Turn 61 - The Sun rose over the wasteland
Combat continues on Ravenna as the rebel legions continue to fight back conventionally against 2nd Armored and 2nd Infantry Divisions rather than shifting to guerrilla tactics. The latest report from Jeremy indicates that his staff believes that Pugnus Deorum support is too thin amongst the NRI civilian population for the rebels to successfully blend in, and it appears that the rebel commanders agree with that assessment considering their tactics.
Rebel forces seem to spend more effort on massacring civilian populations caught behind their lines than in digging in against Jeremy’s units, and he has been making them pay with interest for that posture. In consultation with the local loyalist NRI authorities he has declared the Pugnus Deorum to be
hostis humani generis and thus outside the typical rules of war, prisoners are to be immediately examined by loyalist authorities and, if no mitigating circumstances of coercion are found, executed as no better than pirates.
On Nowa Warszawa rebuilding continues, although the full extent of the environmental damage caused by decades of Kuritan exploitation are seriously stymying recovery efforts. The locals are lobbying to host the next Olympics held in Griffon space, however, in a show of planetary civic pride, with local governments already financing the construction of facilities. The 2992 Olympics are scheduled to be held in the NRR, specifically on Gotland, so the Nowa Warszawans would have 5 years to get ready.
You had originally planned to hold the 2996 games on Griffon IV, and the locals there are also lobbying for the Games to remain. The rivalry seems to be rather good-natured, thankfully. There’s also some discussion of splitting the difference, holding both a Winter and a Summer Games in 2996, which has the enthusiastic approval of the NRR.
[] | 2996 games on Nowa Warszawa |
- +5 Econ Rating on Nowa Warszawa until turn 66
- Small chance of event chains starting concerning the Olympics on Nowa Warszawa
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[] | 2996 games on Griffon IV | |
[] | 2996 Winter Games on Griffon IV, 2996 Summer Games on Nowa Warszawa |
- +5 Econ Rating on Nowa Warszawa until turn 66
- Add Winter events to schedule, for each Winter Event gold medal, gain +.01% GDP on Griffon IV
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On Calliope IV integration is going quite smoothly. Exports of high quality clockwork watches and devices have become a highly sought after luxury good among the wealthy in the Griffon system. Indeed, you now have a truly lovely clockwork cuckoo clock in your office that is 100% mechanical yet keeps exquisitely precise time so long as it is properly wound once a day. Your grandkids find it enormous fun to wind the massive clock, so so far it has not been a problem to keep it perfectly set.
Some militia officers from Calliope IV have brought examples of ‘steam bikes’ with them to maneuvers, and have been gleefully showing them off. They are actually more accurately described as trikes and in inexpert hands are incredibly dangerous and unstable, but driven by somebody who knows what they are doing they are quite the sight. Evidently it is tradition back on Calliope IV to hand-build these to ‘family’ designs, but several of these officers have had the bright idea to go into partnership with some small motorcycle design firms on Griffin’s Roost to produce modernized mass-production steam bikes with actual safety systems and steam engines that are actually engineered properly and not built with ‘rules of thumb’ and ‘it didn’t blow up this time so it’s good enough’.
And of course they decided to present one to you, hoping that you’ll endorse the product. Sergeant-Major Ngo promptly stomps all over your anticipated fun and insists on having it be tested thoroughly by the Imperial Guard before letting you even touch it, the killjoy. They aren’t nearly as fast and agile as your favorite bikes, but you do find yourself grinding your teeth as you watch the good Sergeant-Major getting to ride it before you do.
You are rather impressed, though, because the design somehow went from what looked like a hand-built piece of ironwork that was almost as large as an ordinary car and looked fit for the next apocalypse, to something incredibly sleek and modern while retaining a definite ‘steampunk’ vibe.
You are finally allowed to ride the thing and indeed have just as much fun as you had anticipated. It’s hardly a practical vehicle, but as a fun toy it would definitely have a nice little market niche, especially as the company is proposing to build them on Calliope IV using local artisans as part of the efforts to build up the planet's economy. Almost everything on the bike, apart from the electronics package, can be easily produced out of local talent and tooling on Calliope IV, and the electronics package has been deliberately designed to be a simple ‘black box’ plug and play installation.
[] | This is fun, endorse it! |
- +1 Economy Rating on Calliope IV
- +1 Health Rating on Calliope IV
- -1 Politics
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[] | The Crown really shouldn’t do things like this | |
The boiling lava surface of Griffon II has become even more active of late, sending streamers of lava high into the atmosphere as the few bits of barely solid crust sink down into the magma. Radiation levels have risen, as radioactive rock from deep within the core of the planet are being churned upwards by the lava currents, exposing valuable deposits of radioactive minerals. This has resulted in a massive boom in mineral extraction profitability for the Griffon II Orbitals.
In the Griffon Inner Asteroid Belt a derelict satellite that dates back to the founding of the colony has been discovered. It is completely non-functional and appears to have been a simple comm satellite deposited by the initial colonization efforts. There is no usable data in the memory core, as the core had been thoroughly smashed by a long ago impact. The satellite has been recovered and plans are to display it in the Griffon Aerospace Museum in Griffsport.
A group of entrepreneurs have approached the Colonial Office with a proposal to build several small mining stations orbiting the various moons of Griffon VI. Their analysis, however, appears to be highly optimistic in regards to exploiting the moons, especially considering the high radioactivity of Griffon VI itself. The Colonial Office has denied the application for now, but has forwarded a recommendation to you that this is something that DoME might be interested in. DoME informs you that further research into terraforming techniques and planetary engineering would be required before they could do anything useful around Griffon VI.
There have been a number of pirate attacks on convoys supplying your forces in the NRI, at both New Capricorn and Griff’s Leap. So far your escort forces have been able to handily dispatch the pirates with negligible damage, but the attacks are slowly increasing in frequency and severity. There are recommendations to establish fortified outposts in both systems to secure the trade lanes. The ‘easiest’, albeit most expensive, means of doing this would be to purchase a pair of
White Tower modular defense stations to deploy, but there are other options, although they would require full surveys of the systems and the possible establishment of colonies there.
Admiral Benjamin, meanwhile, hands in the ‘list’ of prospective replacements. Initially you are rather dismayed, as the aide delivers a stack of folders over 6 feet in height, with each folder being easily an inch thick.
You quickly realize that every single folder contains the same officer’s service record, your daughter Thanh’s service record, to be precise.
You are almost certain that your daughter’s ears are burning as you laugh uproariously.