Author Topic: The Galaxy Awaits ... Choose Your Path!  (Read 101689 times)

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Offline OAM47

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Re: The Galaxy Awaits ... Choose Your Path!
« Reply #30 on: August 10, 2013, 09:16:58 PM »
Sounds good to me.  I personally don't like naming schemes after people when I play, but if that's the style you have it's fine by me, and far from me to make one ship named differently than the others, heh.
 

Offline Brainsucker

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Re: The Galaxy Awaits ... Choose Your Path!
« Reply #31 on: August 11, 2013, 07:26:58 AM »
What will happen to my Ling Hu Zhong. Honestly, I wanted to name him King Jong Un, but I guessed that name a character with a real person and make fun of him will be a bad taste joke for us all.

Back to Ling Hu Zhong, I got 10% political favor, so I guess my character will be able to get an attention from the higher up. Good for me. At least, maybe he'll get a job soon. Whatever it is, as a staff or as a captain of a certain starship. A garbage scow? a Tug? a freighter? or a war ship.

Duh, I forgot that I should name him Roger Wilco instead. But it's okay Ling Hu Zhong is the name of a character from a novel.
« Last Edit: August 11, 2013, 07:33:18 AM by Brainsucker »
 

Offline Bryan Swartz (OP)

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Re: The Galaxy Awaits ... Choose Your Path!
« Reply #32 on: August 11, 2013, 11:52:46 AM »
He's moving up, just doing it very slowly.  Apparently his political connections are his only real asset at the moment.

** There's enough things going on now that I've decided to break updates down to annually instead of bi-annual**

2035

?Jan. 15th – A vital report as the Marc Aaronson completes it’s survey of Mars.  Admiral Wilburn Castilleja orders the ship back to earth as Cpt. Schnepel is to accept a staff position at Fleet HQ.  It will refuel there, and then begin the long journey to Jupiter. 

More importantly, the survey of Mars revealed – nothing.  This confirms that Venus is the only habitable inner-system world with resources. 

Two days later, Dr. Makar’s team finishes and he emerges from the study with a deeper understanding of propulsion concepts.  With Director Willie’s orders clear, his next project will be the Pressurized Water Reactor, which he believes will lead to a quantam leap in engine technology. Even with four of the five available labs being used, this is expected to take over a year.

March 3rd – The Marc Aaronson departs for Jupiter under it’s new CO, Lt. Cmdr. Waldo Politis, having given the crew a well-earned couple of months for shore leave.  The journey will take over four months.  Io is the first of four moons that will be surveyed, and the hope is there will be
time to scan the massive planet itself as well before returning to Earth. 

?June 13th – It’s been a quiet few months after the constant activity that marked the Venus and Mars surveys and the changes at the end of last year.  A new Essex-class vessel begins construction, while the Marc Aaronson has passed through the Kuiper Belt but is well over 100 million miles from Io, nearly a month yet of travel. 

July – In the first week, the Marc Aaronson passed into the mini-system of the giant red planet. Io was surveyed by the 13th, followed by Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto before the end of the month.  The last survey turned up a modest-sized deposit(58k) of Tritanium at 0.5 accessibility, but that was it.  It’s a long trip out here, at least at current engine technology, for that.

By the middle of August a report on Jupiter itself was completed.  Progress was getting a lot over time, but unfortunately, they had found nothing. 

LC Waldo Politis inquired of navigation the possibility of reaching Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, and returning to earth in time.  Titan would take over six months to reach, then several more back home, but fuel reserves were more than adequate and it would be achievable in less than the two
years the crew had signed up for.  Coordinates were locked in and before the end of the day they were under full power heading for the famous rings of Saturn.  Since the Cassini Solstice mission in 2016-17(which resulted in nothing since mankind was too busy fighting each other to be bothered with their spacecraft at that point) no human craft had been this far, and of course this was far further than any manned mission had ever hoped to go.

?Titan was the last option in the solar system for a permanent human colony.  Much would depend on the result of this journey.

October – The Ministry of Industry switches over more capacity from converting factories to converting mines, as the duranium stocks continue to decline(now only 1800 tons).  Meanwhile, the first run of 100 Infrastructure is done on Earth, more than enough to begin colonization wherever SPACE might wish in the future. 

At year’s end the Marc Aaronson was still a month and a half out from Titan, with a number of other important developments expected in the spring.
 

Offline Bryan Swartz (OP)

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Re: The Galaxy Awaits ... Choose Your Path!
« Reply #33 on: August 11, 2013, 12:07:41 PM »
2036

Feb. 18th – The Titan mission was complete and a message sent back to SPACE HQ detailing the findings.  

21k of decently-accessible duranium(0.6) was found, but that was all.  On March 1st, it was found that Saturn itself possesses a nigh-incomprehensible mammoth amount of sorium in it’s atmosphere (45.9mt at 0.7 accessibility) which could potentially be harvested by orbiting ships with the right technology.  It was now up to Director Slick Willie to make sense of these findings; the Marc Aaronson set to survey the rest of Saturn’s moons to make use of some more of the remaining mission time, and then make the 8-month return trip to earth.  Only Tethys(36.5k Uridium at 0.8 ) was found to contain anything useful.  

March – Pressurized Water Reactor(Dr. Sanko Matar) research completed.  Work begins on nuclear thermal engine tech(expected time: 2 years).  

March 26GEV George Obden Abell completed, Cmdr. Sam Baker takes the helm and sets course for Jupiter to finish off the rest of the moons there.  The P&A Group yard sets to work adding another slipway so that two vessels can be built at once.  

Early April – Tragedy strikes!  Director-Governor Slick Willie is killed in an accident under mysterious and highly classified circumstances.  He was 33, nearing the end of his first term.  Rumors fly as the public demands but does not get answers, and more than a few largely unjustified accusations are thrown about by various people with an axe to grind.  

Emergency appointment 32-year-old Jayson Riese, who has been with SPACE since the beginning along with Lena Dungey and Terrance Forson, vows to continue Slick Willie’s policies until the election which is less than eight months off.    

Meanwhile, Ling Hu Zhong has been promoted to Commander.  

April 27 – Having completed the sweep of Saturn’s moons and finding little, the Marc Aaronson sets course for Earth.  

Late July – George Obden Abell begins surveying the remaining Jupiter moons ...

** Carpo – trace amounts of Duranium, Neutronium, Boronide, and Mercassium, only about 420 tons combined.  
** Sinope – more trace amounts, 5 minerals and just over 200 tons combined.

In August, Cmdr. Baker sets course for the Kuiper Belt, the asteroid field which provides the last chance for deposits to be found within a reasonable range of Earth.    

December – After 20 months on the current tour, the Marc Aaronson arrives back at Earth for shore leave.
 

Offline OAM47

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Re: The Galaxy Awaits ... Choose Your Path!
« Reply #34 on: August 11, 2013, 03:19:47 PM »
The slow pace, coupled with little in the way of finds has me worried.  I really hope the RNG is generous to you when you probe the first few JPs.  And that those JPs be close to Earth would help a lot...
 

Offline Rolepgeek

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Re: The Galaxy Awaits ... Choose Your Path!
« Reply #35 on: August 11, 2013, 04:23:01 PM »
Is it bad that I'm here hoping that we meet an NPR soon so I get research?
 

Offline Brainsucker

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Re: The Galaxy Awaits ... Choose Your Path!
« Reply #36 on: August 11, 2013, 09:00:34 PM »
Good, marrying the admiral daughter is the right decision after all. Here we come, the newly pointed commander Ling Hu Zhong.  ;D
 

Offline Bryan Swartz (OP)

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Re: The Galaxy Awaits ... Choose Your Path!
« Reply #37 on: August 12, 2013, 01:00:49 AM »
Quote from: OAM47
The slow pace, coupled with little in the way of finds has me worried.

Me too, with the caveat that I follow the Losing is FUN mantra -- meaning that if we're wiped out in the next decade, it won't depress me that much. 

Quote from: Rolepgeek
Is it bad that I'm here hoping that we meet an NPR soon so I get research?

If we meet an NPR soon, I don't think your research(or anything else other than sheer disinterest on their part) will save us.  It'd be like walking down the street and spotting an insect -- the only way the insect lives is if you decide it's not worth the effort to stomp on it. 
 

Offline Bryan Swartz (OP)

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Re: The Galaxy Awaits ... Choose Your Path!
« Reply #38 on: August 12, 2013, 01:10:02 AM »
ANNUAL REPORT – 2037

The 2037 election was the most hotly contested yet for a number of reasons. There were eight candidates, the leading ones being former director Lena Dungey and interim director Jayson Riese.  The colonization of Venus was a political hot potato, as was the controversy surrounding the death of Slick Willie.  ‘Earth First’,  ‘No Blood for Duranium’, and similarly simplistic slogans could be heard everywhere, while others argued that is was foolhardy not to take the risk of colonization given the potential rewards.

It was the closest election in history, requiring several recounts to finally resolve. Dungey was challenged by Herbert Duling, who was the only candidate more politically adept than her and brilliant when it comes to mining and logistics as well.  In the end though Lena Dungey’s experience counted for more and she won a third term by a fraction of a percent.  

To ensure the public’s confidence and avoid a serious split, and because he would be darn good at the job and everybody knew it, she put Duling in charge of the newly-formed Ministry of Colonial Affairs.  

It was clear to both of them that Venus was central to the long-term economic future of earth. Yet by itself it would be no panacea.  All efforts were focused on the job of colonizing Venus as quickly as possible, and being ready for asteroid mining operations if any significant deposits were found in the asteroid belt.  Venus would not provide any answer to the need for more accessible tritanium and the lack of corundium virtually anywhere was disturbing.  However, it would potentially provide jobs for many who needed it.  

Construction of mass drivers for transporting the minerals between planets begins on earth, as well as that of automatic mines.  It was hoped that by the end of her term in 2041, mankind would be ready for it’s first off-world colony.  

In the shorter term, the Marc Aaronson had a couple more months of shore leave coming before joining the George Obden Abell in sweeping the belt, where absolutely nothing has been found as of yet but only five asteroids have been surveyed.  Meanwhile, the best personnel non-essential to the Venus preparations on earth were organized into a pair of survey teams, one assigned there and the other assigned to the Jupiter and Saturn moons.  

The Venus team was led by Lt. Cmdr. Miquel Rater, the JupSat team by scientist Brandon Grimmett.  

Mineral Update: Duranium and Neutronium stockpiles continue to slowly decline on earth despite increased effort put into increasing mining capacity.  The situation could become critical in the years to come.  

Nearly 50% of the conversion from conventional industry is completed ...

Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Clark – 46th out of 61
Cmdr. Jay Cin – 12th out of 20
Cmdr. Ling Hu Zhong – 19th
Cmdr. Ken McKay – 16th, junior member of the Venus geology team
Cmdr. Sam Baker – 4th, CO GEV George Obden Abell, currently surveying the asteroid belt

Col. Benjamin Berkeley – 3rd out of 33, same command

Karabishi Juishao – unassigned pending the outcome of the current prioritized research
« Last Edit: August 12, 2013, 01:16:19 AM by Bryan Swartz »
 

Offline Bryan Swartz (OP)

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Re: The Galaxy Awaits ... Choose Your Path!
« Reply #39 on: August 12, 2013, 01:24:34 AM »
February 2037
Navy Purges Officers; 'Budgetary Concerns' Blamed

In reality, Rear Admiral Castilleja doesn't want anybody to think that the youngsters are in charge so he decided to make a point.  A BIG, unmistakable  point.  The junior officers corp was reduced nearly by half, with those he considered useless tossed aside like so much refuse. 

Among those who were told their services(ok, their non-services or at best potential services) were no longer required are the following:

Lieutenant Commander Joseph Clark
Commander Jay Cin
Commander Ling Hu Zhong

Consider yourselves pinged, gentlemen.  Regens are encouraged, and better luck next time if you choose to do so :).
 

Offline OAM47

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Re: The Galaxy Awaits ... Choose Your Path!
« Reply #40 on: August 12, 2013, 02:33:48 AM »
Heh, wondering if (when :P ) that would happen.  Even more surprised I turned out not be a useless one, though that med condition awhile back will probably come back to be a pain later.

Anywho, while I agree losing can be fun, I do hope this game goes well, if you're introducing it to a new crowd, heh ;)
 

Offline Brainsucker

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Re: The Galaxy Awaits ... Choose Your Path!
« Reply #41 on: August 12, 2013, 03:07:08 AM »
Whuuut? Ling Hu Zhong is kicked from the navy? It can't be true  :(
Seems that nepotism didn't help him much.

btw, is it 6 years kicking out of jobless officers? if he's out of commission then :

Regen
Naval Officer again : Roger Wilco

But hopefully Ling would be saved by his political connection here.
« Last Edit: August 12, 2013, 03:17:20 AM by Brainsucker »
 

Offline Bryan Swartz (OP)

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Re: The Galaxy Awaits ... Choose Your Path!
« Reply #42 on: August 12, 2013, 02:14:27 PM »
Feb. 10th – The Venus team is on site and begins the long process of surveying the planet ..

Feb. 18th – The Marc Aaronson has completed it’s allotted shore leave and joins the effort to survey the asteroid(not Kuiper) belt.  

Mar. 11th – Second slipway is complete at the P&A Group Shipyard.  

April – Construction begins on a third Lexington-class shuttle, while on the 18th the JupSat team led by Brandon Grimmett arrives on Callisto.  

May – Minerals found on the asteroid Doris: 2-3k each of highly-accessible Sorium, Mercassium, and Boronide.  A very small find to be sure.

June – New commercial shipyard is ready on earth.  It is the Tod & MacGregor and immediately sets to work expanding capacity as will likely be needed for large freighters to be built to ship materials to Venus and elsewhere.  Work begins on a third shipyard which may or may not be
needed.

July – The ironically named ‘Venus’ shuttle is completed on Earth and will remain in reserve for any needed transport duties.  

Sept. – Another small asteroid deposit: 600+ Uridium on Asia.  

December – A major development on earth as research into Nuclear Thermal Engines is completed.  All available lab space is switched over to Dr. Bavaro’s work on cyro transport which should finish in February.  

Compared to our conventional engines, nuclear thermal engines cost two and a half times as much – but produce a ridiculous 25 times the power!  On lab is diverted for work on the CNT-25-4 engine, which is half the size of the ones used on the Lexington and Essex class ships while providing a huge boost in power and actually being slightly more fuel efficient due to the advances the last few years.  

By next April, we should be ready to design a new line of ships utilizing this technology.
« Last Edit: August 12, 2013, 02:57:43 PM by Bryan Swartz »
 

Offline OAM47

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Re: The Galaxy Awaits ... Choose Your Path!
« Reply #43 on: August 12, 2013, 04:24:06 PM »
About how long do you estimate before we're ready for jump drives?
 

Offline JacenHan

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Re: The Galaxy Awaits ... Choose Your Path!
« Reply #44 on: August 12, 2013, 04:54:43 PM »
Jay Cin II, Male Naval Officer, is ready to conquer the galaxy!