011: The Tarsus Institute

[joertexas]

Jaelah appears wearing a casual shirt and shorts with slip on shoes. She pours a glass of juice at the bar and sits down. "We also need to vet the Scouts who are in the pocket universe to ensure none of them are Dulinor's fans."

[terrymixon]

Jaelah appears wearing a casual shirt and shorts with slip on shoes. She pours a glass of juice at the bar and sits down. "We also need to vet the Scouts who are in the pocket universe to ensure none of them are Dulinor's fans."

"There are a lot of them there and in the Ancient's city on the other side of the Consulate, as well as a scientific team in the base in this system," Roscoe said as he joined her. "All of them will take a while, but we are lucky that they cannot have received word of the assassination as we control access to those locations. I will inform Spicoli so he can handle that for us."

[terrymixon]

The two Ciencias and their mother finally break up and take seats, wiping at their tears. The former empress looks almost broken but both Ciencias look like they are barely containing their burning rage.

One almost speaks, but Metz and Biancia comeout of thier stateroom to join everyone else.

After they've sat, the Ciencia that still looks like her looks at those who have arrive. "What have we missed? Are there any fires here that need to be put out? We can't stop what is unfolding now without taking a week to get to Captial. Is it worthwhile to go? Or William suggested I see Isis on Dlan. I don't imagine that would be a very friendly chat, so what might we gain from it?"

[Thumper]

Growler speaks up:
“The way I figure it, the war has started. The Imperium is dead and doesn’t even know it yet. The only way that doesn't happen is if Dulinor has a bithcin' plan to consolidate the aftermath...but I don't think he'll be on the chess board much longer. We have an opportunity granted by time created by the tyranny of distance to consolidate a part of the former Imperium under Ciencia’s and William’s control and prepare it to protect its citizenry from the ravages that will otherwise come from Trailing and Spinward. Either Corridor, Deneb, and the Marches is the place or the environs around our pocket universe is the place. Ciencia is and is known to be in Deneb. We already have Glisten and Metz’ manufacturing capacity with which to build a technologically and numerical advantage while the rest of the empire exhausts its resources. That consolidation of political unity in the Frontier and techno power may deter the Zho from assaulting here.

From that position of strength, perhaps Ciencia can pull some diplomacy to help quell the fires of civil war. If not, at least some sectors can survive and thrive. I don't know if Isis will be in a position to help. The focus here is on what we can do, not what we wish to do.

With that said, I still want to eliminate Dulinor as a player. When nobility make war, people die. I want to bring him to trial and hang him in just punishment for what he imposed on the people. But that is a secondary matter.

Securing a chunk of former Imperium territory and preparing it in hopes of deterring aggression from both Spinward and Trailing directions is a worthy strategic objective. It is what we CAN do…for the citizenry. We remake this corner of space as it should be.

I believe that to be possible. I don’t know the first political steps to take. Militarily, I think Metz should start rolling out a TL16 navy and pumping out goods to be used by Ciencia and her mother as incentive to consolidate power on the Frontier before the news reaches here, and to raise standards of living for all in her and William’s realm.”

[terrymixon]

Aster nodded at Walt’s comments. “It sounds so simple the way you put it. One immediate concern I have is the snake pit we’re dealing with. There are more than a dozen subsector Dukes and Duchesses here that mostly hate one another and that is counting the one that died on our watch. There will be bad blood for that, too.”

She poured herself some juice. “While this area of space isn’t as completely bad as the main Imperium, it’s not much better. Wild levels of corruption, sinister megacorporations that have secret plans and agents everywhere, too. Then there are the Zhodoni. The domain is awash in spies and sinister doings, and all of them will be maneuvering for gain and to resist efforts to diminish their influence or wealth. And none of that considers the main issue of the assassination and civil war. Once word of that arrives, everything comes apart unless we have it locked down.”

The Ciencias and their mother nod but say nothing, waiting for everyone else to have a chance to speak.

[Thumper]

Aster nodded at Walt’s comments. “It sounds so simple the way you put it. One immediate concern I have is the snake pit we’re dealing with. There are more than a dozen subsector Dukes and Duchesses here that mostly hate one another and that is counting the one that died on our watch. There will be bad blood for that, too.”

She poured herself some juice. “While this area of space isn’t as completely bad as the main Imperium, it’s not much better. Wild levels of corruption, sinister megacorporations that have secret plans and agents everywhere, too. Then there are the Zhodoni. The domain is awash in spies and sinister doings, and all of them will be maneuvering for gain and to resist efforts to diminish their influence or wealth. And none of that considers the main issue of the assassination and civil war. Once word of that arrives, everything comes apart unless we have it locked down.”

The Ciencias and their mother nod but say nothing, waiting for everyone else to have a chance to speak.

Walt-
"The only other option I see is we go kill Dulinor while continuing to use the remaining time on the Frontier to enact our New Domain plan down in Reavers Deep. Get Sternmetal kicked out of our domain, get the immigration accomplished, move all our manufacturing assets down there, then let the Imperium burn. Do what we can from there to alleviate some of the suffering. Take in refuges from the Imperium. It leaves a sour taste in my mouth, but it's an option."

He offers tea, juice, or coffee to the Ciencia's and their mother.

[terrymixon]

Aster nodded at Walt’s comments. “It sounds so simple the way you put it. One immediate concern I have is the snake pit we’re dealing with. There are more than a dozen subsector Dukes and Duchesses here that mostly hate one another and that is counting the one that died on our watch. There will be bad blood for that, too.”

She poured herself some juice. “While this area of space isn’t as completely bad as the main Imperium, it’s not much better. Wild levels of corruption, sinister megacorporations that have secret plans and agents everywhere, too. Then there are the Zhodoni. The domain is awash in spies and sinister doings, and all of them will be maneuvering for gain and to resist efforts to diminish their influence or wealth. And none of that considers the main issue of the assassination and civil war. Once word of that arrives, everything comes apart unless we have it locked down.”

The Ciencias and their mother nod but say nothing, waiting for everyone else to have a chance to speak.

Walt-
"The only other option I see is we go kill Dulinor while continuing to use the remaining time on the Frontier to enact our New Domain plan down in Reavers Deep. Get Sternmetal kicked out of our domain, get the immigration accomplished, move all our manufacturing assets down there, then let the Imperium burn. Do what we can from there to alleviate some of the suffering. Take in refuges from the Imperium. It leaves a sour taste in my mouth, but it's an option."

He offers tea, juice, or coffee to the Ciencia's and their mother.

“Nothing says we can’t do both,” Roscoe said. “Having multiple options is better.”

[ateno]

“Nothing says we can’t do both,” Roscoe said. “Having multiple options is better.”

"I'm good with that!"

Arkar

[joertexas]

“Nothing says we can’t do both,” Roscoe said. “Having multiple options is better.”

"I'm good with that!"

Arkar

"I'm not in the military, but shouldn't we build a navy? We can't do much without one if an Imperial fleet comes calling."

[terrymixon]

“Nothing says we can’t do both,” Roscoe said. “Having multiple options is better.”

"I'm good with that!"

Arkar

"I'm not in the military, but shouldn't we build a navy? We can't do much without one if an Imperial fleet comes calling."

"Someone suggested calling the one in Corridor forward, I think," Metz said. "If we can get them more firmly into our camp, we would have one. Ships I can build. People are more difficult."

[Tiglath]

"Someone suggested calling the one in Corridor forward, I think," Metz said. "If we can get them more firmly into our camp, we would have one. Ships I can build. People are more difficult."

Garvin gives Metz a fond smile "Bein' a people person's my game - you just build your ships without 'em. I reckon it'll save loads of space in the design an' let you put more guns on".

[terrymixon]

"Someone suggested calling the one in Corridor forward, I think," Metz said. "If we can get them more firmly into our camp, we would have one. Ships I can build. People are more difficult."

Garvin gives Metz a fond smile "Bein' a people person's my game - you just build your ships without 'em. I reckon it'll save loads of space in the design an' let you put more guns on".

"I am hesitant to allow ships to be weapons without people," Metz said. "That is how dystopian fiction becomes reality."

[ateno]

"I am hesitant to allow ships to be weapons without people," Metz said. "That is how dystopian fiction becomes reality."

"I agree, its a non starter for me. I don't know the politics there, but we have to be able to split the forces if the original imperials show up. Or a few fleets that are out of contact of the imperial lanes for now?"

Arkar

[helvorn]

William moved over to stand near both of his wives. He gave them a brief kiss and hug as he listened to the others. "We have Vargr to Coreward and Aslan to Rimward the Zhodani menace our Spinward borders and we are backed up against the Great Rift. Then there are the internal enemies and factions of which Aster so succinctly reminded us. We also have the colonization project for which we have already made commitments for people." He looked around at each of them. "Roscoe as the key in that we can do more things than just a single track. Each of us could duplicate ourselves as has Ciencia. That may allow us to consolidate the Marches and at least initially pursue some degree of last-minute sanity at Capitol. I for one have no desire to give up a trillion people on the other side of the Claw without trying. If we have to we can use our highest tech level stealth along with antimatter bombs to hamstring Dulinor with minimal civilian costs."

He started counting on his fingers. "One. As I said earlier we bring the Corridor fleet forward now. Two. We have the Aslan Ambassador who I believe will have a grudge against Dulinor and power with the other clans. We should preempt the Ihaeti by offering them lands on low population worlds. We can enlist them through their honor to help us fight our enemies perhaps the Vargr. Three. We have the Zhodani Ambassador. We can work with him to head off a Fifth Frontier War. We can offer the planet on the other side of the Consulate. However, I don't think the Zhodani want to rally the Imperium to stand together by invading. It's far better to watch. Their wars have always been limited in scope to turning back Imperial expansionism. I think we use a combination of carrots, stick and reason with him. Four. We have the advantage of time and mobility. We can use that to accomplish many of our goals including our new realm. Fifth and I'm sure not lastly we have a technological advantage. We don't want to show our hands but mysterious explosions and abductions will keep the megacorporations guessing. A few demonstrations of power may serve to discourage the bulk of organized Vargr opportunism."

He turned to Doctor Metz. "How much can be reverse engineered from your Hop drives that we have released? Also, publicly how much capability have we advertised?"

[Thumper]

“Nothing says we can’t do both,” Roscoe said. “Having multiple options is better.”

Walt-
”We can walk and chew gum at the same time. I support we do both.

As far as the Navy, I suggest Metz refit the existing Navy (loyal to Ciencia) to TL16 standards and possibly a few TL17 weapons.

Metz, Using your mass manufacturing capacity, can you make a fleet of probe ships for each system in the Empire, actually three, that can LEAP into each system and covertly intercept comms and full spectral data. When a new drone ship arrives, the first returns to Glisten to download its data stores, then keeps the cycle of data coming. We can at get intel from each system every week that is one to two weeks old. Gather info on factions, estimate the timing of the arrival at Corridor of news of Strefon’s assassination more precisely., etc. how about some on the borders of the Consulate as well?

Oh, Ciencia’s, the Zhodani Ambassador you befriended at Collace travelled ostensibly on one of Roscoe and Netz’s trade ships from Collace to Aki. He is waiting at a hotel to meet with you. He claims to have important information for you.

He was aboard last night awaiting your arrival to talk. Instead, he witnessed the mayhem of the evacuation to our ship. I escorted him and his guards off ship during the teleportation of the many survivors who poured aboard. We didn’t immediately know the situation, and I thought it a prudent security measure to prevent him and his guard from mind reading all the unshielded among your entourage. Of course, that ticked him off. That was my doing. He was brought back aboard just in time to hear the cry of grief, and now he knows of your father’s death. I recommend bringing him in for that discussion, and bringing him in close in hopes of containing the immediate spread of the assassination amongst the Zho. Of course, if he is loyal to his leadership, there surely is a message underway already, if not one of his people taking that message.”

[terrymixon]

The first Ciencia looks at Jaelah. “my mother believes we should write of the core of the Imperium and doesn’t think it is savable. What courses of action do you think we need to focus on? What do our priorities need to be? We have far too many possible things to do and if we try to accomplish them all, we will succeed at none.”

The Ciencia what doesn’t look like her original form looks at Garvin.

“You are a voice from the, I don’t know. Underworld? What do you think and advise? What can we do about the megacorporations? And crooked nobles in the Core or here?”

[joertexas]

The first Ciencia looks at Jaelah. “my mother believes we should write of the core of the Imperium and doesn’t think it is savable. What courses of action do you think we need to focus on? What do our priorities need to be? We have far too many possible things to do and if we try to accomplish them all, we will succeed at none.”

The Ciencia what doesn’t look like her original form looks at Garvin.

“You are a voice from the, I don’t know. Underworld? What do you think and advise? What can we do about the megacorporations? And crooked nobles in the Core or here?”

Jaelah thinks for a moment. "I think that your priorities are your own territories. First is what your father asked you to govern, the Spinward Marches. Second is the pocket universe, and third is the territory we want to annex and govern in the Rift. We should deal with the megacorps and the nobility as needed to protect those territories. The rest will have to take care of itself, at least for a while. Regarding the warships, is there a way to only have a few people on each one?"

[terrymixon]

Jaelah thinks for a moment. "I think that your priorities are your own territories. First is what your father asked you to govern, the Spinward Marches. Second is the pocket universe, and third is the territory we want to annex and govern in the Rift. We should deal with the megacorps and the nobility as needed to protect those territories. The rest will have to take care of itself, at least for a while. Regarding the warships, is there a way to only have a few people on each one?"

"Probably," Metz said. "I've not delved into it too deeply, but I can figure something out, I suppose."

Ciencia listens, but is watching Garvin to get his option asked for earlier.

[Tiglath]

The Ciencia what doesn’t look like her original form looks at Garvin.

“You are a voice from the, I don’t know. Underworld? What do you think and advise? What can we do about the megacorporations? And crooked nobles in the Core or here?”

Garvin replies "Megacorporations - that's just another civil war on a slightly smaller and more local scale. They're designed to resist takeover from each other - private war fleets, little armies of Mercs so they're not going to just roll over. You've maybe more chance with the nobility in that you can command their loyalty but now there's effectively two Crowns in play if you put too much pressure on 'em they'll just switch sides - if they think they can get away with it".

He rakes his fingers through his blond hair, pacing "I'm not really the Underworld so much as "successful private enterprise" - but I speak their language. We've seen the Underworld here on Aki - it's the "Overworld" that's the problem... but they still 'ave to live in Imperial society: corporates, nobs - they're embedded in it but not part of it... unlike me. I mean yer average professional criminal is still basically yer average Imperial citizen... just with a bit more... ambition...".

Clearly following a train of thought he suddenly grins "The solution to your problem is actually quite simple in theory and the resources are already in place - just swap out the disloyal criminals for loyal ones! I'm goin' to need a number of Imperial Pardons, Warrants of Seizure and grants of Immunity from Prosecution for "acts committed in service of the Empire". All blank. Some cash, access to military small arms an' support weapons to kick start it... after a while it'll broadly fund itself. Me and Arkar could run it with Aster".

He shrugs "There'll maybe a bit of anarchy but once everyone's changed seats an' the music stops you'll find no one likes a bit of basic law an' order more than a professional criminal made good an' lookin' to retire".

He adds with a grin "You did ask".

(OOC: Apology for tardy reply - snowed under! )

[terrymixon]

The Ciencia what doesn’t look like her original form looks at Garvin.

“You are a voice from the, I don’t know. Underworld? What do you think and advise? What can we do about the megacorporations? And crooked nobles in the Core or here?”

Garvin replies "Megacorporations - that's just another civil war on a slightly smaller and more local scale. They're designed to resist takeover from each other - private war fleets, little armies of Mercs so they're not going to just roll over. You've maybe more chance with the nobility in that you can command their loyalty but now there's effectively two Crowns in play if you put too much pressure on 'em they'll just switch sides - if they think they can get away with it".

He rakes his fingers through his blond hair, pacing "I'm not really the Underworld so much as "successful private enterprise" - but I speak their language. We've seen the Underworld here on Aki - it's the "Overworld" that's the problem... but they still 'ave to live in Imperial society: corporates, nobs - they're embedded in it but not part of it... unlike me. I mean yer average professional criminal is still basically yer average Imperial citizen... just with a bit more... ambition...".

Clearly following a train of thought he suddenly grins "The solution to your problem is actually quite simple in theory and the resources are already in place - just swap out the disloyal criminals for loyal ones! I'm goin' to need a number of Imperial Pardons, Warrants of Seizure and grants of Immunity from Prosecution for "acts committed in service of the Empire". All blank. Some cash, access to military small arms an' support weapons to kick start it... after a while it'll broadly fund itself. Me and Arkar could run it with Aster".

He shrugs "There'll maybe a bit of anarchy but once everyone's changed seats an' the music stops you'll find no one likes a bit of basic law an' order more than a professional criminal made good an' lookin' to retire".

He adds with a grin "You did ask".

“Perhaps I’m being dense, but I’m not sure. I really understand what you’re saying. What kind of anarchy are you looking to cause and who’s going to be involved in creating it?”

(OOC: Apology for tardy reply - snowed under! )

No worries. I’ll let you respond to her question and then have a unified response, likely tomorrow.