report to the Defense Council, Emperor Tabhuk did not seem intimidated.
