You close your eyes and lean back in your chair, taking a deep controlled breath. The pitter-patter of rain against a window overseeing the lake had always calmed you. It was an indication of how far you had come, how far you had led your people, to go from but a scant few in prebuilt fabs, huddling together against the raging storm, to now have tamed the waters of your surroundings and not only built shelter from the merciless winds, but to have grown and prospered.

And now ? Now that your people are safe, now that their bellies are full and their heads empty of constant worry about the danger of the morrow ? They go and try to kill your son ! To add to the farce, as the bastard tried to blow Magnus’ head off, he had the gall to proclaim his respect for you ! Your wife, Celyn, understandably wants blood, rivers of it for every drop that Magnus had lost. You really cannot blame her for it, if it were you a few decades younger you too would have made sure that there was hell to pay in a more…brutal manner.

Seeing as how you will be sixty in a few years’ time, a lot of the fire and brimstone that had made up your gut had long since cooled. You have to admit, despite wanting to dig out Coen’s guts and use them as decorations, a curious feeling of serenity holds onto you.

It is rare for you to be so sure of mind and purpose without even a moment’s hesitation. The rule of law will be upheld. You will ensure that there are no calls of claims of tyranny, no abuses of power…well, bar maybe one, as Magnus will need a proper command of his own, and it just so happens that the recon corps is lacking a leader. But besides that, perhaps out of romanticized ideals of nobility, or just nostalgia for when you were much younger and naïve, the whole point behind nobles is that they are supposed be bound by ideals of honour, duty, a certain noblesse oblige. An ideal you hope to embody and set down the precedent for the generations that shall follow your own.

Opening your eyes, you look at Celyn. She seems so tired, so worn, her light brown hair already has streaks of grey running across them, wrinkles are apparent where in your memory there were none. She has gotten old, and so had you.

“Dear.” You say, your voice even, the list of names still slowly moving before your eyes. “I cannot become a tyrant. I will not become a monster that slaughters its own people out of paranoia.”

“It is not paranoia to take necessary precautions to ensure the safety of our children !” She says, her choler rising.

>>6263459 (OP)

“I know. I want to keep them all safe as well. But to begin persecuting our people would be to betray the trust they had given me, to follow me into the unknown, into the potential deaths that awaited us here had we gotten even slightly unlucky. It is the reason why they followed me; it is the reason why you, my love, had followed me here in the first place.” You state, having not once changed your tone, a slight smile on your face at the end of the proclamation.

“And that is reason enough to allow traitors to have free reign over us ?” She responds with a mocking tone, though your words prior had calmed her down.

“I never said we would not prosecute them.” You interject before she can continue. “I had a talk with Vergilius, our laws when it came to dealing with traitors and deserters had been set and based on imperial standard, he has now clarified and expanded them. We shall hold trials, public trials, where everyone can witness that justice is being upheld. Laurenz and his officers will comb through the list you prepared. If those on it are guilty, truly guilty of treacherous actions, they shall be punished. Soren and the others that had died shall, wherever they may be, rest in peace knowing that those that are guilty have been punished.”

“Such half measures will not be enough. We are not rooting out the issue, merely removing it from sight, and all that will do is it shall allow it to fester and grow.”

“Oh, I am sure of it, but I cannot punish people for their thoughts, only their actions.” You cannot help but chuckle as well. “Tell me, Dear, had you dealt with insurgencies before ?”

She sighs, staring into your eyes. “No. I was assigned to…other delicate matters.”

Still cagey, after all these years. You cannot help but think. “I had. Granted, that was when I was just a regular footslugger, but I had. It was a relatively low-tech world. Rolling plains, warm sunlight, few cities here and there, but nothing but oceans in between, both of water and of grass, a forest here and there. The large colonisation wave after the terraformation that was slated never arrived due to the Fed war, so what locals were there to begin with ended up taking hold and establishing their own little polity.

Eventually, such a state of affairs could not last. The world could easily support a hundred times its current population, not to mention what would happen if proper industries were set up. So, an imperial administrator or another had the brilliant idea of sending new colonists down, lo and behold, we have an armed insurrection from the locals who were not particularly fond of the idea of a bunch of foreigners settling the lands they claimed as their own and tearing their landscapes apart for ores or factories.

>>6263462

You know what happened ? Only a few, at first, raised what weapons they had against us, on mounted beasts, with no tech to be detected at all, they could appear and disappear as they wished, blend amongst the herdsmen or the cities on planet as they willed. And you know what we did ? We persecuted them, the General in charge also put up lists, called out names, called for airstrikes, called for executions. Every terrorist we killed, we created ten more to take his place. Soon enough, the entirety of the local populace was up in arms against us. Naturally, we cracked down harder in turn. It.” You take a moment to take a deep breath. “It did not work.” You let out a pained laugh. “It simply raised the butcher’s bill.”

Celyn, taking in your words remains silent, looking at you with pity in her eyes. “How did it end ?” She finally asks, a few moments of hesitation after.

“We won. By, well, by all definitions committing genocide. The local populace fought us for five long years, resulted in a lot dead on my side, half the reason I was marked for officer training, they simply could replace my bosses fast enough.” You turn towards the window, to the rain beyond. “By the end, the original population was but a fraction of the total population. Their culture, their language, everything they developed over centuries would be subsumed by the masses we imported, as those whom would resist, were no longer amongst the living.”

Taking a seat besides you, Celyn brings you into her own embrace. The both of you simply sit there, in silence, just listening to each other’s heartbeats. At least, for the night, you can rest.
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“Now, it is important we keep the rhetoric of persecuting offenders on the downlow. Reinhart’s crackdowns had really kicked the hornet’s nest.” The aging Ashwin, leaning against his walking stick continues to prattle on about your speech. You note that his voice has gotten weaker over the years, and the fact that the hand that is leaning on the walking stick continues to shake uncontrollably are all poor signs, very much so not to your liking.

“Only a couple proclamations about death to all traitors then, rather than every other word.” You say half serious, half in jest.

“Preferably.” Without missing a beat, Ashwin responds.

“And what about the first trial ? I was only able to skim the report Abeln presented me.” You ask Neila, while a couple of servants adjust your ceremonial robes.

>>6263463

“The Head Justice had decided to pick a surefire win. One, Noy Colly, a factory worker. The production line she had overseen was always seemingly running into trouble, producing one or two percent less than all others. We only caught her thanks to Zack. The inefficiency had annoyed him to such an extent that he had repaired the line a dozen times before being so frustrated he installed motion and weight sensors as well as cameras to see if he cannot track down the issue. Well, the issue was that Mrs. Colly was stealing ammo and dropping it off in a cache within the lands given to her. The amount stolen could equip a platoon with enough munitions for a good few firefights, but what we found was the aforementioned few percentage points of the last couple of weeks.”

“Any direct ties ?”

“Enough circumstantial evidence for a verdict.”

“What has he planned ?”

“Depends on the prosecution and the extend of the evidence. From what we are looking at currently, five to ten years of hard labour, at least from the charges of sabotaging national security by stealing munitions. Probably more once her possessions are thoroughly combed through.”

“Have Zack set up a radio and TV transmission, I want the trial as publicly reachable as possible.”

“Will note that down.”

“Dad !” Magnus’ voice cuts into the chamber as the door leading into the small changing room opens up. “John says that he’s finished setting up the company. Everyone’s been screened, and we don’t expect any problems to arise.”

“Good. You nervous ?” You ask the young man, looking him up and down.

Clad in brown leather, with black marching boots, he has silver cuffs on his wrists, two interconnected silver bars, the same symbol is set upon his upper left chest. His shoulders pads are decorated silver as well, with a solid line encircling the pad and smaller silver threads hanging down. Finally, his officer’s cap is rimmed with silver and in its centre is placed your house’s symbol. And finally, a black leather belt to which is attached a holster on his right, housing his service pistol. Of course, everything is complemented by the short-length curling dirty blond hair, gift both from you and Celyn, as well as his sharp and steadfast green eyes. While toned, your son’s face is still that of a seventeen-year-old, with a few pimples he is trying to desperately hide and sparse outcroppings of facial hair, that in reverse, he is desperate to grow out in an attempt to look more adult. Though if anything, it makes him all the younger.

Overall, he strikes quite the dashing figure…as a fresh out of the academy second lieutenant, not a captain, as his insignias indicate. With everyone bar the younger generation all having served in one branch of the military or the other, you have no doubt that they will find the sight as off-putting as you. Still, you are their Edel, and you will have at least this indulgence.

>>6263464


“Not at all. I’ve faced worse.” With his usual bravado, Magnus responds.

“You will find that the people are a far more nerve-wracking crowd than the enemy before you that is actively trying to kill you. At least you know where your enemy stands.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“My Edel.” Gotch draws your attention. “Everything’s ready.”

“Break a leg.” Ashwin remarks as you begin to move. “Make Soren proud.”

“I would advise against that, my Edel.” Neila remarks. “Swearing up a storm at a funeral is usually considered bad taste.”

“It is not bad taste if everyone has it.” Heggen says, throwing a look your way, knowing full well how your speeches tend to go.

With a sigh, you leave the room and move towards a small prepared platform next to the graveyard. It has been set up to allow you and select entourage to appear without the bulky spacesuits and in ceremonial clothing, to further draw attention. The main chamber is made up of bulletproof and see-through material, allowing for your people to see you properly. Of course, there are some concerns, heavier weaponry, proper charge-railguns, explosives, really put enough umph behind it and the glass shatters. That is exactly the reason why you had everyone equipped with emergency breathing devices to give you at least a fighting chance.

As you step onto the stage, you have a moment to catch yourself in the reflection. And God, you look like shit. It seems it was yesterday when your blonde hair had flown as you walked, granted, you were balding in your thirties, but now you are completely bald, you had shaven your head clean rather than indulging the delusion that the few remaining strands offered. Your face is clean-shaven for the occasion, though you had not ever truly grown out a beard. You had never liked having one, though if that is personal preference or just the decades spent in the military and being force to always be clean shaven, you genuinely do not know. The eyebags under your brown eyes appear to be quite prominent, despite the protestations of the servants helping to make you presentable, you had refused any make-up, you have no desire to pretend to be something you are not, which why your face has gotten a little bit droopy and wrinkles are more than clear and apparent. What truly stings the most out of everything about your body is the protruding belly, you cannot hide it anymore no matter what you do, you’ve gotten fat.

At least the clothing you are wearing has been tailored especially for you to make you look as Edelry as possible. Though you have to admit, the look is not bad, even if the designer was grasping at straws.

>>6263466

To begin with, you are clothed entirely in black, including both your gloves and boots with a collection of leathers from your animals as well as linen, velvet, cotton and other assorted materials. It is a mixture of everything your world produces, a symbolic representation and a headache for the designer to make sure they do not mismatch, probably why only one colour was chosen for your clothing, as a compromise in an attempt to prevent them from going insane. The detailing and colour come from the accessories you have been burdened with. A golden belt buckle, buttons to tighten your tunic are decorated with diamonds, your own shoelaces’ tips are also made of silver, which means that whenever you walk, you keep hitting the damned things and the leather shoes do not insulate the blows as much as you had hoped. One piece of decoration whose subtlety you can appreciate yourself, would be that of the silver thread used to stitch everything together across the entire outfit.

What truly upsets you most of all is the half cloak over your right shoulder, now that damned thing is heavy. Its lower third made up of golden fish scales, while the remaining two thirds made up of black gold with the occasional plate of platinum to represent stars, finally a golden laurel wreath, a piece of cloth tying it together made of white gold and in the middle a star also made of white gold with regular gold in the middle repeating the shape of the six-pointed star. You admit, you have to curse designing your house symbol with such complexity, as the thing weighs a good few kilos and all of that is directed at your shoulder.

At least one bit of consideration was given to your comfort by the designer, and that is the fact that the golden laurel wreath upon your head is not actually gold just some lighter metal that is coated in gold, so at the very least you do not have to sacrifice your neck for the sake of fashion.

Having reached the top of the platform, you exchange a few glances and nods with Valery Hertz, the new Chief Explorer, though now stripped of military power, which means he has also been stripped of personnel and resources, you have no doubt that he’ll want to have a deep, long conversation about it. Primarily involving funding, as every single other ministry, now that you think about it.

>>6263468

As for the man himself, he is a stark contrast of Soren, standing rigid straight and being taller than you, his brown eyes remain focused, set against his rather pale complexion, and raven black short cut hair. A serious look for a serious man. Highly disciplined, he has showcased the creativity needed to be in the recon corps, but he has also had streak of, as certain officer would put it, effective behaviour, or as others would say, ruthlessness needed to achieve his objectives. A hard man such as this would coordinate well with Magnus when it comes to keeping the recon corps in line. Some member had already resigned from it due to personal reasons; it is clear that betrayal from one’s own ranks had shattered morale and it will be a tough task to mend everything together. Though being patient as he is, you have no doubt that he will succeed, eventually.

Turning to the podium, you regard the gathered masses before you, everyone huddled together in their hundreds, more in their thousands at home or at work, if the cameras are anything to go by. The numerous bulky suits now have clear and apparent decorations upon them, various colours, symbols, knickknacks to give more personality to the wearer. A slight smile does come to your face as you note quite a few suits specifically engineered for children. The future generation of your people, a symbol of hope that what you had built her will continue, regardless if you remain.

Sadly, your smile disappears immediately as you regard the coffins, with your house’ flag laid over them. More men that had died following your orders. More that had perished under your words. You remember talking with other peers as you rose through the ranks, if the burden ever got easier. Most, you realize, had lied, as you undoubtedly still lie to yourself, and to others when they shall come to ask you.

Clearing your mind of idle thoughts, you begin your address. “My fellow Valhallans, today, is a day of mourning. Before you lay the brave men and women of the recon corps, treacherously cut down by those they would call their brothers and sisters in-arms. I assure you, those responsible, and their sympathisers will be brought to justice at the full extent of the law. Public trials will be held for all accused and for everyone to witness. Paranoia and fear will not rule the day as no doubt the traitors had hoped.

But enough of that, let us not speak treachery anymore. Let us speak of the memory of those before us, of their lives, of their hopes and their dreams, and everything they had left behind. For that, I shall invite the friends and families of the deceased to reminiscence of those that had fallen.”

>>6263470

A rather standard speech later, are rather…politician one if you had to put it, you take a few good steps back as the aforementioned friends and family slowly one by one begin to give out their speeches, some pre-written, most just rambling words about the past intermixed with tears, the pain of their losses clear and apparent, and just another hit to your consciousness.

You stand in silence, simply listening to everyone’s words for nearly four hours. Only the thoughts of those that had passed in your mind, as well as the fact that your half cloak is far too heavy.

Finally, you take the stage once again. Now seeing quite clearly the militia company put in charge of funeral security, their spacesuits being the only ones that are still drab grey out of the gathered crowd. Well, that and the fact that they are all armed, well, more so than the usual civilian. And the reason why they had cleared out an area is for the coming proceedings. The last members of the recon corps marching single file and as one they line up before the coffins. During the four-hour period, Magnus had changed into his protection suit and was leading the unit. “I now request a moment of silence, as members of the recon corps will perform a salute and the flag folding ceremony for each fallen.”

Having finished that, you take a moment to regard the sparse recon corps and Magnus at its lead, shouting out orders as even behind the reinforced glass, you can hear their rifles crackle. The gathered families of the deceased wait in patience as the flag is slowly folded up and presented to them. Throughout all of that, you think that Magnus at the very least looks like a proper soldier in the dull grey protection suit. He stands tall, steady, his voice, while probably not as deep as he would like, clear and commanding.

Meanwhile, your gaze shifts to the militia line, where one person in a protection suit stands out like sore thumb, because, well, he is in a protection suit, while everyone else is in a space suit. Not only that, while it remains dull grey, he had decided to add a coloured stripe exactly at the middle of the suit, wholly black, then at one third the size in gold, and finally, a single thin line of white. Undoubtedly John had learnt a lesson you had given him about command and the importance of hierarchy in the military, but he still likes to show off. At the very least the company captain is no longer bowing before his every step, though you quickly note that wherever his head turns, the militiamen all straighten up. If anything, his authority seems to have increased, at least within the company he is in.

>>6263472

And, something that gives you an even bigger headache is the collection of women, or at least you think so by the decorations upon their spacesuits, that have just so coincidentally gathered around the area where John is. You suppose a dashing nineteen-year-old with a striking uniform and a powerful family background would attract that sort of attention.

As the salvos go on, you recall how John looked before he put on that suit, how proud he was about having decorated it. He had inherited your blonde hair fully in colour, though he ended up getting Celyn’s hair curliness just like Magnus and her green eyes. Though now that both Magnus and John are in their protection suits, you note how tall the both of them are, they got that from you as they both reach about 185 centimetres, though Magnus might get a centimetre or two still. Add to all of that a symmetrical face, a chiselled jawline, and what you would consider vain musculature, and well, its no wonder every girl his age is looking at him with hearts in their eyes. A matter you are unsure of is that despite the attention John has absolutely zero interest in reciprocating. While you are of course glad as a father that your son had not turned into a rake, his desires are seemingly concentrated towards a singular goal. His decisive and ambitious nature means that John had decided that he will become the best general there ever was, and as such, he hardly cares for any sort of distraction or vice that would keep him away from his goal.

As another set of volleys are unleashed, your attention returns to the funeral. This should take about another hour or two, though it hopefully gives closure to those in mourning.
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“A drink ?” You ask, rummaging through your cabinet of choice bottles.

“I do not indulge, sir.” Comes the hard voice of Hertz, sitting with perfect posture upon one of the chairs before your office’s desk.

You shrug in turn and pour yourself a little bit of whiskey before sitting down before Hertz. “I assume you have many questions of your new position ?”

“Yes, sir. If I may ?” You simply gesture to him to go ahead. “As it stands, with the separation of the recon corps from the position of the Chief explorer, while I still technically maintain control, realistically, my authority has been greatly reduced. Most likely, I assume, the intention is to divide the military and the civilian.”

“There are no intentions of such, as of now.”

“And in the future ?”

>>6263473

“We shall see what future brings. The Chief explorer is supposed to do exactly that, explore. That is all I can guarantee, to go where no one, at least on our end, has gone before. To find what is hidden and to see wonders of the universe. If the recon corps are with you then, or if they become a branch of the military, I do not know, and I can hardly make any guarantees. Perhaps when the time comes to make that decision, it will not be I, nor you making it.”

“In either case, sir, I need resources. The recon corps is devastated and if we are to do some exploration off planet, we need vessels, proper vessels, as of right now, the only ship in our possession that is capable of rapid movement and interstellar movement at that is the Argonaut, and it is being run ragged to keep our resource flow going.”

“We both know I cannot dedicate that much.”

“I am well aware, sir. I wish to make my opinion known as well as the fact that I will, for the most part, be doing little if nothing at all while collecting my pay at this current stage.”

“Well.” You say with a small chuckle. “Not the worst fate, is it ?”

“No, sir, but I would prefer one where my skills are employed.”

“I’ll see what I can do. Anything else ?”

“No, sir.”

“Then you are dismissed. At least for now, help the recon corps rebuild.”

“Yes, sir.” He says rising from the seat, and with a quick salute, marching out of your office.

An old, bold soldier, if you had to describe him. Someone whom would wear a soldier’s uniform like a second skin and far more fit for it than the nobleman’s garb he now is supposed to employ, and his discomfort shows.
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You are startled awake from your afternoon nap by a loud crash as you notice Stellan rushing inside, one of the few people given free access to your mansion. “David, David you fat fuck, where are you ?!”

“Stellan, you dare insult your Edel ? You brittle-boned cur !” You shout from your couch, groggily rising up.

“There you are.” You see Stellan, out of breath coming inside of your room. “It’s just my damned luck that the moment I come down on the planet for shore leave, all the sudden there are power readings of a dozen ships bearing down on us !”

That perks you up, visitors are not always good news in these parts, as you have come to learn. “Are preparations under way ?”

“We’re scrambling all fighters, the station’s been put on high alert, we’re about as prepared as we can be, given what we have.”

“Did we send a message ? Any response ?”

“Yes…and yes, for once.”

“So, who the hell has come to have raised all this fuss ?”

>>6263474

“A mercantile convoy, they are transmitting a general signal about their passage of the area, that they mean no harm and wish to raise no alarm. Of course, there’s the fact that there’s over a dozen signatures and each and every one of them could be a potential warship bearing down on us.”

“Where are they moving ? How long do we have ?”

“Towards Surt, from the looks of things, they seem to be doing exactly what they said, that they are simply passing through. They are burning neutronium to move fast, so a couple of days and they’ll be out of system, or ready to strike us at the same time, sooner, in fact.”

“Keep everything at the ready. Ah, and send a message to them asking about if they have any news to share. Let us see if they have the good will they so proclaim.”

“Will do.” Stellan says with a nod. “Guess my leave’s over.” He then continues to grumble as he walks away.
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You march back and forth for quite some time, simply watching the screens before you as there’s constant chatter from the ground crew as they coordinate with the spacestation and your fighters. Hopefully, their numbers, combined with the spacestation make you too costly to take down. Though with so many signatures, who knows what these friendly merchants are actually planning.

“My Edel, we have a return message from the unknown contacts. It is a long one.”

“Put it through.” You say with a nod.

“To the proud Valhallans of Thunor, I Anwar Vicario extend my greetings, as well as I extend my greetings to Jarl David Hardrada…” You see a few glances thrown your way because of that last comment. And the only person who knew you by that title outside of the system. “…I had numerous dealings with House Orion’s representative Margrave Oreskovich. I also humbly extend my services to you, that is of the shipyards of clan Vicario orbiting Narth. Our production quality is guaranteed !”

“Of course a merchant would shove in an ad during a greeting.” One of the technician’s murmurs with annoyance, his words loud in the silent room, causing a few others to snicker.”

>>6263476

“And as for the news. Well, Jarl Hardrada, I must inform you that you might need my services sooner than you think. Great wars had come for us. House Orion had, a few years back, beaten a much larger Hojun fleet, that made the People’s Representative quite paranoid over their own technological inferiority and pushed Hojun to try harder to expand its influence, in turn, naturally The Directorate also tried its damndest to attack and expand as usual, only this time they also fought Orion, leading to this whole, unfortunate circumstance of a three-way war. But ! That’s only the beginning ! It gets worse as the Republic of Medoia made a grand proclamation about stopping these extremist and archaic ideologies of a bygone era, by bombing a house Orion colony our of existence ! In turn, Orion bombed, what was it, ah, yes Lapus system, there was a small polity there, but, ah, not any longer.” He lets out a dry chuckle.

“Jesus, while we were sitting pretty here, everyone outside of our system were busy bombing each other back to the stone age.” Gotch says standing next to you.

“Despite this, well, I suppose you could say it finally forced complacency to be done with, a massive rush of colonization from all four great states has begun, and well. That is why I strongly suggest employing my clan’s shipyards for your orders. As the words of your world’s famous dishes have been spread by the Margrave and those of his retinue. And with what I am seeing right now, there is a great demand for food ! Of various kinds. There are of course other knickknacks and bits of information, but those would have to wait for my return journey, as right now, I am plying my clan’s trade for the now, much more, open People’s Democratic Republic of Hojun. Oh, and I suppose I should mention before I forget, with navies and armies all around, pirates are laying low, and at least for now, trade has become that much easier and common, so certainly expect to see more of me, if you wish to deal with my clan, my Jarl.”

“That’s all of it, Edel.” A technician says.

“Much to ponder.” You say, rubbing your chin.

“None of it good.” Gotch responds.

“None. One thing is clear, we cannot live day to day, or month to month. We must plan and prepare for larger projects, especially if what that Anwar has said is true, we might get our hands on some materials we were lacking before.”

“I am sure Garrick will be very excited to hear you have more work and bigger projects for him.”

“He will either build everything to perfection, or die from alcohol abuse. At least the projects somewhat distract him.” You say half-jokingly, your mind already distracted.

A new era has come. You are no longer concerned with survival, the stress of getting a single factory running. From now on, if you build, you will build whole complexes, if you make, you will not make individual pieces, but rather fill entire armouries.
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>>6263478

QM interjection here. From now on, only influence will be used as a measurement of resources, money, favours, political will, etc. From now on, turns will take years to accomplish, as both means of simplification and representation of mass work projects. There will be smaller, more individual projects or war scenarios that will take less time. Unless otherwise specified, a turn from now on will take 5 years.

From now on, one action can be taken to represent the current leader’s own capabilities and that of his government. Members of the council or family members can be freely asked their opinions on projects or the current situation, presuming they are easily accessible. Unaddressed issues will be automatically worked on by the administration and the situation can change as the administration tries to tackle the various issues.

Dispatching a fleet or an army is considered a free action, presuming they are ready to go, the same applies to research which can be freely chosen.
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>>6263480

21 YSL (Years Since Landing)
Current influence: 210
Current income every turn: 8

You take a deep look at the pile of files and issues before you:

Your population is barely there, enough to sustain itself, but for truly massive scale projects or armies, you simply lack the manpower. To solve this, you will either need to increase immigration, now a possibility with free trade seemingly the current norm, or to invest further into automatization.

>Begin to address the issues caused by your low population.

There are matters concerning your infrastructure, both civilian and military. On the civilian case, your industrial output is negligible, it was enough for your small colony, but as the new generation has grown, so have the needs of your colony. There are also calls for more recreational facilities other than the market and the park connected to the school, you also need to clear some more land, build new homes for the future, in short, there’s plenty of work out there. As for the military, you have the facilities, but you still lack M.A.G. cannons for anti-orbital defences, you could also just use more turrets, barracks, fortifications and underground facilities in general.

>Concentrate on expanding infrastructure on Thunor.

Your off-world presence is wholly limited to nothing more than two tiny mining outposts. To move workers there permanently could net you better mining output as slightly spread out the population for the worst-case scenario, but that also means you will need to consider their defences.

>Colonise Surt system further.

Your nobility is…lacking. You have ranks, yes, but what makes a noble, well a noble, is the set of privileges and obligations that they enjoy and are bound by. As of right now, no one really considers nobility to be worth it, or they alternatively consider it as nothing more than an extra title thrown to people that get into important positions of power, as something more honorary than material.

>Begin the long process of establishing a set of privileges and obligations as well as entrenching nobility as a prominent and controlling social class.

Then there’s the matter of your own international situation, frankly speaking, the fact someone even acknowledges that you exist is a small miracle. You have no real enemies, bar those ideologically predisposed to hating you, but you also have absolutely no friends or allies to call upon should you find yourself in situation where you are in a desperate need of some.

>Begin a diplomacy tour. Who knows, you might find some friends. Maybe even some potential brides for your sons from somewhere off Thunor. Maybe.

>>6263482

Your armed forces are there, but they lack doctrine and clear guidance. For example, should your ground forces favour rigid discipline and hierarchy or should you encourage the lower ranks to act independently. As for your navy, well they have the same problem but also one of doctrine, the age-old question between carrier and M.A.G. doctrine in particular, which should be favoured, or maybe there should be an attempt to strike a balance between both.

>Begin to formulate the Valhallan armed forces doctrine. Maybe actually come up with a name for the institution.

Of course, you’ve only looked through a fraction of the pile of documents before you, when taking a deeper look, you also find another issue worth your attention.

>(Write in)

Previous parts:

https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?searchall=Broken+Empire+New+Frontier

I am currently away from my PC, and I do not remember my rentry edit code, so those will be fixed next week.

>>6263482
>Begin a diplomacy tour. Who knows, you might find some friends. Maybe even some potential brides for your sons from somewhere off Thunor. Maybe.
Connections connections connections and possibility to give services and crops en masse.

Glad to see you back Newb.

>>6263496

>Glad to see you back Newb.

Good to be back. With the colony stable-ish, I hope this will allow me to pick up the pace and get more done with less.

>>6263482
>Concentrate on expanding infrastructure on Thunor.

We should boost up the infrastructure and then get some more population in my opinion. Getting our capacity for projects up is paramount.

>>6263482
>>6263484
We are so back!
Good to see you again Newb, been a while. Although I did check in on Twitter from time to time.

https://x.com/NewbQm (Linking for others to easily find and keep updated)

As for the choices:
>Concentrate on expanding infrastructure on Thunor.

I think increasing our production, population centres and general standard of living will both help in allowing for greater trade in the future and give our home planet less of an "amateur shitshack" feeling.

I would also suggest as part of the infrastructure expansion, that we look into if we can make one or two new downgraded ITV-25, with cryogenic sleep capacity to allow for a more stable and less hectic schedule for Stellan.

Quite surprised about the sudden jump to a 5-year time gap per round. How come so long? I'd have expected something like 1 year maybe, 5 just seems like it'll cut down on the time we get with each character. Like, won't we then only have David for some 2-4 rounds? The entire Ukraine war is less than 4 years old still.


Either way, good to be back in action.

>>6263482
Welcome back, NewbQm

>>Concentrate on expanding infrastructure on Thunor.
We require rare minerals

>>6263541

>Quite surprised about the sudden jump to a 5-year time gap per round. How come so long? I'd have expected something like 1 year maybe, 5 just seems like it'll cut down on the time we get with each character. Like, won't we then only have David for some 2-4 rounds? The entire Ukraine war is less than 4 years old still.

Well, the initial plan for the timeline of the setting was about 200-250 years, we're now on thread six and we've barely cleared 20. Plus, the bigger time skip allows for more things to happen outside of your own nations and faster, further adding to the dynamism of the area which I plan on expanding if you guys actually secure it. And I do plan to intermix more personal matters and decision, and as mentioned before, wars and the like to igve you guys more feel for the chs and their motivations.

For example, if you pick the diplo route, you will still control David for quite a few choices concerning meeting the various powers that be, etc.

>>6263584
>>6263565
I must have missed five years part then changing to

>Begin a diplomacy tour. Who knows, you might find some friends. Maybe even some potential brides for your sons from somewhere off Thunor. Maybe.
Thats one duke had a daughter and we have unmarried son John. Marriage maybe, a play date definitely.

>>6263482
>Colonize Surt System Further

Not only will this long term help us increase our industrial and population capacity, it will add a certain degree of resilience to our little Jarldom. As currently we are fairly susceptible to orbital bombardment or blockade, yes we have some mediocre defenses but we’re still little fish in the grand scheme of things. So until we can strengthen ourselves adequately to ensure we won’t loose orbital supremacy, I think it’s worthwhile to distribute our assets as widely as possible to afford us a degree of redundancy.

Also really glad to catch this thread early, I had participated in the first three threads or so but fell off, glad your keeping this going newb and I look forward to participating.

diplomacy 12
Thunor 12
Colonize Surt 1

Need a tie breaker. Will give it an hour, if no vote comes, I will just roll some dice.

>>6264477
>Begin a diplomacy tour. Who knows, you might find some friends. Maybe even some potential brides for your sons from somewhere off Thunor. Maybe.
We need allies and we also need to get more ships as soon as possible. The ships will allow us to not only project control but also expand our mining operations in our system as well as surrounding systems one of which we know very likely contains rich ore and rare ore deposits.

Good to see you again Newb!

As you dig through the piles upon piles of files, you reach one conclusion. I need a vacation. But, as the Edel of these lands, you simply can just take a couple of weeks off and then call it a day. No, you must be smart about this.

Taking a stand and walking about your room back and forth for a few moments, you look through the window and murmur to yourself as you regard the serene lake before you, and most specifically, the small outcroppings of personal residences that also appeared and continue to appear at an ever increasing rate. To reach them, you would need to take a boat, at least, that’s the fastest way.

With a hum, you murmur to yourself: “I have a cunning plan.”

Jumping to work with those words, you look through the various reports, more specifically, the reports for Stellan’s neutronium storage, your own resource reserves, and map charts of the local stars.

“Gotch.” You say hitting your intercom.

“Yes, my Edel ?”

“Could you call Ashwin and Stellan to my office ?”

“Right away.”

Clicking off the intercom, you lean back in your chair. It is all coming together.
.
.
.
“This is exceptionally unwise, but we do not have a better choice.” Ashwin instantly dashes your hopes, only to partially rekindle them.

“How come ?” You ask.

“Well, first of all, we only have enough fuel to go one way, and then we have to pray and hope that wherever we get have means and the desire to refuel us !” Stellan immediately jumps in.

“Yes, that’s the first issue.” Ashwin nods, quickly working diverting the conversation his way again. “But not only that. Our existence is, fragile, to put it diplomatically. In order to presume we don’t get shot at the moment we show up, we need to establish that we would be difficult to kill, not impossible, unfortunately. And we require to have a sufficient number of gifts for the journey.”

“You mean bribes ?”

“Less diplomatically put, yes.”

“And if they don’t like our bribes ?”

“It will be a very short expedition. Though a question remains what about the pirates ?”

“Well, if what our merchant friend said was true, chances are some pirates hit a military convoy or something, or another, got turned into atoms, repeat that enough and it becomes clear that harassing convoys is a bad idea. It is true though, that there are probably privateers out there, but if they strike, they would do it under some other nation’s banner, and well, who knows.” Stellan interjects, having been a close associate to plenty of ne’er-do-wells’ groups.

“Well, hopefully we will be waylaid on our journey. There are a few questions we do need to address as of right now, however.” Ashwin continues, his voice weaker than it was yesterday, you note. “First, how large is to be the, uh, bribe, as you had put it so succinctly, sir. Second, where will you be going, and who will be going, alongside what size of the escort you will be taking.”

>>6264566

“You sound like, you will not be coming along.” You pointedly ask the man.

“Quite honestly, sir. I do not think I will be able to carry out the duty as a minister of foreign affairs for much longer. It is something that old men, old men like myself can feel coming.”

“Ashwin…”

“Now, now. There’s no need for the doom and gloom, I already have a replacement ready that will accompany you, sir. Hopefully he will be ready to take over by the time the expedition is over.”

“Hopefully you are still here once I get back.”

“Ah, about that, sir. Due to our, disadvantaged or equal position to, well, all powers out there, it is only fitting that you, or your heir-apparent takes lead. In either case, you need to make the choice, sir.”

“Right now ?”

“It should have been made a while ago.”

“I agree to that.” Stellan remarks. “Folk making bets about whom you’ll choose, and the pots grown nice and fat over the years. Folk are talking too, better make it clear before things get out of hand.”

“What do you mean ?” You ask pointedly.

“Rumblings. About who will be boss. John’s the favoured amongst the fighter crews, mainly because they haven’t been on the ground long enough to be annoyed by him. Meanwhile, the station crew’s obsessed about Magnus and his, how to put, rapid rise out of disaster, or something like that.”

You chuckle, masking your worry. “And what about Aurora ?”

“Well.” Stellan begins. “Whomever bets on her is going to go home with a room filled with ration cards. In all seriousness, a one-year-old baby girl hardly inspires confidence in anyone, though if that is your choice, gimme some time to change my bet.”

“It is an important choice, sir. If you are gone, and the worst case happens, the succession is clear, plus your heir will keep things running in your stead. Alternatively, if you do send out your heir, it is clear with whomever he will be dealing with, that at least for a coming generation, they will know that the relationship that they will forge will last for a while.”

You sigh, heavily, before opening your mouth to speak:

>I will appoint John as my heir apparent.

>I will appoint Magnus as my heir apparent.

>I will appoint Aurora as my heir apparent.

>>6264568

“Understood.” Ashwin nods. “Now, the gifts we are to bring ?” He gives you tablet detailing the list of various items in your possession.

>”Generous, we want to impress, come hell or high water, we will not appear paupers begging for a handout, no matter how true that is.” COST: 200 INFLUENCE

>”Gotta stay tasteful, don’t want to appear too nouveau riche. Ahem. I am certainly not being cheap.” COST: 100 INFLUENCE

>”I don’t think the budget can take such a massive expense. This should cut it, I think.” COST: 50 INFLUENCE

>”A house warming gift is always needed, but not necessary, after all, what else but the company that makes the party worth it ?” COST: 25 INFLUENCE

“As you say, my Edel.” Responding diplomatically, Ashwin takes back the tablet and looks through what you’ve marked down. “Finally, whom should we bring to the expedition ?”

Either David or the chosen heir must go, Ashwin’s representative is going. Can select any council member or family member except for either the heir if David is going, or David if the there is going.

>Choose who will go on the tour. https://pastebin.com/VQJABcjt (Personal actions house characters.)

“Now that the diplomacy’s talk all’s done.” Stellan begins, having helped himself to your wine collection. “First things first, we’re gonna need some protection. Who knows what will happen out there. Like I said, we could run into some privateers, hell there might still be pirates bold or desperate out there to try and attack us. Some ground troops might be needed, either to prevent borders, or if you need an immediate pick up. Oh, I know I am not one to remind you about such matters, but whatever we take is not going to be defending the colony, so, uh, up to you.”

Current forces available:

5 regular squadrons of Sting fightercraft

4 veteran militia companies

0.25 veteran commando platoon (recon corps)

>Choose armed forces to accompany you.

“Then, the most important part of it all, that never actually concerns the diplomats but the poor buggers whom are supposed to transport them, where to go ?”

“Now that’s a good question.” You remark solemnly, looking over the map in your possession, it is old and out of date, but the major factions have not disappeared, so it will serve your purpose well, for now.

“From what little information we have.” Once more Ashwin offers his wisdom. “The current diplomatic situation is a precarious one. I doubt by this point any one faction will just outright shoot without at least hearing us out to begin with. What happens afterwards, I make no guarantees. They could also try to bring us under their sphere of influence, for better, or for ill.”

“I guess we’ll see when we get there.” You murmur.

“We shall indeed.” With a chuckle Ashwin responds.

>>6264570

“Speaking of getting there. I need directions, David. This thing will take a shit on my sleeping schedule to organize, so I’d rather begin planning now, if you’d be so kind.” Not missing a beat, Stellan once more jumps into the conversation.

>Which faction do you want to visit ? (Chorix, Hojun, Athena, Orion, Three Star Coalition, Medoia, Christon, minor states (which one ?), All major factions, all minor factions, All factions.)

>>6264568
>I will appoint John as my heir apparent.

>>6264570
>>”Gotta stay tasteful, don’t want to appear too nouveau riche. Ahem. I am certainly not being cheap.” COST: 100 INFLUENCE
David goes with 1 veteran millitia

>>6264571
>Which faction do you want to visit ? (Orion and Three Star Coalition)
That one duke that is vassal of House Orion we should meet and Three star coalition is the traders

NewbQM who were the Christon?

>>6264580

>NewbQM who were the Christon?

Few odd years back, when the first traders arrived he mentioned the principalities. There was once a single prince, whom died, and then the various princes and princesses started tearing each other apart in an attempt to become the new singular prince. From what David can recall, they are decently advance and posses a fearsome arsenal of nuclear weapons which is enough to deter other major factions from direct intervention, though there were mentions of pro-communist and pro-fascists factions in the mix. You have no idea if the situation's been resolved or not.

>>6264568
>>6264570
>>6264571

>I will appoint Magnus as my heir apparent.
Magnus is much closer to a normal person in his view of nobility than John, which should be the ideal we should strive for. To not fall into the same cultural pit the unbroken empire fell into. He also has traits much more fitting an administrator than a military man. John should be allowed to take care of the military as a general.

>”Gotta stay tasteful, don’t want to appear too nouveau riche. Ahem. I am certainly not being cheap.” COST: 100 INFLUENCE

Don't need to spend ALL of it immediately.

>Choose who will go on the tour.
David, Elian Siegler, and a person chosen by our wife for their perceptiveness as her agent.

I suggest Elian Siegler because he will probably be able to bring back a new, refreshed and updated curriculum for our people to study when we get back home. After all, we could get our heir to help improve infrastructure while we are gone. A good opportunity to get people into new educations when we do come back with the knowledge on how to specialize more workers.

Celyn should stay back home, to help our heir with ruling if a potential weakness is seen with David being gone.

>Choose armed forces to accompany you.

I'd say 2 squadrons of sting fighter craft as well as the veteran commando platoon.

And while we are gone, we get our heir to make more stingers and probably improve our space-based defences. Maybe some missile pods in orbit would work well?

>Which faction do you want to visit?
Start with House Orion in the sore, Drilles’ League in Eridrus and then end the tour with the Christon principalities in Coria. We can thusly travel through our home system on the way to the principalities for a quick pitstop and check up on how our heir and nation are doing.

These are the factions I think are most likely to be both ideologically indifferent to us and have a good interest in our food production capacity.

>>6264568
>I will appoint Magnus as my heir apparent.
I like John, but his arrogance is too much of a danger.
>>6264570
>”Generous, we want to impress, come hell or high water, we will not appear paupers begging for a handout, no matter how true that is.” COST: 200 INFLUENCE
Fuck it we big ballin

>Choose who will go on the tour.
David, Elian

>>6264571
>Choose armed forces to accompany you.
2 sting squadrons.
0.5 militia company.
the recon platoon.
It's a balanced force.

>Factions
Start with House Orion in the sore, Drilles’ League in Eridrus and then end the tour with the Christon principalities in Coria. like Fleet mentioned.

>>6264570
>I will appoint Magnus as my heir apparent

>Generous

Military Escort
>Veteran commando platoon
>2 squadrons of sting fighter craft

If we get involved in a land battle on this trip it’s already pretty much mission failure so I don’t see a reason to bring to substantial of a force. Despite its small size the recon corp is the best of our troops and ought to make a good impression when serving as honor guards. Which is effectively what any land forces we bring with us will spend most of their time doing.

>Newb could we get a refresher on the nation states in this region of space so we can make more educated decision. At least for me it’s been a while so I don’t exactly remember what each states deal is.

I do love it how few of you still think arragont is worse that vengeful. And why that's why you keep voting for worse choice not only for next player character but the worse choice dynasty too.

Magnus so loved that we have almost already assassinated and John who great sin so far has being better than anyone else.

>JOHN ARROGANT, QUICK-WITTED, GOOD GENES, DECISIVE, AMBITIOUS

>MAGNUS VENGEFUL, BRAVE, PATIENT, EMPATHETIC

>>6264613
>Magnus is much closer to a normal person in his view of nobility than John, which should be the ideal we should strive for. To not fall into the same cultural pit the unbroken empire fell into. He also has traits much more fitting an administrator than a military man. John should be allowed to take care of the military as a general.

You want normal person when we need the best person as our leader to have possibility of victory, to have chance of survivability as nation, as people, as this will be a time of war, not of peace.

John is that chance, not Magnus.

>>6264568
>>6264637
You know what.
>I will appoint John as my heir apparent.
changing to this. Blame my Crusader kings eugenics think.

>>6264568
>I will appoint John as my heir apparent.
I think John is fine desu.

>>6264570
>”Gotta stay tasteful, don’t want to appear too nouveau riche. Ahem. I am certainly not being cheap.” COST: 100 INFLUENCE

>Choose who will go on the tour.
David and Elian i guess.

>Choose armed forces to accompany you.
2 sting squadrons.
1 veteran militia platoon.
Choosing the militia cause i don't want to suddenly take all the remaining men from the recon corps away from Magnus.

>Which faction do you want to visit?
House Orion and Three Star Coalition.

>>6264649

>Newb could we get a refresher on the nation states...

Sure.

You know very little, desu. Most information comes from Akil Salb and his appearance about 15 years ago.

To start with - the three star coalition. It is made up of, well, three different states:

The first is Hysomanra traders’ association in Al-Aras. Hysomanra is a hot world with domed greenhouses that grow vast quantities of food. The culture is based on trade, and so is the government form. They have an executive branch of three triarchs who reign for 9 years in total, with one triarch usually being renewed every 3 years. Then there's the Golden Chamber made up of 200 wealthiest families that elect the triarchs.

The second is Free Volunteers Confederation in control of Narth. There are no habitable planets there and everyone lives in space stations, what worlds there are cold and unremarkable. As far as you are aware, the FVC is a collections of mercenaries turned pirate and pirates turned mercenaries in a rather fluid fashion. It is run by a Warcouncil made up of the strongest groups. You know that they have extensive shipyards and the newest merchant to visit you - Anwar Vicario, had proclaimed to offer the services of his clan's shipyards.

Finally, there's the Drilles’ League occupying Eridrus system. It is a hellhole of a system that is still in the process of forming which means dust clouds, thick asteroid fields, hell of terrain. The locals use the terrain to make any invader regret it. The world of Drilles houses numerous underground tunnel networks and independent nations that bicker amongst each other. They are insanely resource rich, but lack food extensive food production and the terrain prevents them from having large-scale shipyards.

Then you have the big weights of the Directorate of Chorix that are neo-fascists in ideology, but seemingly open to outside trade in control of Newsun. Then there’s People’s Democratic Republic of Hojun in control of Redstar, based on the newest merchant, they too had as of late become more open towards outside trade. Both have been here for centuries and have highly developed their home systems, with seemingly only constant warfare preventing them from dominating the region. The graveyard system is filled with destroyed fleets on both sides and is infested with pirates.

Christon Principalities used to be ruled by Edward the 2nd that was murdered by his subjects, take from that what you will, he had no legitimate heirs and God knows how many bastards, which resulted in the presumedly advanced and developed system of Coria being balkanized and divided by the numerous warring factions in an extensive civil war. The factions are pretty powerful, at least powerful enough and armed with enough nukes to prevent external invasions, but outside influence presumedly backs some of the warring factions. You do not know if the civil war ended…of if it got much worse.

>>6264649
>>6264681

Republic of Medoia controls Troth and have fortified the shit out of it. They hate anything that is not a form of democracy and had enough power to throw a fleet at House Orion when they first appeared. But that is the extent of your knowledge of them, though they seem to be powerful enough to be there with the big boys.

Finally, House Orion is an exile house from the Unbroken Empire that popped up, now around 70 years ago and have begun to expand aggressively. You met a member of the house, one Margrave Mykell Oreskovich, whom seemed a decent enough guy. You know little more than that.

The last force that could be considered powerful would be the Athena Association, and I will just cope paste this, since you know little about them as well:

Now those, I might be able to work with. “What about the Athena Association ?”

“Scientists, seemingly. I had delivered large quantities of food to them once or twice, but other than that, I know little. They seem to control two worlds in system with limited space infrastructure. An ice ball called Niflheim and a hot lava world called Muspelheim. Both have some small facilities, but quite the visible network of anti-orbitals as well.”

>>6264655
>>6264660
While I think you have the best of both John and Magnus in mind, I do think that Magnus overall has better experience and mindset to rule compared to John.

John's skillset is better at decisive acting and quick thinking. While those skills can be useful as a ruler, they are much better suited in a position like leading general where his more callous attitude can allow for necessary sacrifices.
John's good genes and ambitiousness are great attributes. But from my reading of him, he seems like he would probably quickly turn into a glory hound if he isn't grounded by another authority. Something that can't happen if he becomes the head of state.


Meanwhile, Magnus has now survived a coup attempt, and earned the respect of not just the recon corp, but also likely earned respect in the militia and most loyalists sympathies. And he doesn't have a reputation that follows him like John does as someone who can be antagonistic towards friendlies.
This of course makes people fear him less, but I feel that his reputation as a survivor and a leader in crisis makes up for the difference.

And while Magnus's vengefulness is...problematic. I do think that element of him can be at least helped. Get him a good wife, and he might mellow out a little bit. (this is to say, I am aware and wish to look for ways we can at least mitigate the problems of our two candidates)


Either way, I hope the right choice is made. Not the one I or you believe in, but just the one that works out best with whatever the future events Newb throws at us happen to be.

>>6264681
With this in mind I would like our diplomacy to focus on the
>Free Volunteers Confederation
(High risk but based off they’re system they likely will have a food demand which we can meet and they can hopefully be a source of new vessels for our fleet and the fuel for them)

>Drilles League
Similar story to the confederation they’ll likely have a need for imports we can provide and will be able to provide us with needed material imports.

I don’t think it’s wise to remind the big fish we exist ans I prefer not to deal with the more mercantile groups. Though that I acknowledge is just my instinctive dislike of the merchant class

>>6264686
>he would probably quickly turn into a glory hound if he isn't grounded by another authority.

Like we have already done, we have already show him error of his ways, by making him learn to respect the rank

>Something that can't happen if he becomes the head of state.

It will never happen as we will be the head of state in that case. That is unless we want him to become one or NewbQM rolls so.

>Magnus has now survived a coup attempt, and earned the respect of not just the recon corp, but also likely earned respect in the militia and most loyalists sympathies.

He is already not liked for gaining the post in the corp that he is in right now as it was not seen very meritocratic.

>And he doesn't have a reputation that follows him like John does as someone who can be antagonistic towards friendlies.
This of course makes people fear him less, but I feel that his reputation as a survivor and a leader in crisis makes up for the difference.

You do realize that this hold true for Magnus, only as long he does not fail a roll and do something vengeful. And John's reputation cant be very bad as he has fangirls forming circle next to him outside in the rain, I swear am more worried him geting a harem out of the blue.

>Get him a good wife, and he might mellow out a little bit.

That option applies to both boys.

Fleet-anon I feel you are not seeing that possibilities that we can have with John but only the negatives. When we have the resorces that we need, we can start building a sector empire with a high tech paradise world as its capital and big ambitious fleets. And John can help with that as he can drive people to be their best.

John 3
Magnus 2

100 3
200 2

David 3
Elian Siegler 3
Spy 1

1 veteran millitia 3
2 squadrons sting 4
recon 3

Orion and Three Star Coalition 2
House Orion, Drilles’ League, Christon principalities 2
FVC, Drilles’ League 1

Alright, John will be officially made the heir, you will spend 100 influence on the various gifts and knickknacks, meanwhile, David will depart with Ashwin's replacement to help him negotiate, Elian Siegler to see if there's anything new to learn, and naturally Stellan beign the ship's owner will move with you.

In terms of military, you will bring 2 sting fightercraft squadrons, for the sake of sanity and because I do not allow for unit divisions due to wanting to avoid this exact situation, you will bring 1 company of militia to act as ground troops and defence for the ship should it be boarded. Finally, the few surviving members of the recon corp will also come along as an honour guard, though with Magnus left behind, he will stay at home apart from the platoon.

As for travel, House Orion is a clear winner with the Star Coalition also winning, all three states will be visited due to the division of votes, with more special attention being given to Drilles’ League due to it's popularity. Christon principalities are also on the to visit list, but I'll give a choice if you anons want to go there at the end of the tour still.

Fair few compromises even though there were only a few votes.

With a loud thundering roar of thrusters, yet another shuttle, laden down with cargo as it is, struggles to rise high into the air and break through the atmosphere towards the awaiting Argonaut. The process had been on going for nearly a month now, with the limited cargo capacity and quantity of your transports, you simply could not move faster, but that was fine by you, as you had numerous matters to address.

The first, would be the two men in protection suits before you, both in the dull grey colourings, but one with a striking line in the middle. Both, are now taller than you, you had come to realize, both standing tall, one prouder than the other, they still strike a good image, you’d hope for everyone involved. That is because you will be leaving the colony for the first time proper ever since its founding. You cannot help but be nervous about it, still, your council is there, so is your wife, your sons, while young, have grown into fine men. However, you are still strongly concerned if the colony will still be there after you get back, well, it should.

“Father ?” John’s voice cuts through your thoughts. “Are you alright ? You are fidgeting so much we can actually see it through the spacesuit.” To that, Magnus nods as well.

“I’m fine. Just concerned, is all. When I look at you two, I am reminded of my own youth. And the complete moron I was back then.”

Both John and Magnus exchange glances. “We’ll be fine.” Magnus finally says.

“Where’s your mother ?” You ask, looking around the landing zone.

“With Aurora, she should come about in an hour or so. Something or another about an appointment she cannot miss.” John explains.

“My Edel. The last of the wine vintage has been loaded. We are now only waiting on the leather products.” Torger Holm remarks, the protégé of Ashwin.

A tall, lanky man, reaching about 190 cms, he towers over everyone he meets, though despite his serious, matter-of-fact business attitude, he has an uncanny ability to read the situation and people’s intentions. It also helps that once you get some booze into him, he becomes far easier going and friendly, which is perfect for both important, regimented and official talks, as well as more informal social gatherings. Despite the usually serious attitude, Torger is just reaching his forties with a relatively full face and kind eyes, he looks closer to a gentle giant than a real warrior, and he’s not. From what you read of his profile, he had served in the engineering corps and was working under Garrick until Ashwin noted how well the brown eyed, brown-haired man managed to lead his men and cooperate with other foremen with great ease and expertise, taking time to listen and address their issues, and most importantly pick out those that were lying and those that were honest about their grievances.

“Thank you.” You respond with a nod. “Anything else ?”

>>6266297

“We are ready for your departure. All personnel has been accounted for and acclimatised in order to deal with zero-G conditions. We can begin departure within the hour.”

“Soon. For now, make sure that last of the cargo is up there, and take a break.”

“Very well.” The man responds with a back-and-forth bob of his spacesuit before beginning to depart.

Turning back to face your sons, you begin to prattle on a series of commands and orders, in a vague attempt in trying to ensure your colony’s not on fire when you get back. “Magnus, work with Valery. You’re going to need his help to get the corps back into a running order. In the coming days they are going to become even more important, both for the sake of exploration, and military needs. I trust you to do a good job while I am away.”

“I shall, I won’t let you down, dad.” Magnus says, slightly puffing up.

“I know you will.” You put a hand on his shoulder and give a smile, hidden due to the suit. “John. The burden on your shoulders is going to be the heaviest of all. While I am gone, you are in charge. Everyone’s lives, their futures depend on your decisions. Consider everything carefully, and strike at the opportune moment. Remember everything we had talked about, and you will be fine.” Now moving onto your firstborn, you remark.

“I had endeavoured to learn every lesson given, father. I am quite certain I shall do just fine, exceptional, even.” To your chagrin, John dismisses your concerns and instantly proclaims how he will take care of everything.

You can see why he ticks people off. With an exaggerated sigh, you continue. “I know you will. Just take time to listen to others. No man rules alone, and no king can know everything there is to know. Plus, you cannot be everywhere at once, even with A.I.s, clones, or anything else, there is a limit, no matter how great, for one man to command. And we do not possess even a fraction of that technology.”

“I will keep it in mind, father.” Neutrally, John responds, his voice even.

“I am sure you will.” You can only nod. The decision had been a tough one, one that you agonized over for quite some time. No father should have to make a choice such as this, but here you are.
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The hiss of pressure and the noise of whirring servos as the ramp rises makes for a melancholic moment, just as this world’s star had first greeted you, it is now saying goodbye as the light spilling into the chamber is slowly fading away. Your final sight before it closes shut and the shuttle pressurises is that of your wife, holding a miniature spacesuit, seemingly custom made for Aurora so that she could witness your departure as well. You doubt that she will remember this moment, but it is certainly one that you will. It does pain you to miss the formative moments of your daughter, unfortunately, duty takes precedence over the things you’d like to do.

>>6266298

“Are you alright, sir ?” Torger questions, feeling your mood.

“I will be fine. Let’s strap in before we are thrown about the place.” You say taking a seat and securing yourself next to the last six members of the recon corps, not counting Magnus of course. A sad state of affairs, but you do need at least some people in semi-modern fighting equipment to look more than some backwards tinpot dictator.

“I must admit, sir. I am still slightly confused to as to why you wanted my presence for the journey.” Siegler remarks sitting before you in a secure seat as well, still having to sort out the fact that he will be gone for who knows how many years and that the school and other education initiatives must run unimpeded.

“Well, you will offer interesting perspective, as a teacher, and educator rather than a diplomat, a politician or a soldier. Plus, even you must admit that our education system is haphazard and thrown together based on everyone’s thoughts about what’s best. Maybe the various systems of schooling could give you, and me for that matter, some insight.”

“Well, presuming they give me access, I must admit, I am curious.” The man nods. “In either case, it will be an interesting journey nonetheless, presuming we survive it.”

“I am planning on it.”

“So, what’s our first destination.”

“House Orion, in Berton’s Sore. The system we must cross is full of gas giants and moons. Apparently, pirates love it. Hopefully, the issues there have been suppressed. And there’s another system after that one about which I am unsure, then we finally reach our destination.”

“And hope we do not get shot at.”

“With the previous good relations, our strategic position, and the gifts we bring, no one, of a sound mind at least, from House Orion will attack us.” Torger interjects. “They may pressure us however. I would like you to keep a strong stance at that moment, sir.” He now directs his words at you. “An offer of vassalization, or some sort of tributary, perhaps economically bringing us under their sphere of influence, it is extremely likely that they will not treat us at all like equals.”

“Please don’t depress me before we even have left the planet.” You tell Torger, already feeling exhausted. “We can talk about it when we are closer to actually getting there.”

“Understood, sir.” He states, nodding.

You sigh, leaning back in your chair as the world shakes around you, before long, gravity’s grip on you eases and eventually completely ceases. Through your spacesuits comm, having high priority access to all channels, you hear the pilot contacting the Argonaut and requesting permission to dock.

Your journey’s about to begin.

>Give me 1d00 Bo3 for encounter table for the journey. (Just a reminder, after all it has been a long time since we last had a roll, the higher, the better.)

Rolled 55 (1d100)

>>6266299

Rolled 89 (1d100)

>>6266299
73

>>6266305

Pretty impressive. I'll start writing unless some final vote comes in with over 90 or that mystical 100.

Rolled 11 (1d100)

>>6266299
>>6266316
Ask and you shall hopefully receive.

“Stellan, how’s she’s looking ?” You ask with a smile, having gotten out of the cumbersome spacesuit.

“Purring like a kitty.” The old captain remarks. “Been, what, over twenty years since we made a full dive into the abyss ? Not gonna lie, things might, uh, rattle a bit, pushing the thrusters and the reactor too much is bad, just as bad as not using it at all.”

“You think the ship might not be able to take the stress ?”

“Well, we’ve run maintenance best as able, but the thrusters, the reactor, most advanced bits and pieces, we’ve had absolutely no means to replace. If something breaks, well, I’d rather take one from here this…” He says tapping his side arm. “…than be stuck in the abyss.”

“Noted. Here’s to hoping that doesn’t happen.”

“Not like you can do anything about it to begin with. So just float away, enjoy the bumpy ride, and get used to eating foods from bags.”

“I already miss homemade steak.”
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You think you know why spacers are so religious, as Stellan was not exaggerating. The entirety of your room is shaking, were it not for the fact that you were floating in the middle of it, you’d be rattling as well. Thinking back twenty odd years ago, you do not remember the dusty old thing shaking as much as it is right now. Annoyingly of all, it had begun a few hours ago and it is only seemingly getting worse. The couple of days of travel towards Surt had been uneventful, bar the initial shaking, but you’ll that that over this mess you are experiencing right now.

“All hands, all hands, prepare to ride the abyssal wave !” Over the intercom you hear Stellan’s words over gritted teeth.

The vibrations get more intense, to such an extent that you can now feel in your bones, even though you are not touching anything, and then…

Nothing.

It all stops just like that. The new found peace and silent is beyond disturbing, nothing should stop just like that, especially after such intensity beforehand.

“All hands, shift successful, we’re riding the wave. Everyone, report back to your stations. We have a long journey ahead of us.”

Taking a moment to draw a deep breath, you grab your bag of semi processed food and drink it from the straw directly, not like you have to shake it up anymore.
.
.
.
It takes about five days of travel before you shift back to reality, luckily, shifting back is not as intensive as shifting to, which means you do not have to risk your lunch, at least for now.

Deciding that you’ve cooped up enough in your room, you head towards the bridge. Grabbing onto handles across all the walls, the floor, the ceiling, rotating 360 degrees for no other reason than boredom, you make your way forwards. Your eyes begin to spin between the yellow coloured floor and the blue coloured ceiling. A rather useful, if simple way to distinguishes where up is supposed to be, which is useful in the heat of combat, or manoeuvring in general.

>>6266387

By the time you reach the enclosed bridge, you spot two men in protection suits, your recon corps acting as guards for the most important parts of the ship. The two salute you as you pass by and enter the bridge to spot a sweat covered crew. You can only imagine how unsettling the shaking must have been for the people that actually knew the meaning of every single bump and thud you had experienced, and while the transmission to reality has been a smooth one, that was only from your perspective.

“Stellan, how are we looking ?”

“The old beast still has it. And it looks like she can still take plenty more before we’re out of service.”

“How’s the system looking ?”

“We’ve sent sensor pings, it will take a few hours, maybe a day or two for the data to come back as readable, honestly, depends on how far everything is. Though from what we can see right now, that merchant, whatever his name was, wasn’t lying. We’re in a binary system and so far, we can confirm three gas giants and about a hundred or so moon between them. I can see why such a place would be infested with pirates. I could also see miners moonlighting as pirates or the other way around in this place.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time, based on your experience ?” You ask with a slight jovial tone in your voice.

“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Stellan responds as deadpan as he can manage.

“Anything else besides that ?”

“We’ll see once we get deeper in system, though I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a wreck or two floating out there, with the place being full of pirates and there being a war and all that. We might chance on some useful salvage.”

“Or a trap.”

“That too.”

“Keep an eye out, in either case and tell if you find something interesting.”

“Will do.” Stellan responds staring at the data before his console of a slowly forming image of the system you are now in.
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“Well, I be damned.” Stellan mutters, staring at one of the monitors over the shoulder of a strapped in crewman.

“We’ve run the scan three times, just to make sure. No false positives, no other power signals. Seems genuine.” The crewman states.

“What does this mean ?” You ask, coming closer, drawn by the conversation.

“You see all these ?” Stellan points to the various blinking dots of various sizes. “Bits of metal and debris. Most a few metres across, a couple a dozen are these big dots, there are thousands of lesser signatures, but we’re ignoring those. This is a battlefield, a graveyard. Most likely already cleanly picked through by the winning side and then the scavengers that came after. But look at that.” He specifically points at a large dot, slowly blinking that seems to fade in and out of existence. “That’s an intact ship, or a big chunk from a cruiser or something bigger.”

“Alright. That hardly tells me anything about why you’re so excited.”

>>6266388

“Well, it seems that the ship is in the lower atmosphere of this moon that is spewing water and other nonsense kilometres high and dozens of wide. See ? How it just disappeared ? Whomever scoured this place must have initially missed it.”

“Let’s take a closer look then.”

“Would have done so regardless, this is far too tempting to pass up.”

“And if it is a trap ?”

“Then it is a damned expensive one.”

“So you consider it unlikely.”

“That I do.”

You spend a good few hours approaching in silence, the tension is palpable on the bridge, and everyone seems on edge, waiting if this is truly too good to be true, or if they just earned their retirements.

“Captain. We have an IFF. It is a Pater Familia class destroyer – DCS Raised Under Newsun. I am reading auxiliary power only. Escape pods are jettisoned, I am also reading superficial damage over the structure…the hangar appears to be open, hold one…not seeing any smaller signatures inside. It appears to be abandoned, sir !” With rising excitement, the crewman proclaims.

Laughing out loud, Stellan turns to you. “Hear that ! We’ve got ourselves a brand-new ship !”

“One presumedly out of ammo, no spacecraft squadron, and seeing as how its only got auxiliary power, probably a busted main reactor. Not to mention, the original owners might not be too pleased to learn their warship has been reclaimed by someone who’s not them.”

“Well, its not too bad. There’s still supplies in there we could salvage; my men are quite good at it. At the end of the day, it’s your choice. Based on the trajectory, the thing will smash into the moon given a year or two and there won’t be anything left, if you just want to leave it.”

You sigh. “What about crewing it ?”

“I can pull some of my men for it, it’ll fly. Hell, it won’t even do that too well, and it sure as hell won’t fight, but if we can get it back, it’s a ready-made ship all of our own.”

>We need that ship, get some crew down there and get it up and running. (Gain DCS Raised Under Newsun)

>It’s too risky, best we just send down a crew to scrap it for parts, especially those neutronium thrusters and reactor. (Gain 50 influence)

>Just leave it be. We’ll pretend we saw nothing and just go our own way.

>(Write in)

QM NOTE: I did your influence gain wrong, you gain 8 a year, which means you gain 40 a turn.

>>6266390
>>We need that ship, get some crew down there and get it up and running. (Gain DCS Raised Under Newsun)
SPACESHIP!

>>6266390
>We need that ship, get some crew down there and get it up and running. (Gain DCS Raised Under Newsun)
Finders keepers

>>6266390
>>We need that ship, get some crew down there and get it up and running. (Gain DCS Raised Under Newsun)
A Directorate of Chorix destroyer huh

It seems I keep fucking up, I blame that it was about midnight by the time I finished writing. What you are getting is a frigate, not a destroyer, if you decide to capture it, my bad on that part.

>>6266610

>>6266610
No worries. Naming something a frigate or destroyer get switched around a lot in real life.

You stare at the blinking big dot every single time a sensor sweeps through it, only to watch it disappear a few moments later.

Taking a deep breath, weighing your options, and throwing the various thoughts bouncing in your head about, you come to a singular conclusion:

“I want that ship.” You state, and exactly at those words, the entirety of the bridge crew jumps to with Stellan’s bellowing orders. It seems they were ready to take the ship for themselves should it come down to it.

A few hours of shuffling, rushing to the landing craft, and then securing the frigate later, the away team gives the all-clear signal, indicating that they managed to secure the bridge, propulsion, and the reactor room. Just as you’re sitting, or well, floating with a shit-eating grin, you hear this over the comm:

“Ship secure.” Comes the voice from the away team’s leader. “Now we only need the control code.”

Your smile disappears. “Control code ?” You ask Stellan.

“Ah yeah, out of all of the excitement it did slip my mind. Without a genetic, or cybernetic lock, you also have the control code which can be a few dozen up to a hundred numbers needed to unlock the ship’s controls. Prevents thievery and makes mutinies a lot harder to pull off.”

“And we don’t have one.”

“Nope.”

“So how do we get the ship going ?”

“We crack the code. It, uh, might take a while.”

“Define, while.”

“A few days, maybe a week or two. Our supplies are accounted for unexpected delays, we’ll be fine. Not like this is the first time we have to crack the control code. So ! My Edel ! Sit your ass down, relax, enjoy the view…”

“You have no windows.” You interject.

“…all the while we get you your new ship !” Ignoring your comment, Stellan concludes.
.
.
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It had taken a whole damned month of you sitting around, bored out of your mind, before the specialized equipment, Stellan just so happened to have in his possession, was able to crack the code.

Still, for the first time in a while, with a safety line holding you securely to the hull of the Argonaut, you watch as the 300-metre-long frigate sputters to life, as its thrusters begin to glow with life. You are less impressed when someone accidentally fires the retro thrusters, slowing the ship down. Realizing the mistake, the retro thrusters are disabled and the lateral thrusters are fired off instead, actually allowing the ship to finally manoeuvre into a holding position around the argonaut.

With the matter solved and dealt with, you make your way back inside of the ship. You’ve had enough of this system, especially when you are stuck aboard a ship. Solid ground under your feet and gravity strong enough to make you feel comfortable is far more preferable to this nonsense.

“Prepare for a partial shift !” You hear over the intercom and soon enough, your existence becomes even more miserable as yet again, the ship begins to shake.
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>>6267294

You finally arrive at Berton’s sore, or as the locals call it, Orion’s Eye. Apparently, the last name was given by those whom took part in an exploratory expedition of a man named Berton, whom found the system, and it ended up not being anywhere near as profitable as he had hoped, bankrupting the man. Of this, you were informed when you had entered the Concordia system, wherein Orion had set up a small colony and a military outpost. A rather annoyed captain had threatened to shoot you down the moment you arrived, but the mentions of the Margrave, proclamations of your diplomatic mission and identity had seen you cleared for further travel. Though quite the stink-eye had been thrown to your brand-new ship, and you had to explain how you came across it and that you were in fact not a rather poorly disguised spy.

Based on the sensor data, as well as the camera feed, throughout your days of journey within Orion’s eye, you had come to a singular conclusion:

“Holy shit, they did all this in like what, seventy odd years ?” Stellan rather crudely puts you’re your thoughts to words.

You have to agree with him, as you had already spotted seventeen signals indicating heavy cruisers, and at least a couple of stronger signals which you can only assume are battleships or proper carriers. This is added on the fact that there are dozens of light cruiser signals and God only knows how many destroyers and frigates. Such a massive concentration of force in a singular system is not unheard of within the Unbroken empire, but well, that’s because the Unbroken Empire spans thousands of systems and can afford the material and manpower costs of maintaining such forces.

There are a couple more things that do draw your attention within the large system, the first would be the small volcanic world close to the system’s star, of a blue dwarf, heated heavily by it, the planet itself is relatively newly formed as it continues to spew out volcanic ash which your sensors can pick up. The thing you find to be of most import however, is the skeletal structure of a planetary ring with thick tethers that are in the process of being made into proper space elevators set across the equator of the world wherever there is solid ground. You can note a clear artificial ridge in the mountain range where it was dug out and clearly used for the purpose of making the ring and its components. Without a halt, thousands of vessels busily appear like a swarm of bees working without rest in and around the ring. That too is where you find most of the warship signals are at. It seems this ring is acting as the primary drydock of House Orion, even in an unfinished and diminished form, you must wonder how many ships can be maintained and constructed at the same time. And most importantly, how expensive it is to maintain and build the thing to begin with, and how can Orion afford it.

>>6267295

This impressive sight is a strong contrast to a world of azure and green. A few defence stations here and there, as well as a main spacestation with a singular space elevator. Rather sparse defences for a surprisingly beautiful world, that is undoubtedly the centre of population. Or so you thought until you got somewhat closer and realized that while the planet looks pretty on the outside, in reality, it is nothing more than a collection of reflective light, chemicals and minerals. It is a dead world in terms of biological life, lacking any degree of habitability. Which explains the outdated and minimal defences present above the world, most likely set up ways back by the original settlers, and Orion had not seen any real need to upgrade the present infrastructure.

To further reinforce the point, local system monitor gives you a course to follow leading towards the space ring and in no uncertain terms makes it blatantly obvious, that should deviate from the set course, every single ship in the system will turn their guns against you and turn you into atoms.

By the time you got to the docking bay assigned to you, you had spent about four days in system, and then you spent fourteen hours docked, not allowed to depart until they had checked your ship through scans and made certain of your identity.

Finally, your ship had received an all-clear signal, indicating that there is an escort ready to meet you. As you will be entering a massive orbital ring, you have the good luck of not needing a spacesuit, though seeing as how something like 90% of it is still unfinished, you are not feeling particularly comfortable.

“It is a clear intimidation tactic.” Holm remarks., standing behind you to your right. “They are trying to clearly establish their own superiority in comparison to us.”

“Well, I don’t know about you two, but for me personally, it worked.” Elian says, standing behind you to your left. “They have more metal in their warships than we have in our entire colony,”

“I’m starting to lower the ramp, break a leg out there.” You hear Stellan over the comm.

“Alright folks !” You below as an army officer, the years of experience flooding back in. “We are to conduct ourselves with the utmost level of professionalism ! Backs straight, faces forwards ! Let us show these old exiles how we Valhallans do things !”

“Sir, yes, sir !” The six honour guard respond, with three on each side in a line of your little grouping of three. The frontmost two men in protection suits also hold aloft the banners of house Hardrada.

With a loud thud, the banners flutter as air rushes in. Fresh, cool air, you note. Whatever AC system Orion has, it is a good one.

>>6267296

Walking out into a large open chamber, you are immediately floored by the sight before you, one bringing back old memories. A polished black floor, white ceiling with powerful floodlights falling from it, making sure that there is not even a single visible shadow. A collection of spacecraft parked to the side. Finally, a collection of two companies worth of men in power armour, with striking orange-red paint job of the armour plating and the undersuit. Perhaps most strikingly of all, would be the fact that power armour looks different compared to the one you had seen seven odd years ago amongst the men accompanying the Margrave. The plates look thinner, sleeker, though you see an interesting chained mesh around the weaker points of armour around the joints. Another thing that does draw your eye, would be the longer barrels of the rifles clutched in their armoured hands. An increase in penetrative power and range, but it would most likely come at a cost of faster weapon degradation, increased maintenance, and making close range engagements, especially ones aboard a spaceship, that much harder.

In the middle of the ensemble stands a small grouping of men and women. At the front, a fashionably dressed young man, barely in his teens if you had to judge, and even then, what strikes you is his average appearance. Despite being dressed in fine attire and clearly holding the position of honour, the man, no, the boy is rather plain looking, unlike most nobles you had seen in your time. Behind him, is a collection of ten individuals, five men, five women, dressed in servant’s attires, their gazes are directed towards the floor and their postures lowered.

Your own meagre grouping approaches the young, and based on Ashwin’s plans and recommendations, it is clear that you must address the boy first, as the inferior party. For some reason, your thoughts turn to John, and how he’d most likely throw a fit if he were in your position.

“Greetings. I am Edel David Hardrada, I represent the Valhallan people of Thunor. We’ve had dealings with house Orion before, and we come bearing gifts and request the privilege to negotiate and deal with your great House.” You deliver a statement Ashwin forced you to memorise.

“I-“ The boy says with a slight crackle in his voice. “I am Baron Jan Porras. Sent to negotiate with you and guide you at your leisure. A small banquet has been prepared to welcome your arrival, now, if you would follow me.” He states with stiff words and an unsure expression, throwing the occasional glance at a much older maid behind him.

“I graciously I accept.” You respond with a nod, gesturing for the boy to lead you, and only then does he realize that this is exactly what he’s supposed to do.

As the procession begins to move on, you lean in closer to Torger. “What’s this about ?”

>>6267297

“Honestly ? Not sure, yet. It could be an insult directed towards us, maybe a clear distinction that at best we could strike only a limited deal and resource exchange, as I doubt the child has much authority to negotiate. It could very well be a result of an internal power struggle, maybe someone won, maybe this is the compromise, or it could be training to someone’s important son.” Torger whispers back to you whilst shrugging.

“Regardless, how long do you think we will stay here ?”

“At this rate ? A year, at most. I am sure there are plenty of sights and noble diplomacy to be done. It is also safe to assume that we will be dealing with a lot of spies and having to take care to keep our words to ourselves until everything’s secured.”

“I think I should start going now, then, while the kid’s unsure how to handle it.”

“Not a bad idea, his handlers will prevent most, but if can get his promise and word on certain matters, we would be in a more powerful position to leverage those promises.”

>What questions do you have for the young baron ?

>What sort of deal are you looking to strike with house Orion ?

>>6267300
>>What questions do you have for the young baron ?
Who is he and how broad deals can he make? (Sidenote: His family name means step in finnish lol) Could we use their facilities to repaint our new frigate in ours while we are here? And how is the good Margrave Mykell Oreskovich? And could he be available to meet us?

>What sort of deal are you looking to strike with house Orion ?
Rare minerals traded to food, civships traded to food and non-aggression pact with them

>>6267300
>>6267317
This seems good but perhaps we should also ask if we can pay for repairs and replacement parts for our ships, especially the Argonaut. However, this might be something we can get as part of a deal we make with House Orion.

>>6267300
>>6267317
>>6267543
+1 to both

>>6267300
>>6267317
>>6267543
Also supporting.
Valhalla is in need of automated mining equipment to speed up rares extraction and to develop ourselves to be a better host and partner(/vassal?) of House Orion.

>>6267855
>vassal
No no my friend in the long game their liege

>>6267300
>What questions do you have for the young baron ?

first suggestion
Ask him about what information he knows about the local galactic community. Something more in-depth than what that trader ship said. Also as a secondary source to see if any of what said trader said was bullshit.

Second
Probably question him about the current state of the expansion of the Unbroken Empire towards our local cluster, what politics are going on in the greater empire and the areas closest to our local cluster.

Third
Try to ask into the general culture and hardships of these people. Maybe some might try by themselves to immigrate to Thunor if given the knowledge about our relatively simple yet bountiful world? I can imagine there must be SOME oppressed groups in this society or those just wanting to get away. Like our original colonists.


>What sort of deal are you looking to strike with house Orion ?

Generally, I would support trading food for basically anything and everything we need. As well, I would be happy if we could get some form of security guarantee from House Orion since our military is very small right now.

Maybe a large-scale investment would be a good idea to ask into as well? House Orion could provide engineers and raw resources, and in exchange, they would get free repairs and food while docked in Thunorian stations and we would pay a sum of food above later at quite a bit lower than market price. Something like "We will sell food for 60% of local Orion market price until the debt of (insert number here) + 20% has been paid through the lowered prices"

That way we'd also be creating a stable customer base of people who wanted to buy our stuff because of the initial cost savings and then got hooked by how good it is.


Anyways. Sorry for not responding the last few days. Been a HECTIC weekend.

Also, no problems with the frigate vs destroyer mishap. You are perfectly fine. Small mistake, we all make em.


>>6264707
And maybe I'm too negative. I'd say Magnus would be easier to control since Vengefulness is more of an "everyone knows it is bad on some level" sin, unlike John's pride.

But maybe that's just cope and John will show me for being a doubter. Either way, as I said I hope the right choice was made. I don't think choosing him is stupid, I just think Magnus makes a better overall person too. But that's subjective in many ways...so eh.

>>6268024
Am like 95% sure if John has problems they will be visual to us. Which makes it easier to fix

>>6267886
QM made a point of what they achieved in 70 years to amass a flotilla vs our current 21 years that has only some cool interceptors and a transporter (+ a new legitimate salvage of dubious origin and capability)

>>6268281

Just going to point out that Orion is a noble house that fled the Unbroken Empire with everything they could load up and retreat. Then they spent 70 years building up after fighting off the locals that did not want them there.

Meanwhile, David's some asshole that packed up and fucked off from the Unbroken Empire with a couple of thousand of people and nothing but empty pockets and hopes, and dreams.

As always, anons picking the hardest options.

>>6268281
You must be new, or have you forgotten how many turns we used to get more rare minerals. We would have great fleet by now otherwise if not ready then being built were we not being constrict by our rare minerals.

You only saw their strength when we were shown their weakness, their world is long dead while our world is beating ever stronger with life.
After we get more minerals, we can truly start building what we want and need like colonising that mineral rich system to our sector north.

That corpse of a world will be their undoing.

>>6268304
I was petitioning in previous threads to focus on rare mineral acquisition from probably the second thread, but our friendly anons had other goals like exploring the base.

>>6268306
>exploring the base.
Which gave us our biggest boost so far in form of that beta AI that we sold it for 70 common even if I was against selling it and did not cost any rares.

And that civilian DRM gave us most of our infra building plans

>A collection of civilian DRM blueprints.
>The only issue is getting the production facilities up, but these are time tested and true designs and thanks to them, we can start setting up whatever sort of basic prefab we want, ranging from factories, to habitation blocks, to power generators. Granted, everything’s out of date by a century or two, but from now on, we won’t have to figure out how to make fire from scratch anymore.

Stepping in front of the procession, with the gaggle of servants behind, their eyes low even as they walk, you turn to look downwards to the unsure child. Throwing a few question around in your mind, you eventually break the monotonous noise of continuous silent footsteps and the sound of whirring machinery around you that maintains the barely built orbital ring.

“Baron, if I may converse with you while we walk ?”

“Oh.” The boy seems to be startled out of his own mind by your words. “Ah, yes, of course.”

“I would like to know who you are.” You say with a hint of a grin. That seems to take the boy off guard as he raises a questioning gaze towards you, one primarily filled with confusion. “I mean who you are, not just your name or title.”

“Oh. I am sorry. I don’t even know where to begin.”

“Let’s start simple, how about your house ?”

“My house ?” It takes him a second to process your words. “Yes, I suppose it is my house.” He nods slowly. “I am the second noble lord of this lineage. My grandfather was the first.” You are able to easily see as the boy’s expression softens.

“That’s recent.”

“Quite so. I suppose you had seen Azur ? The gem of this system. We had been there for centuries…then Orion came.” His face darkens, that is when a loud thud comes from behind you, as one of the manservants takes a particularly strong step. “Ah, by that I mean, we’ve been barely eking out a living until Orion assisted us and my family swore fealty.”

“You ruled as kings before ?”

“Oh, no. No such thing, my grandfather was the Elder of our settlement. I personally never saw it nor I remember it, but the position was an electable one. A proud tra-“ You hear another step. “-dition, but a misguided one.” The child, shifting his expression, changes what he was about to say. This time, you think the strong step came from one of the maids. “My grandfather was a respected man, and he was given the honour of ruling over Azur in Lord Orion’s stead.”

“Thank you.” You state a moment of silence later. “I am certain you will make a good ruler, in time.”

“I can only hope.”

“Then, a far more serious question, if I may ?”

“Of course.” The boy nods.

“What is the extent of your remit when it comes to these negotiations ?”

He gives a sad smile. “Lord Orion wishes to assure you, and every other state in these stars of his good intentions, and his willingness, as is given by God, to protect you from the threats posed by the godless and the murderous.” He rattles off a pre-prepared statement.

Jackshit then. You nod politely, with crude thoughts in your mind. A defensive pact is certainly on the table, maybe some light trade, but that’s probably about it. And even, you have zero doubts that it is all for the purpose of extending Orion’s influence, though you’ve been warned of such by Ashwin to begin with.

>>6270611

“Well, if lord Orion was here, I would gladly extent my thanks personally, but it seems I shall have to request you to send my kind regards to him.”

“Of course, it would be my duty.”

“Ah, a thought comes to mind. With your grand shipyards, would it be possible to commission a paintjob for my frigate ? It is a trophy ship, you see, not yet in the proper colours of my navy.”

“That can be arranged, quite easily so. What colours do you favour ?”

“Wel-“ You cut yourself off. Shit. What colours DOES my navy have ? You never really gave it any thought. Well, it seems you might need to make the choice right here and now:

You could go with just plain grey, a standard finish. Dull, boring, doesn’t really draw an eye either. Some would view it as rather conformist and imperious, or just uninspired.
>Plain grey

You could instate your house colours for it. Taking some inspiration from John with a dominant black for the largest covering of the ship’s general areas, with accents of gold around the large edges and curves, with streaks of white upon the smaller.
>House Hardrada colours

Most ships lack windows, and for a damned good reason, but still, jet black ships would blend in with the backdrop of space. How useful would that be remains to be seen, as sensors don’t much care about what sort of colours are employed.
>Jet black

Maybe try something different, the colours of Thunor itself as it is right now, with dominant blues, thick grey edges and thin edge highlights of white. The dominant oceans, the landmasses, and the swirling clouds high above.
>Thunor colours

Of course, those were only a couple of ideas you had, instead you think you will go with:
>(Write in)

The boy nods. “I will relay your instructions to the maintenance crews, they will have it painted in a month or two.”

“That long for a paintjob ?”

“Well, most docks are busy building, repairing, or mo-“ Another loud step. “Ahem. As I was saying, the docks are very busy, with the war and all raging around us.”

“I appreciate it.” You state with a nod. “If I may bother you a bit more ?”

The kid laughs. “Of course. This is perhaps the best conversation I had in months.”

“Why, thank you. Never thought myself a good conversationist. But what I had in mind was if you knew the good Margrave Mykell Oreskovich ?”

Jan’s expression stiffens and his step falters for a moment. “The good margrave is busy.” He states with a hind of barely concealed contempt. “He is currently the house representative within the Free Volunteers Confederation. I do not know how long he will be away.”

“Ah, since you mentioned the FVC.” You instantly switch gear. “Are you aware of the local galactic going ons ? About the Unbroken Empire and what they are up to ?”

>>6270612

“I am sorry, but it is not something that I am aware of.” His gaze turns slightly melancholic. “Sadly, the extent of my knowledge extends here, to the going ons of my home, and even then, not all.”

“I see.” Your own gaze turns quizzical. “Then, what about your people ? I am fascinated by the cultures all around me, your own is not an exception. What sort of hardships have you faced ? What shaped you to be the way you are, those sorts of things.”

It takes him a moment, longer than you would expect, to organize his thoughts. “The people of Orion are God fearing, hardworking, courageous. Content with the place God put them into.”

A very diplomatic answer, and one that did not slip your insight as to how Porras had eyed the servants for a moment before answering.

“Ah, we’ve arrived !” The boy proclaims before a large set of doors that slide open, revealing a long, large table with a blindingly white cloth atop of it and nearly three dozen servants all in motion awaiting guests, fine craftsmanship silverware is placed down alongside a sea of finger foods and cold snacks.

One thing of particular that strikes you is that the attire of the servants vastly different of those behind you. While the servants trailing behind the Baron all wore classical suits and dresses of white and black, with a patch with Orion’s symbol sown in around their upper most left area of the chest, these servants are different. Their clothing is simpler, more rugged, with striking ensemble of colours, dominating greens and blues. Another striking thing of note would be their appearances, while the servants in black are by no means drop dead gorgeous, they clearly have been chosen for their looks, while those swirling around are closer to simple everyday folk, you note clear and apparent chemical burns around their hands in particular, nothing life threatening, but clearly visible showcase of hard work they had undertaken before finally ending up here.

“Our servants will negotiate the finer details of the deal you wish to strike.” The baron says. “For now, let us eat.”

“I can agree on that.” You state, swallowing hard, the prospect of actual food instead of spacer sludge that they so love, a fact you will never understand, has already made your stomach growl.

Still, as you take your seat beside Jan, one thing does become quite apparent. That is the fact that the young baron is not at liberty to speak his mind, and it is clear that there are gaps in his knowledge. On the upside, your own trustworthy and empathetic nature had made the boy open up. Probably because he reminds you of your sons.

>>6270614

>So be it. He was sent to you for a reason after all, best not risk angering the vastly superior state by prying more than you should, even if that is exactly playing into their hands.

>You feel you could get more out of the kid, whether or not that is anything useful now or the far future, you do not know. Still, you’d rather have the truth than a well-crafted narrative.

>>6270612
>“Oh, no. No such thing, my grandfather was the Elder of our settlement. I personally never saw it nor I remember it, but the position was an electable one. A proud tra-“ You hear another step. “-dition, but a misguided one.
We can so work on this. Do you see it anons, a crack in a glass.


>>House Hardrada colours
They can be jet black for our more questionable operations

>>6270616
>You feel you could get more out of the kid, whether or not that is anything useful now or the far future, you do not know. Still, you’d rather have the truth than a well-crafted narrative.
There no harm asking the most tourist-like questions What are the must-see attractions? What are they proud of as people? How do they make so great food on their planet? What are some cultural norms I should be aware of? Is it safe to walk around at night? What kind of great leader the lord Orion is and what else could you tell about him as person? What's the best way to experience the local culture? Can you recommend any good souvenirs?

>>6270612
>Thunor colours

>>6270616
>You feel you could get more out of the kid, whether or not that is anything useful now or the far future, you do not know. Still, you’d rather have the truth than a well-crafted narrative.

>>6270616
>>6270612
>House Hardrada colours


>You feel you could get more out of the kid, whether or not that is anything useful now or the far future, you do not know. Still, you’d rather have the truth than a well-crafted narrative.

With the caveat that we don't do it right now and instead try to be subtle with Jan, doing stuff where we are able to communicate with him without the knowledge of his handlers.
If he would want to aid us as a potential supporter of their independence, then we could probably get a lot of cool shit.

Oh also Newb, can we still request projects from our mad scientist Uriah?

I was thinking about putting in a custom request for a new breed of creature. One that had DNA from axolotls to regrow limbs, bear hibernation and an outer skin made out of chitin made to grow like Limpet teeth (it's weird, but it is super strong apparently) and asexual reproduction so each one of them can lay new eggs.

The point of such a creature? To have it as a mount for military personnel, as both a pet and a protector. Where it bonds with its owner close to its after hatching, having very strong protective instincts for said owner. And you could have new ones be born whenever a family member joined the military.

It would hibernate when on long interstellar journeys, and would also act as pets/companions for their owners when not out on a battlefield.

Pic is how I would imagine it to look. I know it's a warrior bug and Xenomorph put together, but I think the design also just looks neat. (With/Without the hands in the pic depending on what Uriah might do while fucking around within his lair)

>>6270612
>House Hardrada colours

>>6270616
>You feel you could get more out of the kid, whether or not that is anything useful now or the far future, you do not know. Still, you’d rather have the truth than a well-crafted narrative.

Trying to get a moment of honest conversation with the Baron wins.

I need 1d100 Bo3

>>6270809

Yeah, you can. I am currently reworking and simplifying the research system to make more generalist and streamlined. But such special research requests can be implemented.

Rolled 50 (1d100)

>>6271091

Rolled 58 (1d100)

>>6271091

Rolled 45 (1d100)

>>6271091
nice to know :D

You take a quick glance at Jan. the young baron appears impassive, though you are able to see small cracks in his expression, if anything, he appears to be somewhat calmer surrounded by the servants around the room. Though behind him, like the sword of Damocles, stand a pair of servants, both a man and a woman dressed in the traditional black and white, standing in great contrast to the swirling of moving colours all around you.

Taking a quick gander over the gathered ingredients, while you are no farmer yourself, you can tell that some of the vegetables appear to be fresh, probably grown using hydroponics, though the sheer amount of preserved ingredients employed in the various recipes means that they are either digging into their reserves of the last harvest, or they had imported it.

As for the remainder of the course as it was being presented throughout, you note a distinct dominance of meat, be it duck, chicken, beef, pork. Though these are all high-quality ingredients, thanks to having eaten fresh cuts of meat prepared for you nearly daily, you are able to discern that every single one of these has been frozen.

This more or less confirms to you that while they have food production, you doubt they have as large of variety as you do back on Thunor, you also are able to tell that there is a distinct lack of any seafood present anywhere.

Of course, these observations only amount to what was shown before you, which you presume is the highest quality that the locals can offer, as at the end of the day, you are a foreign head of state and leading a diplomatic mission, to treat you poorly would reflect equally as poorly on the host as well.

Having finished your idle observations, you direct a question to Jan. “Tell me, Baron, I noticed a lack of seafood, have you ever tried any ?”

“Seafood ?” He looks genuinely confused, before remembering something. “I remember reading about it, but I’ve never tried any, no.”

“Then you should come to Thunor one day, I will treat you to a proper feast.” You say with a kind-hearted smile, specifically keeping track of the two servants behind the baron, gauging their reactions. Naturally, their gazes are filled with those of your wife, of similar breed are they as the various spooks you had encountered so long ago. Suspicion, paranoia, constant vigilance and tense bodies ready to move at a second’s notice.

“I am most thankful for you offer.” Porras responds noncommittally.

You lean back in the chair, continuing your smile. We will see if the answer changes after your handlers are gone.
.
.
.
“No luck ?” You ask, two months of endless effort later, you had not once found a moment to get the young Baron away from his handlers.

“No, sir.” Elian says, having been roped in to the effort.

“Did your endeavour go well ?”

>>6272022

“Well enough, I suppose. I got access to their various education facilities, though under guard and I was denied access to any research environments.”

“So, did you learn anything ?”

“A bit.” He says, taking a seat. “For one, they have an actual fully fledge curriculum, we were making do with what we know, and what we needed, so something like a philosophy class is utterly lacking on our end.”

“Did they share it with you ?”

“They did. Not like any of the material is classified, be it maths, physics, chemistry, proper Vatan curriculum be it spelling or grammar. Once I get back, I will be able to get things in proper order. Though there are also other matters about their education that give me pause.”

“Such as ?”

“A caste-based education, religious indoctrination.”

That gives you pause. “What do you mean ?”

“Well, one feeds into the other. The folks here are all a Christian denomination of Edenists.”

“Heard of them.” You state with a nod. Edenists are a natural evolution of religion that is now no longer bound by a single planet. Believing, in a nutshell, that the universe is the garden of Eden, they wish to claim it and restore it to how God had first created it. All the while encouraging genetic manipulation whilst it maintains the human form. Again, humans were perfect, created in the image of God before being banished out of Eden. The restoration of Eden and mankind is a task given by God to humanity in their path of redemption from the original sin. A popular enough religion for the nobility, primarily because of their favouritism for genehancements making them, in the eyes of this religion, seem closer to God, thus increasing their right to rule over the unwashed masses. Or so they say.

“The caste system encourages one to be content with their life, as it was ordained by God. So, a mechanic’s son will be a mechanic, so on and so forth. Though seemingly there is some flexibility in the system, based on their historic record mind you, so take of that what you will. Honestly, it’s pretty much there to entrench the noble class as such without any threats from any other social classes.”

“And what do you think of it ?”

“I mean.” He hesitates for a moment. “It’s good for unity and the nobility. Everyone believing in the same God and all, be they actual believers or not. Social mobility ? Pretty dead, honestly. Granted, I would need years of observation to get genuine results, but that’s what I had seen so far.”

Just as you’re about to reply, you watch as Torger enters the room with a rapid step. “Sir !” He immediately proclaims. “I present to you the first official draft of the treaty of friendship and trade between Orion and Hardrada.”

You and Siegler both jump up and look at an actual piece of paper.

“Rather archaic.” You remark.

>>6272023

“It is, but the House has a sense of history.” Holm half-heartedly nods. “We have about sixty pages outlying the deal, I will give you a quick rundown and answer any questions you might have, point by point.”

“Alright, go ahead.”

“First point, the non-aggression pact. It is formed between Lord Julius Orion and David Hardrada, rather than the states themselves, it is a pact between individuals and those that are subordinated underneath.”

“Why ?” You raise the obvious question.

Torger shrugs. “As far as Orion is concerned, everything is owned by the head of the house. It might also be an incentive to ensure dynastic stability and noble way of rulership, as once the head of state is gone, the treaty is null and void, and by that I mean the entire treaty, not just the non-aggression pact.”

“Alright, what next ?”

“They outright declined trading any ships for foodstuffs, or just trading them in general. They either have no desire, lack the means, or they simply do not want to give ships to us.” Holm continues on. “They are willing to trade resources for food. They are willing to go so far as to conduct the trade themselves with no extra cost on our own end, which means that they will transport the cargo and that they will defend it.”

“Not bad. Seems more in our favour than theirs.”

“They either want the food that badly, or they do not trust our ability to transport the cargo to begin with.”

“Anything else ?”

“A few mentions left vague and open. Such as a potential for a migration treaty, potential investment venues. As I said before, it opens the possibility, but without your and Orion’s go ahead, it might as well be nothing.”

You quickly flip through the pages of the document, perusing it as Torger explains more minutia of the deal. Eventually, you come to a conclusion of how the treaty looks.

Current treaty:
Non-aggression pact between heads of state, ending when one or the other passes away.
Small trade deal - food for material (40 influence a turn).

>Accept the treaty.

>Decline the treaty.

>Modify the treaty (write in).

Torger nods at your choice. “I will let them know right away.”

As he leaves the room, Siegler turns to you. “With the negotiations still underway, this honestly might be the best opportunity to slip out.”

You raise an eyebrow at that. “Meaning ?”

“See how the common people live. We’ve been constrained to this part of the station for a while, isolated for all intents and purposes.”

“Or I could talk to other nobles than the baron.” You say dryly, already hating your words.

“Might be useful, but I am not putting up with that.”

“Don’t blame you.”

Siegler hums. “What about the shipwrights ? Their numbers seem plentiful enough.”

“I doubt they would be willing to allow for such information about shipbuilding to be that easily accessible.”

>>6272025

“No. But, they are repainting our state’s newest ship. And they are doing it in your house’s colours. I’d say it’s pretty natural for you to go and take a look, no ?”

“Maybe.”

“Either way, I’m sure you will find someone or another that’s interesting enough to converse with.”

>”I should meet with the nobility. Not fun, but very diplomatic. Who knows, I might make some friends along the way.”

>”Maybe the shipwrights could tell me what they learnt about my new trophy ship. Hell, a couple would be willing to come along for a chance at nobility, perhaps.”

>”Well, if you want to see the truth of a civilization, look at the lowest rung of it.”

>“I guess I could also go off the beaten road.” (Write in)

>>6272025
>>6272026
>Accept the treaty.
I don't want to rock the boat too much.

Buuuut, I do want to ask our advisors about a potential clause I had in mind, if it would be stupid.

"To help Thunor's agricultural production and to improve relations between our House and House Orion, any noble under the rulership of Jan Porras can, with his permission, send data or material owned by them to Thunor if deemed reasonable. The packages being sent as gifts in specifically marked boxes."

I was thinking of this as a way for Jan to potentially give us tech if he thinks our friendship is worth it. I think in a 60-page document, such a clause would probably not look too much out of place, right?


>“Let us see if there are any potentially disgruntled members of this society” (Write in)

Plan:
Go out and try to talk to the normal everyday people. While doing so, try to find previously military personnel and start conversations with them. While doing so, slowly try to seed ideas of Thunor as a world, and leave an open idea that if people with an open mindset were to jump into our solar system unarmed and without anywhere to go, House Hardrada would, of course, help people down on their luck with starting a new life.

If questioned about it, say it was simply trying to get a feeling of the local culture as fellow military men, and if they question about our intentions to potentially get people to immigrate, say it was unintentional and that we simply wished to regale others with tales from home and the kindness of our people.

>>6272025
>>Accept the treaty.
Sounds acceptable, they are not letting us buy ships for the same reason why our paint job take months. They are at max capacity.

>>6272026
>”Maybe the shipwrights could tell me what they learnt about my new trophy ship. Hell, a couple would be willing to come along for a chance at nobility, perhaps.”
And talking about paint job they could be useful in future in helping us build a fleet

If we can have multiple choice then this too

>”I should meet with the nobility. Not fun, but very diplomatic. Who knows, I might make some friends along the way.”
Why not make new friends

>>6272087
I just want to point out that we have being talking to disgruntled member of Orion for last months. Also this seems like good way to burn any good will with our host. By essentially going behind their backs and saying if you hate your good lord come live with us

>>6272112
I get that it is pretty subversive on our part, but no matter if Jan is disgruntled or not, he has nearly no power to oppose those watching over him. he is a kid and as we've seen, even after months, his supervisors haven't left him alone ever, other than to maybe go and piss.

It would be the handlers who would question us if anything.

In which case, it might even help said spooks, since we'd essentially be pulling away societal sceptics and easing their work.

Of course, they might not like there being an enclave of potential Jan supporters that are sceptical of the larger Orion structure, which might support him later outside of their power. But I feel that can be false-promised away without much of a political loss.

>>6272026
>accept
I assume the resources may also include neutronium? If not, then make sure this is stipulated as a possible resource. We have no local production and need this and rare materials to remove our bottlenecks.

We could also dangle the advanced interceptors and/or original blueprint of the super-advanced interceptors now, to open the way to tech trading? Demonstrations are available on-planet!

>”I should meet with the nobility. Not fun, but very diplomatic. Who knows, I might make some friends along the way.”
Nobles are the power-brokers here.

>>6272396
>tech trading interceptors
I dont see how it would benefit us as the problem has been that we dont have resource. Hell I would say we have underused genius when it come designing things. And it would take any advantage we might have away in case of conflict

>>6272396

>I assume the resources may also include neutronium?

You requested rare resources and got those. Will elaborate on next update.

>>6272112

>If we can have multiple choice then this too

It is you concentrating on one group in particular to woo for the few months of hospitality that David has left. Each has its benefits, is all I'll say.

>>6272087

>"To help Thunor's agricultural production and to improve relations between our House and House Orion, any noble under the rulership of Jan Porras can, with his permission, send data or material owned by them to Thunor if deemed reasonable. The packages being sent as gifts in specifically marked boxes."

Siegler: "It's not a terrible idea, we could term it as an exchange of ideas or cultural traditions between our two people."

Holm: "If we ask to include this, we cannot make it that specific. It is clear that you are angling for something here, sir. And I doubt as watchful as Orion is over the young Baron, they will never willingly accept it."

Oh, and I do need a tie breaker between which group you will prioritize.

>>6272503
Changing mine to noble then

You’ve been isolated in the rather spartan, but tasteful accommodations in a newly established section of the ring. Bare decorations and perfectly new furniture did give you an odd feeling, especially with the lack of people around you. Other than a few guards keeping a watchful eye on you, silent servants would bring in fresh meals and whatever entertainment you would like.

The only excursions you had were with Jan, and while you were able to keep your intentions hidden from his ever-watchful guardians, a fact that Celyn would be proud of…though you think she’d still give you sass since you failed your main objective. As such, you were unable to make any headway in finding a potential weakness in the seemingly impenetrable armour of House Orion, or potentially getting an alliance going.

Which means you must bite the bullet and act as a proper noble. That is, you must go to banquets and feasts, and some other sort of drab and boring affairs where everyone will be talking behind everyone’s backs, some will be plotting to kill each other, or at least humiliate one another is some corner somewhere. Meanwhile a few will probably be busy engaging in procreation with those that may, or may not be their spouses. You hate drama.

And yet, here you are.

Dressed in a fine fitting suit, specifically tailored to make you appear slimmer than usual. Clad in all black, your stitching is made out of gold thread, alongside whatever buttons you have on your person with a thin gold chain, about the length of two fingers extending from your diamond encrusted collar to your left shoulder where attention is drawn to your house’s symbol. This is a combination of white pearls, a little bit of thin gold (you made your opinion known about heavy clothing ornaments), and a collection of black sapphires.

Just as you are dressed in your attire, so is Torger next to you, forced to accompany you due to his position, and the need of you to have at least one servant, or in this case lesser noble, accompanying you.

“Looks magnificent, doesn’t it.” You ask the man next to you, as you both stare out of a large observation window at a freshly repainted vessel.

“Doesn’t look too bad.” Torger nods. “I’d say it would need more yellow to match the proportions better, but I can see why they hadn’t gone all the way.”

“Well, first time and all of that.”

“Do have a name in mind ?”

“She already has one, from what I know it’s unlucky to rename ships.”

“Yes, but if someone comes into our system and sees a ship with an IFF stating DCS Born Under Newsun, I think they might come to a wrong conclusion.”

“Or they might run off without a fight, thinking we’re under protection of someone stronger.”

“Maybe. You should still give it some consideration.”

>”We found it as such; we will keep it as such.”

>”How about – Draken”

>”You know, I like – Broddr”

>”Maybe we should go with – Newfound”

>(Write in)

>>6272992

“As you will, sir.” Torger nods. “Now, unfortunately, I must do my duty and inform you that the gala is about to begin, and you will be the centre of attention.”

“Oh…wonderful.”
.
.
.
“Ah, so you are in food trade then.” A man named…you have already forgotten, honestly, remarks. “The territories that shall be bestowed upon me are slated to have a large citizen population. I am sure that when that time comes, we will be able to work something out.”

“I am sure of such as well, you…”

“If you wish to discuss the details, I am sure that my Edel will be more than happy to entrust such a task to me.” Holm jumps in before your abrasive nature takes over and you cause a diplomatic incident.

“Ah, yeah.” You sheepishly nod. “Edel Torger here has been given the duty for out stay here and is quite expert at it. In fact, we had already negotiated a deal with House Orion proper, but I can assure you, our capacity to grow food is only increasing with every passing day.” You repeat a line out of a series of dozens Torger had forced you to memorise to use when you are about to tell someone to go and love themself intensely.

Using the opportunity to slip by unnoticed, you extract yourself out of this boring conversation and take a look around the hall.

Dominated by resplendent dancing lights high above the large open chamber, the atmosphere is filled to the brim with the noise of live music as a band of musicians continues to play a lively tune to which, in the centre of an orange, red checkered floor, is a large collection of nobility engaged in a rather energetic dance. Bright, flashy colours of their own houses strike out and assault your senses, but it lets you have a moment of rest as your approach a heavy-laden table full of a wide selection of alcohol. You do note your own collection of booze that you had brought, is out on the table, prominently displayed. The servant behind the table gives you a glass of wine you had requested.

Taking it, and giving it a good hearty sniff, you take a sip and enjoy the sweet tasting wine as you gaze around the room. It seems that the attention your appearance has brought had finally somewhat faded. While a few people still eye you with curiosity, you are no longer assaulted by flocks of blueborns staring at a new toy. Thanks to Torger, you avoided causing any bloodshed or poorly exchanged words, but only just such.

At a corner, you spot Jan. He looks more depressed than usual, surrounded by people whom had conquered his home. You doubt you will get much of conversation with him, as he is surrounded by not just his servants, but other nobles as well. If anything, he does not seem to be discriminated against, at least openly, especially when a foreign noble is involved.

>>6272993

In the middle of large collection of men clad in orange uniforms with red half cloaks, a series of military officers based on their attire, stands a prominent nobleman. With flowing curling red hair and striking blue eyes, he was the only one out of the collection of nobles observing you not with curiosity, but clearly judging how much of a threat you are, or could be. He had also not even approached you to introduce himself, and instead simply observed you. Though at the same time, most nobles tend to err away from and his gaggle of officers. And you do suppose, it is somewhat odd that in such an official setting he, as an obvious noble, is wearing an officer’s uniform rather than one that portrays his house’ colours.

Sitting away from the large gathering and behind one of the tables is an old woman clad in plain clothing, with a collection of young noble ladies waiting beck and call for her any given command, it is plain for everyone to see that she holds immense sway in the noble society. She also had taken a particular fondness in your wine and his taking her time enjoying it. Naturally, following her lead, so do all of the young ladies around her. While she had not approached you, she at least acknowledged you with a polite nod when your eyes met.

Finally, one last person that does draw your gaze is one that is surprisingly plain. With a prominent belly and clad in a business suit, he has a rumbunctious and powerful voice and hearty laugh, at the same time, he had seemingly taken great pains to appear as exactly as one would imagine a jolly old business man. But his appearance here, clear commoner origins, and the fact that every noble had at least exchange a greeting with him, even the blue-eyed officer noble, though it had been a terse and concise one, indicates that he is someone of great import, economically, most likely, though you could just be judging by appearances. You’ve yet to exchange words, though that is mainly because he had been swarmed even harder than you.

Can pick more than one.

>You think you will try to exchange a few words with the young Baron. (What questions do you have ?)

>The noble officer is clearly a man of the military, maybe he could give you access to some military gear ? Though you doubt it. (What questions do you have ?)

>The old lady seems polite enough, plus, she is a big fan of your wine, which means she has impeccable taste. (What questions do you have ?)

>The business man could potentially help you out, at the very least, you have some common ground, pun intended. (What questions do you have ?)

>You know, out of everyone, this particular person strikes you with interest. (Write in) UP TO QM VETO

>>6272992
>”We found it as such; we will keep it as such.”
Well its going to be renamed partly anyway as its not DCS is it now. And I like the name

>>6272995
>You think you will try to exchange a few words with the young Baron. (What questions do you have ?)
How are you holding up, Jan?

>The noble officer is clearly a man of the military, maybe he could give you access to some military gear ? Though you doubt it. (What questions do you have ?)
Does he prefer old men in which case we are happily married or does he want talk with us about the state of things?

>The old lady seems polite enough, plus, she is a big fan of your wine, which means she has impeccable taste. (What questions do you have ?)
Let's introduce ourselves to good lady and ask how does she like the wine? Are the young ladies her daughters? As we do have two unmarried sons who could use a date

>The business man could potentially help you out, at the very least, you have some common ground, pun intended. (What questions do you have ?)
Who is he and in what business (Am betting mining, food or shipbuilding)

>>6272992
Ship name:
>(Write in)
"Reborn Over Thunor" As a play on its original name, paying homage to it while giving it a new identity.

>>6272995
>You think you will try to exchange a few words with the young Baron.
I think it could work well in our favour if we were to talk to Jan about our kids in front of many other nobles. The noble rumour mill will be ablaze with talk about two young, unmarried heirs in a far-off new nation-state. Plus it would be nice to give him some friendly company instead of practically being a living war trophy being shown off.

>The noble officer is clearly a man of the military
I'm just curious who he is. Maybe he can tell us about the conquests which House Orion has done?

>The old lady seems polite enough, plus, she is a big fan of your wine
Probably one of the biggest sources of information (and the most dangerous one at this party) if we ask the right questions. I'll wait with more specific questions until we know more about her.

I don't like the businessman. So I'll be against talking to him, since whatever deal we'd make with him, he'll always want a bigger and bigger slice of the pie. Give a CEO an inch and he'll take a mile.

>>6273012
>>6273016
>>6272992
I will change my vote in ship name to same as Fleet

>>6272992
>"Nothing New" (Under The Sun)
Double entendre intended.

>>6272995
>The old lady seems polite enough, plus, she is a big fan of your wine, which means she has impeccable taste. (What questions do you have ?)
In vino, veritas
>Madam, I noticed you appreciate my planet's vintage. May I ask why, and could we supply you with more?
>What is your role in the House of Orion?
>Can we work together in other ways such as enhanced trade, or diplomatic ways?

Finding one familiar face that you have at least something in common with, you decide to first head over to Jan, he, at the very least, will treat you not as some fanciful oddity to observe and then throw away.

“Baron Porras.” You state with a nod and a polite smile.

“Edel Hardrada.” He returns the gesture, still flanked by the two servants standing politely besides him as he had taken a seat next to a small round table with a beautiful white piece of artificial cloth upon it and a collection of frozen fruit. A few small see through containers running off batteries placed within provide cooling to the deserts, allowing for easy access as if straight out of the fridge.

“How are you holding up, Jan ?” You ask him in a friendly manner, dropping the stiff formalities in an instant, which seems to relax the young man somewhat.

“I can’t complain.” He says with his face shifting into one lacking any expression. The boy has gotten good at expressing his opinions through such subtle means after a couple of months. “Though I must admit, I am growing homesick. I was born on a planet, and I like staying on solid ground.”

“That’s an opinion I can share.” You nod. “Something about a few metres, most of the time centimetres if we’re being honest, of endless void that unsettles most men.”

“Painful way to die, if worst comes to work.” He states rather grimly and out of nowhere.

“From what I’ve heard and seen. I assume this comes from somewhere.”

The Baron grows silent, contemplative. His gaze goes around the room, taking in the sights before him. “I am the second Baron of my house. My grandfather was the first, as you are aware.”

“You lost one of your parents ?”

“Both. My mother died of the blue flux, when I was six. Finally, my father had served…valiantly in Lord Orion’s navy, to repay the favour we were given to be uplifted to nobility, and to earn the respect of our peers.”

“I am sorry to hear it.”

He gives a pained smile. “It is the burden and privilege of nobility, to wage war, whether we would desire it, or want it. It is our duty.”

“That it is.” You nod grimly, recalling your experiences. “I am sorry that I brought up such painful memories.”

“It is alright. My house had reached its current position through sacrifice. That of my grandfather establishing noble rule over Azur, that of my father, who fell in battle. That of my mother, whose songs I can still recall, though I must admit, I can only recall the melodies, not the words.” He grows completely silent and closed off.

It seems you had caught him in a melancholic mood, and made it worse. Though, at the very least, he seems to place enough trust in you to open up.

>>6274192

“Here.” You finally say, taking one of the frozen desserts and giving it to Jan. “I find it, that when one is sad, sweet things help. At least it helps with my sons.” You can see your sons in the lad, and no doubt your fatherly smile has completely caught him by surprise.

“Thank you.” He finally manages, taking the sweet.

You rise from the chair and decide to leave him be, giving him time with his own thoughts. You don’t know the boy well enough to truly give him good advice. Instead, you decide to wonder about a bit, seeing the changes in the hall, how more nobles had flooded in over time as the party’s going into full swing, seems being fashionably late is, well, fashionable. The hustle and bustle, latest gossip, dances, and hidden dalliances are swirling all around you now.

It takes a while for you to make your way through the mass of people, fresh eyes and faces now curious about the symbol on your chest, a new unknown house and what it can potentially offer, as well as the rumours of whom you are and where you had come from.

With a dizzying headache, you find yourself an hour or so later, sitting at a table in the corner, with an equally exhausted Torger finally plopping down in a chair next to you.

“Sir.” He says, his voice hoarse from continuous conversation, as he takes a few sips of water.

“Learn anything new ?”

“A few things. A couple about our young Baron, and a couple about our good Margrave.”

“The boy. What about him ? And before you speak, I learnt about his family.” You ask with genuine concern.

He nods. “Well, the reason why his house was uplifted and the locals kept in charge is because of interesting quirk of nature.”

“Uriah ?”

“Could be, but God knows.” He clears his throat. “Anyway. The oceans of blue there are actually various naturally occurring chemicals, but get this. Some bacteria or another came over with the original colonists and thrived, spreading like wildfire throughout the planet.

It is airborne, spreads rapidly and is quite deadly. People who catch it are said to have the blue flux, as their very sweat pores start to bleed blue, six out of ten end up dead from it.”

“Sounds horrid. What of antibiotics, special vaccines, genemodding and the like ?”

“It mutates rapidly, with usually there being a few strains of it at any one time, so while some drugs might help to alleviate the symptoms, they do not cure the disease, the same applies for special genemodding or nanomachines meant to hunt them down. Though strangely enough, it doesn’t affect the locals as much.”

“Meaning ?”

“It seems that the bacteria had formed a sort of a symbiotic relationship with the colonists, their bodies inhale and absorb chemicals over time, it just happens no matter how many precautions they take. The bacteria devours the chemicals and breeds, thus protecting the body from them.”

“So what, they are just immune to such things from now on ?”

>>6274193

“Resistant. The chemicals will still kill them just as much as you or me, just slower and lesser doses aren’t that dangerous. The same applies to the bacteria, if it feeds too much and grows too fast, it causes the blue flux to go rampant, though it’s only deadly to two out of ten, a marked significance.”

“Could it be a threat to us ? Here ?”

“Once the chemicals are thoroughly processed, they go through extensive decontamination process to boot. So what we get is clean, well, as clean as can be. It could potentially cause an outbreak, so we best still be careful about it.”

“You have any ideas about potential countermeasures ?”

“I am no doctor, so no, not really. Orion’s still busy figuring it out, though I cannot say how hard they are trying, with the war raging around and all. Before that they were busy building up what they have now to begin with.”

“We’ve conquered worse diseases than this before in history. I am sure we will deal with this one soon enough.” You say taking a sip of whiskey. “And the Margrave ?”

“He’s at FVC, but you knew that. What’s more interesting is that he’s in charge of negotiations not only for contracts with various mercenary outfits and the local shipyards to bolster the House’s fighting ability, but here’s the critical part. Orion has no fuel.”

You blink, and turn to stare at Torger.

“I know.” He says with a nod. “I know. But when Orion ran, or to put it more diplomatically, were forced into exile from the Unbroken Empire, they were unable to snatch any tech related to neutronium extraction. They’ve been burning through their supplies of it, and with the war necessitating their fleets to be deployed, they are desperate for a steady supply of it.”

“If they have no fuel, they cannot launch any offences. Thus, the quagmire continues.” You state a moment of contemplation later, your military training already running mental calculations. “And the other states ?”

“Well, I do not know. They have some means of extraction, presumedly.”

“So, they have the tech advantage, presumedly, seeing as they the latest commers. But they have no means of conducting extensive large-scale operations. They will want to grab and hold chokepoints, fortify them, prolong the fighting and make it as painful as possible, to finally force some sort of peace treaty.”

“There is one problem with that reasoning, sir.”

“Oh ?”

“You assume that Orion’s enemies are logical.”

You let out a small chuckle. “How so ?”

“Well, seeing as the two most advanced states had spent centuries flinging fleets at each other instead of developing their infrastructure and becoming a potential threat to the Unbroken Empire through sheer cultural, technological, political, and of course militaristic development. I say we are in an area of space where logic hardly plays any serious part.”

>>6274194

You sigh, but out of amusement and the sheer insanity of it all. “I’ll drink to that.”

“So shall I, sir. Anyone else I should be aware of, to ask around that is ?”

“That guy.” You say, pointing towards the red-haired noble. “I will either make him laugh, or he will shoot me. We shall see which is which once I get back.”

“I’ll see what I can find out.”

Rising from your seat, you take a moment to stech and hear your back cracking. You know nobles have a much faster reaction time than you, but if you are going to be dodging punches, you need to at least warm your muscles.

Taking a shot of vodka from the table, you down it in one swing, shake your head and walk towards gaggle of officers, whom still are in their own little group, one that despite the influx of guests had not grown, you note.

Naturally, the first out of everyone to spot is the red-haired nobleman, whose expression turns into one of a sneer and outright hostility, not even bothering to mask his displeasure. Like a good obedient pack of sycophants, noticing their master’s contempt, his lackeys look around and spot the only noble brave or foolish enough to approach their gathering by his lonesome.

As the approaching party, you decide to come over with a smile and fair intentions. “I could not help, but note you staring at me all this party. So I must unfortunately question if you prefer old men ? In that, case I am happily married, so I shall have to decline. Now if you want to talk with me about the state of things, I would be more than happy to.”

Oh, that set them off. You cannot help but feel a trickle of sweat roll down your back as about a dozen or so pissed off naval officers all reach for their ceremonial blades.

“Halt.” The nobleman calmly states. “Do not stoop to his level.”

“Stooping ?” You chuckle and instantly know that you will make no headway with the man, whom seems to just hate you on principle. “I was not the one who spent a good few hours making my displeasure known so apparently.”

“As uncouth as I had heard.”

“Oh, you’ve heard of me ? And I’ve yet to introduce myself.” You respond, continuously holding onto a cheeky grin. That grin slightly cracks when you notice Torger shaking his head at you from the distance.

“Yes. I suppose for the sake of politeness I should introduce myself.” He then turns to an older officer, whom unlike all others had maintained his calm. “Martin.” He simply says the man’s name.

“This…” The older man, with a clear and powerful voice begins. “…is Count Radomir Orion-Vukoja. Admiral in the service of his most courageous Lord Orion’s naval armed forces. Victorious in the battles of the Broken moon, the breaking of…”

>>6274195

You phase out the remainder, mentions of battles, attacks, followed by a series of accommodations, ribbons of service, medals. Honestly, you would have interrupted were you not so zoned out and were it not for Torger’s earlier warning.

“Well. I am Edel David Hardrada from the Edelship of Thunor. I fought for twenty years of my life, and I led my people for another twenty. About it.” And before waiting for a reply, you promptly turn about and leave, heading towards Torger, leaving the seething mass behind you.

“I get the feeling they do not like.” You say with a hint of humour.

“No, they do not. For two reasons. Well, three now.”

“I assume the first has something to do with the good Margrave.”

“It does. The Count and the Margrave have been feuding for decades now, even before the exile they had been competing in an academy, that enmity had only grown. And now, with the exile, the pond over which the two fight has been growing ever smaller.”

“And what does it have to do with us ?”

“The Margrave vouched for us. Which is why we were not invaded by Orion. That automatically puts us in the Margrave’s faction.”

“Which means that it makes us the enemies of the Count.”

“There’s another reason. A clashing of philosophy. The Count advocates conquest and integration. Actual integration, seemingly. He is a benefactor of the young Baron and served alongside his father. In fact, it is he who pushed to open up the ranks for the Azurians and encouraged further cooperation.”

“And the Margrave ?”

“Imperial traditionalist.”

“That hardly tells me anything.”

“He wants to expand into uncolonized systems mainly, and force every other state around into tributary status, until the house proper can build up enough people and resources to just outright conquer and assimilate the populations into their dominant culture. He advocated for the relocation of the people of Azur and their dispersion amongst the wider populace and the appointment of local homegrown nobility to be placed in charge. The Count beat him back then on that question.”

“Then why does the Margrave back us ?”

“Too far, too costly. Chances are, if they conquer us, they will not be able to hold the territory before one of their rivals swoops in, and that’s just a waste of resources. At the very least the Margrave is willing to humour small statelets such as ours for tribute until we are worth assimilating.”

You take a moment, shifting in your stance. “So, the two leading minds in the Orion’s navy both want to conquer us ?”

Torger also pauses for a moment, before locking eyes with you. “Yes.” He says curtly.

“Wondrous. I need another drink.”

“Before that, sir. While you are still somewhat sober, whom else do you intend to converse with.”

>>6274196

“The old madam over yonder. Seems like she’s planning on leaving, can’t keep the young ladies around past midnight, after all. Afterwards, I had some thoughts about the business man, but…never liked business men, so I think I will hold off, for now.”

“Well, that shouldn’t cause a diplomatic incident.”

“You do not seem to sound so sure anymore.”

“I apologise, sir. I’ve had far too much to drink.”

“Just a little longer.” You state before turning away and heading towards the old lady.

The aforementioned old lady is only so old as in she has grey hair and a few wrinkles on her face. Honestly, she looks closer to Celyn as she was when you first met her than a true old lady. Her body, rather hidden under those plain clothes, is still undoubtedly healthy and close to a younger woman, but given a few years, a decade or two, she will age rapidly. Though you had never witnessed a noble passing naturally, you did hear how it goes, how rapid the years they so dreaded come and strike. A few go insane, and you cannot help but wonder if the same fate will befall her.

Coming over with sure steps, you can see that the madam is already working through her fifth bottle of wine in as many hours, taking time to sip and enjoy it. Unlike you however, she will not have to suffer a headache when she wakes up, that is if alcohol affects her in the first place to begin with.

“Madam.” You say with a nod and smile.

“Edel Thunor.” She responds in kind, her voice melodious and kind.

“It seems like everyone I meet knows me, but I never them.”

“Lady Nadya Gundersen.”

“Well then, my lady, may I ?” You ask, gesturing at a seat.

“You may. You are the honoured guest of our Lord Orion, after all.”

Taking a seat, you find yourself alone at the table with Lady Gundersen as the young ladies around her, in a rather coordinated manner, leave it and instead move to the tables nearby.

“I noticed you appreciate my planet's vintage. May I ask why, and could we supply you with more ?”

She gives a sweet smile at that. “Yes, I would very much so appreciate it. Winemaking was an art lost to us when we arrived. Not a priority, you see.”

“Well, I did spot plentiful bottles of booze beforehand. So not everything was lost.”

She chuckles. “Please, making wine is different from throwing some potatoes of grain through filter and making vodka. There is no art in it, no appreciation of the craft.”

“You seem quite knowledgeable about winemaking.”

“I am. Back…well, along time ago, my family had estates on a verdant world. Our manor was built on top of a hilly area with vineyards as far as the eye could see rolling ever onwards around the surroundings. I can still recall the buzzing of bees specifically kept to pollinate the surroundings.” She gives a mournful smile. “A literal land of wine and honey, now long gone.”

“It sounds lovely.”

“It was. It truly was.”

>>6274197

Grasping at straws and trying to divert the conversation, you look around the surroundings, and specifically the nearby tables. “Are these young ladies your daughters ?”

That causes her to laugh out loud. “God, no. It is my duty to look after them and make sure that no one sneaks off with some young dashing nobleman somewhere. Their parents entrusted my with this task.”

“Ah, is that your role in House Orion, to be the guiding hand to the young ladies of it ?”

“You could say that. It is my duty to look after them and consult their parents over marriages and such. I had also personally raised the current Lord Orion, and his children and grandchildren as well. So many come asking me for advice on such matters.”

“To have had some help raising kids would have been great.”

“You have your own children ?”

“Two sons, nineteen and seventeen, as well as a daughter barely a year old.”

“Ah, boys are not that hard to raise. They merely crave excitement and action. Daughters, now you will have a headache once you get back home.” She chuckles.

“We’ll see. My wife is quite capable and we’ve enough servants to get through the toughest years. Regardless, I do have a more serious question, if I may ?”

“Of course.”

“You see, I would like to ask if you know any way for us to work together in other ways, such as enhanced trade, maybe some diplomatic deals ? I’d rather make friends that foes.”

She gives a faint smile. “I hold no real position that could make such decisions.” She stays silent for a moment, before giving you the side-eye. “Though, I suppose, I could put in a request for more wine, and mention my fondness of it to Lord Orion.” She finally states with a cheeky grin.

“I would be most appreciative.”

You continue to exchange small talk with Nadya for a good hour or so afterwards, before she finally has to excuse herself and escort her collection of ladies back to their parents’ estates. And while party continues on in full swing, you’ve had your fill of it and you know that you’ll be nursing a hell of a headache come morning.

Torger does find you as you begin to wander down the spacious halls of the orbital ring towards your assigned quarters.

“…and that’s how it went.” You surmise your exchange with Lady Gundersen to him.

“I did ask around about her and got pretty much the same that you had, sir. Despite being a rather well known and influential in the social circles, our madam keeps a tight grip over her private life and her public appearances.

What little I did learn is that she is either humble, or just coy about her influence, as rumours suggest that Lord Orion basically treats her as if she was his second mother. If she speaks, he will listen.

Another fact that I learnt by asking about is how succession works in the lands. Only men inherit noble titles, though women are equal in all other regards.”

“That’s a bit odd.”

>>6274198

“It is, for the life of me I could not figure out why they had set it up that way. I assume it might have been local traditions, maybe the religious aspect of nobility, historic precedent. Frankly, I do not know, and the nobles here do not seem to know or care themselves.”

“And what about the noble ladies ? Do they mind ?”

“Hard to tell. A lady might not get her father’s title, but his businesses, his lands, his employees, pretty much everything will be hers if the father wills it.”

“Sounds needlessly complicated, just let women inherit on the same grounds without needing to mess about.”

“I agree, sir.”
.
.
.
Luckily, the headache you experienced is now a distant memory, a few months had passed after your initial gala, which was then extended to other meetings and invitations by the curious nobility. And it seems that, with some luck, you’ve been able to improve the relationship between Thunor and Orion somewhat. +1 to relationship with House Orion. Current relationship: Cordial

As you take a sip of coffee, you look through a window and see the newly rechristened Reborn Over Thunor as it makes final shakedown checks. You had to mess with its internal programming to change the name, and the paint job, while superficial, still might have done something to the plating and the armouring, which had brought up another issue.

“Their booze sucks.” Stellan says already day-drinking.

“Not the best, I admit.” You nod.

“Anyway, I want my crew back.” He states bluntly, looking at the remaining drops of rum at the bottom of his glass.

“I need them to run the warship”

“And I need them to run the Argonaut. Plus, with the men running it, it can barely move and that’s about it.”

“What do you suggest ?”

“A couple of options, I guess. We can either take on crews here, they should be trained enough to actually run a warship, though it’d cost you and I have no guarantee over their loyalties. Or, we send the ship back to Thunor, and I get my crew back. Not too sure how long would it take to actually get the crew up and going to run the damned thing. Getting a spaceship up and running it difficult enough, and proper warships are even more so complicated.”

“Can’t we just take it along ?”

“We can, but it will just be a flying heap of scrap and not much else. If anyone knows anything about naval combat, they’ll realize that the frigate is basically a sitting duck, and if we’re lucky, they’ll try to board and take it for themselves, which should buy us some time. Or they’ll just blow it kingdom come and call it a day.”

“Torger, your input ?” You turn to the man having breakfast alongside you, with Siegler gone to some art exhibit or another, working on the idea of a potential cultural exchange.

>>6274199

“If we are to take on the crew, we would essentially be buying out their life long contracts. And as long as officers are Valhallan, it should be fine.”

>”Start asking around and hire on some crew.” COST: 2 Influence, Current influence: 110

>”We need the expertise regardless, so we will work with everything in house. Send the ship back to Thunor.”

>”I think the situation works out so far. We will have it tag along for now, maybe later we will find some crew if there’s a need.”

>(Write in)

“Right, will do so.” Stellan remarks getting up from the chair. “I want to be back on the Argonaut. I’ve had enough being stared at like some curio.”

“There is still some time in your schedule, sir. Enough to organize a few meetings before we are to leave this part of space.” Torger, without missing a beat, continues on. “Prepare some final deals or the like.

Can pick more than one.

>Well, Jan has completely opened up to you. You can only get so much out of him due to the constant surveillance, but can think of a few questions, or maybe a deal. (Write in)

>Count Radomir Orion-Vukoja. He might not be as big of a prick as you originally thought…maybe. He might also be more relaxed in a less formal setting. (Write in)

>Lady Nadya Gundersen holds more sway than she lets on. Plus, if you are really pushing it, she could probably find some suitable matches for the boys. (Write in)

>The business man, you did not catch his name, nor where he really is, but if you ask around enough, you will find him. (Write in)

>>6274200
>”Start asking around and hire on some crew.” COST: 2 Influence, Current influence: 110
>Well, Jan has completely opened up to you. You can only get so much out of him due to the constant surveillance, but can think of a few questions, or maybe a deal. (Write in)
Want a supply of some meat and decent food?
>Count Radomir Orion-Vukoja. He might not be as big of a prick as you originally thought…maybe. He might also be more relaxed in a less formal setting. (Write in)
Talk military man to military man. Have Torger list our accomplishments in our military service.

>Lady Nadya Gundersen holds more sway than she lets on. Plus, if you are really pushing it, she could probably find some suitable matches for the boys.
This woman has a load of soft power and guides the younger generations. long term she's an amazing person to ask to help intermingle the houses more or simply become a customer of our 'luxury' goods.

>>6274196
>The Count advocates conquest and integration.
>You take a moment, shifting in your stance. “So, the two leading minds in the Orion’s navy both want to conquer us ?”
Unsurprising, its a dog eat dog world and we are middle of it. But nice to know that their conquest and integration advocate is such small soul.

>>6274200
>”Start asking around and hire on some crew.” COST: 2 Influence, Current influence: 110
Scan all hired and should any join with anything that can be used for long range transmission confiscated it and put set crewmember under supervision. And no to any sick people.

Personally I dont like Count Radomir Orion-Vukoja, he is more of a threat than Margrave. He will use any dagger to get us to bow. Margrave as we have met him was also sick bloodletting when seeing boxing plus at least we know he will attack us with ships, Count will attack us with anything he can as long he gets his way. A spook in noble's clothes so I'll be against talking to him.

>Lady Nadya Gundersen holds more sway than she lets on. Plus, if you are really pushing it, she could probably find some suitable matches for the boys. (Write in)

Ask her about good lord Orion as we have asked other about him but heard very little about the man. Maybe she could tell about if she has Margrave's daughter Katerina in her care as we would wish give her a gift and messege when we couldn't meet with her father this time.

>>6274200
>(Write in)
>Hire a small but reliable crew of menials to support the functions of both the Reborn and the Argonaut, dispersing them between the ships with previously Argonaut crew acting as overseers to lessen the degree of autonomy of the new-hires.
>Additionally. While looking for menial crew, be on the lookout for specialists in fields lacking skilled personnel back home in Thunor. As part of the hiring, give these specialists (and worthy menials) the offer of citizenship.

Basically: find enough crew to just fulfil our ships' needs. Then, whatever rooms are left, we hire people to patch up our people's skill issues back home. (cost set by Newb)

It'll probably be a roll of the dice recruiting-wise, but it might be worth it.

>Well, Jan has completely opened up to you.
How about making a deal for an actual visit from him to Thunor? Something in maybe 4-6 years when we likely have finished with our trip around our local neighbours.

>Count Radomir Orion-Vukoja.
I'd just send this man a box of Thunor-grown cigars. Something that speaks his language.

>Lady Nadya Gundersen
I don't think we should be making Marriage choices on behalf of our sons. So instead, I would forward her an offer.
That, while Thunor might not be like her home now or even in the future, she is welcome to retire and rest eternally near the lush fields of grapes back on Thunor if she ever wants to. (If others think this is tactless, then just discard the idea.)

Oh, also asking into what Orion's leaders are like in her experience. She seems like someone who knows each big player better than we could by talking to them ourselves.

>>6274242
>Additionally. While looking for menial crew, be on the lookout for specialists in fields lacking skilled personnel back home in Thunor. As part of the hiring, give these specialists (and worthy menials) the offer of citizenship.

We will get spies this way, I swear. And blue flux sound like pain. Personally if we want more experts we should get them from traders as they are more disjointed power than house Orion

>>6274242
>I don't think we should be making Marriage choices on behalf of our sons.

No we should not, we should be making date choices on their behalf. If they dont want to marry them thats okay by me but we should make sure that they meet some of these girls, maybe just even one particular girl.

>That, while Thunor might not be like her home now or even in the future, she is welcome to retire and rest eternally near the lush fields of grapes back on Thunor if she ever wants to. (If others think this is tactless, then just discard the idea.)

Its not tactless, its just not what is outside the window on Thunor at the moment. As she most likely thinking nice sun fields not eternal rain fields. Welcoming her to visit the fields could be better choice if making one at all

>>6274200
>”Start asking around and hire on some crew.” COST: 2 Influence, Current influence: 110
Like others say, screen screen screen. No way we can afford introducing Blue Flux.


Full diplomacy with:
>Well, Jan has completely opened up to you. You can only get so much out of him due to the constant surveillance, but can think of a few questions, or maybe a deal.
>Lady Nadya Gundersen holds more sway than she lets on. Plus, if you are really pushing it, she could probably find some suitable matches for the boys.
-Ask if there are any ladies that would mind ambitious/proud men of good genetics (preferably also being of good genetics to breed our superhumans?)
>>6274242
>support Cigars for the Count

Taking a deep breath, Stellan sits down on the couch before you, interrupting your lunch made up of a small collection of sandwiches and devilled eggs alongside a selection of your own wine and various juice drinks.

“Rough day ?” You ask, popping another egg into your mouth.

“Oh, har, har. You’re the one who put this headache into my lap !” He jumps up and grabs a sandwich you were about to take.

“I did put Siegler to help you.”

“Ah, yeah…” He goes silent for the moment. “You’d be surprised how good teachers are at detecting lies. While he can’t tell jargon related to spaceships, especially warships, worth a shit, he can get everyone squirming underneath his gaze and questions. Think he’d make a good spy, were he not so damn honest and kind hearted.”

“I mean, he deals with children. Also, how’s he so kind hearted that you must remark on it ?”

“Well, some of charlatans I’d personally have flogged and thought a lesson or two, he just let them go. Not the best precedent.”

“Best not to antagonize our hosts, especially when our time with them is coming to a rapid close.”

To that Stellan just grunts, before handing over a tablet to you. Taking it, you look it over and, whoa, that’s a lot of zeroes next to all of those names.

“Expensive.” You say taking some time to look through the files.

“We bought out their lives.” Elian states, with a tired voice alongside the noise of a door rising open.

“Just in time for lunch.” You tell him with a smile while gesturing for him to take a seat. “Anyway, what about the costs for the crew, a bit steep, wouldn’t you say ?”

Stellan just shakes his head out of exasperation and Siegler just downs a small glass of orange juice to help with his parched throat. “We bought their lives.” He states a second later.

You take a moment to blink. You’ve heard of this, a practice that is both archaic and outdated, but still practiced in certain parts of the Unbroken Empire. It is essentially selling oneself into indentured servitude in all but name. Naturally, with space travel, especially interstellar travel, being as expensive as it is, for certain individuals, such contracts of labour are the only means by which they can secure passage to begin with. Officially outlawed even in the waning days of the Federation, it had seen little to no enforcement, the following years of chaos and the needs to fill ships with crews on all sides further saw the practice grow and become increasingly widespread and de facto legal. Nowadays however, only the truly desperate engage in such a practice on the edges of civilized space. And yet here you are, employing the very same practice.

“It was Stellan’s idea.” Siegler instantly shifts the blame.

>>6278919

Looking utterly unperturbed, Dragan just shrugs and gets himself more wine. “Gotta keep them loyal, plus I doubt we’d ever come back here on a friendly visit with that very same warship and crew. For all intents of purposes, they are the brand-new non-citizens of Thunor. Now that’s a headache you will have to deal with.”

You rub your face out of frustration, before you eye the wine. No, it’s too early. You shake your head. “I assume this is everyone ?”

“We’ve a full roster.” Dragan nods absentmindedly.

“Good. I am off to meet Baron Porras.” Rising from your seat, you regard Stellan. “You’ve got an officer corps ready ?”

“Some of my guys, yeah, though there’s still the question of a captain to command Reborn Over Thunor. Though that one can be solved at a later date.”

“Can’t we appoint someone now, and would it still function ?” You ask looing yourself over in a mirror, you’ve got to appear at least somewhat presentable.

“It will function just fine, as long as you or I relay the orders, thought it will certainly lack in its own initiative. The reason why I am suggesting for you to hold off is because this is our first warship, not just some fightercraft stuck together out of sheets of metal as well as the hopes and dreams of whomever is sentenced to pilot it. Whomever is put in charge will influence naval thought for the generation. You’d best hold off until you are ready to set everything in order.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.” You give a final nod before departing the room with plenty of things to ponder over while you make your way to Jan.
.
.
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Taking a step to the side, you wait and watch with a keen eye. Suddenly, the double crackle of a powdered charge is followed by the sound barrier being broken as the expelled bullet is accelerated beyond it.

The shot strikes true and hits the target at about one hundred metres.

“Not bad. A bit off the centre of mass, but not bad. We’ll make a marksman out of you yet. You just need to keep up with the practice.” You say, having looked at the recording screen that allowed you to look at the target, as the shot had essentially torn to pieces the few sheets of metal roughly put together for target practice.

“Can’t say I’ll ever get used to the noise, and the kickback.” Jan responds, rubbing his shoulder.

“You have to put your full strength into it, remember, the initial kickback is from the powdered charge going off, only the second kick is the energy charge from the railgun itself going off. Aim low on the initial shot to compensate for it.”

“This sounds a bit complicated.” Jan complains with a murmur.

>>6278920

“You’ve got to judge the distance and compensate for it. Also, the sore shoulder will go away once you’re in a protection suit, the inbuilt computer also will assist with the aiming, though once you get used to it, you can do it by instinct easily enough. Ah, once you do get used to the double kickback, you might run into issues of overcompensation when it comes to either single powdered charge, or only railgun weapons.” You begin sharing your experiences with the boy, whom appears to be quite busy taking in everything you are saying.

“That sounds even tougher.”

“Complaining won’t change anything.” You chide.

“I know.” Jan finally nods, staring at the rifle in his hands.

“Safety.” You respond while also taking a look around the firing range. One of the numerous facilities, you have no doubt, all around the entirety of the ring meant to drill fresh recruits in the arts of war, or at the very least to shoot somewhat straight.

Simple grey walls that have propaganda recruitment posters plastered on them, ranging from men clad in power armour with a few striking words, to women and children in despair with proclamations that you can prevent their fate by joining up, then there are bright white lights over your head providing illumination, a firing range with a few separate boxes and targets, a bored looking requisitions officer sitting behind bullet proof glass looking over the various weapons and munitions that have been placed under his care. A few men stand in corners clad in power armour with the colours of Orion’s house, the rifles at rest, but they clearly eye everyone in the chamber, waiting to step in at a moment’s notice, should anything happen. Finally, the ever-watchful servants dressed in black stand at a respectful distance, no doubt watching without being seen, listening without being heard.

Having clicked the safety on, Jan turns to you. “When are you planning to depart ?”

“Soon. Not exactly sure when, but soon.”

“I suppose that means that these lessons will come to an end then.”

“They shall, but all things must come to an end sooner or later.” Noticing his lowered mood, you try to perk him up. “How about coming to Thunor ? Maybe in a few years, mind, as I still need to travel for a while. You could meet with my sons; I have no doubt that you’d make good friends with them.”

“They do sound like good guys, though, I suppose all parents view their children as the best.”

You let out a small chuckle, “That is true.”

“Still, a few years sounds like a long time.”

“It really isn’t. When you get older, you’ll realize how swiftly time flows. But I suppose I could send you some food from my homeland, it wouldn't be all that hard to attach it to the deal we already have with Orion.”

“I would appreciate that.” He says with a thin smile.

>>6278921

Current treaty:
miniscule trade deal - food for volatiles (10 influence a turn).

>Accept the deal.

>Decline the deal.

>(Write in)

“Now then.” You say looking at him, putting your hands on your sides, trying to mimic a drill sergeant’s look. Though your belly might be protruding a bit too much. “Cadet, you still have another live fire exercise to conduct.”

He laughs. “Yes, sir !”
.
.
.
The one thing you had not expected to find in the middle of the ring was an honest to God, park. Green grass, trees in bloom with bees buzzing about alongside a few butterflies. The temperature is nice and war, without being excessive. Not only that, you can feel an actual breeze, it must cost a fortune to get such an airflow going without any noticeable noise.

Halting next to flowerbed made up of blue and white lilies, you take a moment to admire the sight, as well as the red rose bushes close to the small pathway made up of beautifully decorated bricks, each and every showcasing a wide mixture of flowers with their names written underneath. A neath trick to teach someone their names,

A distant chirping of a bird draws your attention back to yourself, and you resume your leisurely walk. You had been invited for tea with Lady Nadya, but you’ve still got a good two hours of time left before you are supposed to show up, so after she recommended for you to take a look around the surroundings, you had gladly done so. It is a nice sight, though seeing the same old grey walls in the distance does give you an odd feeling.

Meeting with the lady is the last thing on your agenda before you will get into the full swing of things in having to prepare for departure. Though you had done one last thing, and that was sending the snarling Count a gift of cigars, if for no other reason than thanks to him for taking care of the young Baron. You had even considered having a manly talk with him, one soldier with another, but he had also seemed like a rather conniving bastard, which is why you opted for the third option.

Finally, having taken the time, you reach the sight of a small, shallow lake, where you do spot a few fish in the crystal-clear water, as well as Lady Nadya standing next to a gazebo, throwing out a few crumbs of fish feed to the ravenous beasts greedily fighting over it. All the while a gaggle of servants are busily setting up a table in the gazebo and bringing in a wide collection of foods. Much to your disappointment, you spot that it is primarily composed of various salads and simple, low in sugar content snacks. Though, that’s a lot wine. You cannot help but look in astonishment as an entire box consisting of twelve bottles is brought in. Either there will be a lot more guests than you were originally informed, or the Lady’s going to be staying here for a long, long while still. Not that you can blame her, it is a lovely place.

Moving with calm steps, you approach the lake.

“My lady.”

>>6278923

“Edel Hardrada.” She returns your greeting without turning back. “Would you like to ?” She questions extending a small box of fish feed.

“Why not ?” You respond, grasping a handful before throwing it away in a wide arc and watching the fish swarm.

“Quite picky these. They need fresh water, a perfect temperature and plenty of feed.” The lady states continuously staring at the collection of brightly coloured fishes that range in all sorts of colours and have numerous shades of intensity. “Just like man.” Finally, she says with a faint smile turning to face you.

“You forgot air.” You state dryly.

“That I had.” She responds with a laugh. “Come, my servants had finished preparing our meal.” Gesturing for you to follow, she begins to walk.

“I heard you are planning on leaving.”

“That I am. If a guest stays over for too long, he becomes an unwanted burden.”

“True. A fact many forget these days.”

You sit down next to the table, and the Lady begins to pour out some lovely smelling green tea both for you and herself, holding onto the pot with great elegance. After tasting the tea and having a few bites of the assorted food, you and Lady Nadya exchange some small talk about going ons, before getting to something interesting.

“Speaking of which.” You state, watching with a hint of fascination the sheer amount of dressing the Lady puts on her salad and the vast quantity she had devoured. It seems she’s relaxed enough, or treats you as a fellow noble to be eating so much. You heard of this before, nothing comes for free in life, the greater strength, speed, toughness and everything else cannot come out of thin air. Usually, the cost is the one you see before you, a massively increased metabolism and just a sheer caloric requirement for day-to-day existence. “I’ve yet to meet the good Lord Orion, or really know much about him.”

“Ah, Julius.” She says with a hint of nostalgia in her voice. “I had raised him since he was little, and I raised his children. So, what is it that you’d like to know ?” Now she stares at your eyes directly, a slight calculating smile on her face.

“Well, his personality, I suppose. I struck a deal with him, but I’ve yet to see him, and only heard a few words.” You grow silent as well. “And I am sure that Lord Orion already knows plenty about me.” You finally state, meeting the gaze.

“That is true.” She nods taking a sip of her tea. “Where should I begin ?” Nadya scrunches up her face. “Well, he is certainly educated enough, and experienced enough to lead the house through its time of hardships. He is most generous to his friends and terrible to his foes. Other than that, he is an intelligent man fond of literature, hardworking as well. That is probably why he could not afford to meet you. After all, he has countless lives dependant on him and a war to wage at the same time.”

>>6278925

“That is understandable.” You nod in return, though you are wholly uncertain exactly what was a lie or what was the truth, what was an exaggeration or not. You do note that out everything she said, Lady Nadya quite purposefully left out any flaws from her description.

“Anything else ?”

“Oh no, that is quite fine.” It is clear you won’t get anything of use in terms of information out of her concerning Lord Orion. “Instead, are you perhaps familiar with Margrave Oreskovich ? When he had visited us, we seemed to get along, he had especially mentioned his daughter Sofia and his wife Katerina. I do wonder if the two are under your care, with the Margrave gone on a diplomatic mission.”

“Oh, no.” She chuckles. “Lady Katerina is a grown and married woman, though I did arrange her and the Margrave’s meetings, two lovebirds those two.” It seems that the lady is genuinely happy, discussing what amounts to pointless gossip. “As for Lady Sophia, I do believe she had recently turned sixteen, far too young of an age to even need my services. And I have no doubt the child will take a few decades to study and find what she wishes to do with her life before looking for a partner.”

Ah. I can never get used to how old nobles can get. You think yourself wise and old, but chances are, the lady before you has at least a century or two over you.

“Are they here then ? I would like to leave a gift with them before I depart.”

“Unfortunately, no. The Margrave was quite insistent that he wishes to stay with his family, as such, even Lord Orion had to acquiesce to his demands on this matter.”

“It is good for families to stick together.” You also smile, thinking about the one you had left behind on Thunor. “And of the good Margrave, what do you think of him ?”

She smiles and lets out a dry laugh. “Always rearing for a fight and making his opinion clear. Rather stereotypical for House Oreskovich, I’d say. Other than that.” She laughs again like a gossiping girl. “As I said before, he’s a lovestruck fool for his wife. A rare sight amongst the arranged marriages of nobility. Always caring about his family over anything else.”

“Well, I didn’t know impulsiveness was a familial trait.”

“Oh, my, not just a familial one, most servants of the house are encouraged to speak their minds.” She sighs. “Undoubtedly something to do with the origin of their house, though it leaves no shortage of headaches when they run into other houses’ servants.”

“Not the worst thing to be honest.”

“It goes even beyond that.”

“Ah, now that I think about it. The Margrave appeared quite put off by a simple boxing match. I usually find that most warriors enjoy sights of fighting.”

>>6278927

“I suppose that depends on the context. For a man of honour such as him, fighting for entertainment like that would appear to be a most reprehensible act.”

“I must admit, I do not understand how a fair fight such as that one could be considered dishonourable.”

She shrugs slightly. “I suppose the reason for fighting, whom is observing the fight and why is what makes the difference.”

“I guess I can see that.” You shrug. “And of the Count Radomir Orion-Vukoja ? He has quite an interesting last name.”

“That he does.” She nods. “House Vukoja was an older house than Orion, though by a twist of fate, they did not rise to prominence as swiftly as Orion and were made a direct vassal. I shall not engage in grim tales of their fate, but the male line had died out, thus the cousin of Julius was made into a Count…and after he had passed, the Countship passed to Radomir.”

“A tragic story.”

“One that you will find is a sadly common one amongst our people. We had lost much in our exile.”

“And of the current Count himself ?”

“Ah, he used to be a precious boy. Always curious which led him to study various people and cultures, history, and sciences, everything he consumed with incredible fervour. Being exposed to so many ideas made him quite the tolerant person when it comes to differing beliefs, wherein he at least understands them.”

“Pardon me, my lady, but when I had first met him, he treated me like an enemy before even getting to know me. That does not strike me as particularly tolerant.”

“You can thank the Margrave for that. When he came back he had only praises for you and the potential of you becoming a…lesser partner in an alliance with Orion at its head. That more or less sealed your fate as the Count is of a rather vengeful sort. Your deep association with the Margrave, which he does not really enjoy to be in the company of, had guaranteed his reaction.”

“Well, I am not really a part of any faction, nor do I like becoming a part of one without my knowledge.” You remark with exasperation.

“Sometimes, that is how politics align, at the end of the day, we are but a few trying to stand against the raging sea.” She simply shrugs and then takes a sip of wine.

“Do you know why the Margrave and the Count dislike each other so much ?”

“Besides all the rumours you no doubt heard ? No.” She smiles. “I know many things, but I am not omniscient. If it is just a hundred reasons that reached the tipping point, or just one big fallout, I do not know, nor have the two decided to air their grievances publicly.”

“And so, I am caught in the middle.”

“Like so many others.” She dryly remarks, as a servant opens another bottle of wine for her.

>>6278928

Afterwards, you continue your conversation about the various individuals, rumours and the like. You are certain that if you run into someone important from House Orion, you will be able to recall what you learnt from the conversation you had with Lady Nadya. That is assuming, of course, that what she told you was the complete undistorted truth.

“There was another topic I’d like your input in.” You state, watching the artificial sky above you beginning to dim, as it mimics a sunset.

“Why, for a lovely conversationist like you, I would of course be more than happy to answer.” Six bottles of wine deep and without even appearing tipsy, Nadya responds.

“Since you are, as you mentioned, the chaperone of young ladies of Orion, well, I have two sons of marriageable age.”

She lets out a hearty giggle. “The matters of the heart, though mainly of the loins.” Derisively she states, the latter half of her sentence comes off as a rather pained one.

“I don’t mean an immediate marriage, but still, a few dates here and there.”

“Are you not planning on arranging the marriages ?”

“I would rather not force them to marry someone they do not like.”

“My, with your deep wrinkles, I would not have expected you to be so naïve. Marriage, my dear, is a tool in a noble’s arsenal, just like any other. Whether love is, or is not involved, is entirely immaterial. That is not to mention that most family will look at dating as just a waste of time without a guaranteed return.”

“It sounds cruel when you put it like that, besides, wouldn’t be better if both sides liked each other, rather than hated one another ?”

“Of course it would be better, yes, but matters of the house take precedent over all. I would recommend that you do not set the precedent of giving your children the ability to choose. For when the storm of politics comes, they may not be able to make the rational choice.”

“A sombering thought.”

“What, you thought nobility was all sunshine and rainbows ?” With a facetious smile, she says staring at you.

“I hoped for more unicorns, to be honest.” You return the joke.

“So had I.” A few seconds of silence later, she responds with a serious voice, staring into the distance and upon the lake. “I can prepare a list to be sent to Thunor, it might take a good old while, but I am sure some of the noble families wouldn’t mind intertwining their blood with yours.”

“I would appreciate it.” You say, before rising from your seat. “The hours’ drawing late, and I do believe we all need our rest.”

“Why, yes, yes we do.”

“Ah and before I go, allow me to extend you an offer. While Thunor is a far cry from your verdant hills and warm sunshine, if you wish to retire next to our vineyards, you can feel free to. Maybe pick back up winemaking, we could use your expertise.”

>>6278930

“I appreciate it, my dear. I suppose we shall see how things turn out in the future.”
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.
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It had taken you a while. A year in fact, a year away from home and as a lowly guest of one of the regional of powers. You were not treated badly, but you certainly were not treated as an equal. You think you learnt a lot about them and their culture and people. Thanks to Torger, you got a general idea of the political situation, and thanks to Siegler out of anyone, you learnt about Orion as a group of peoples.

When it comes to the Orions, a few predominant cultural traits stand out, while certainly not a monolith to judge them all by, enough of them have these beliefs to allow for generalisations.

Concerning their appearance, the Orions are predominantly pale skinned, unnaturally so due to the fact that they predominantly live in enclosed spaces within their planetary ring. With brown and black hair being the most predominant amongst the populace, excluding the nobles whom can simply modify their hair colours at will, the same would be a dominance of blue and brown eyes. Slightly of a lankier build due to zero G or low G conditions that they are constantly exposed to, they are taller than most, but have on average weaker builds.

Culturally, they are:

Religious – practising the Edenist branch of Christianity, they are hard set in their beliefs and defend them fiercely. This does come with a degree of intolerance towards pluralists and other religions, but they can get along just fine with other Christians. Though they tend to hate atheists, especially of the militant variety and will actively fight against them. This belief in a greater power does make them more resilient towards hardships and lower living standards, as all suffering in life will be rewarded in the afterlife.

Hierarchical – not outright authoritarian, the Orions believe that if someone is of the higher strata, they should be obeyed and listened to by those of a lower stratum. They can exist within a democratic society, though this come with a strong belief in authority figures, be they appointed or elected. In societies led by nobility, they believe that they had been appointed by God and as such to serve them is their duty. This belief in hierarchy does mean that they do expect those of the higher strata to act as appropriate for it, in the case of nobility, they must exercise noblesse oblige.

Militaristic – used to the rigours of war, Orions have been raised under the beliefs of honour and glory of war and battle. They do not shy away from conflict and are quite good at it. Through the promises of social advancement and limited looting rights, young men and women flock to the banners for a chance of bettering their station and receiving God’s blessing to perhaps even make it to the noble class.

>>6278932

Having finished the review and marking down your notes, you board the Argonaut after a short farewell ceremony, where Baron Jan was actually joined by Lady Nadya. And with the ship moving away from the docks, you set out for another leg of your journey:

The Three Star Coalition, specifically Al-Aras and the Hysomanra Traders’ Association. You only plan for a short stay there, more for the reason of checking out your competition rather than anything else.

>Give me 1d00 Bo3 for encounter table for the journey.

-
(POV shift: You are John Hardrada, the one and only rightful heir and future ruler of Thunor. Currently acting as regent.)

You’ve been in charge for a year now. Though you admit, that there should be more bowing wherever you walk, you cannot deny it is good to be the King, or this case Edel, you suppose. You had taken to the task with great vigour and excitement. Frankly speaking, you cannot really understand whatever was so difficult about it. Just a few thousand people, a few thousand to feed when food is plentiful, energy is great in abundance. Frankly speaking, everything is growing. The only downside would be your lessers. The people your father had ennobled, they tried to pull you in their various factions, but they have no power, no real privileges or obligations, so as far as you were concerned, they could have been dismissed out of hand. Though your mother had stated that with father gone, and no clear definitions of noble duties and privileges, they are trying to ensure that the privileges they end up with are of a greater type.

The doors to your office open up without anyone ever trying to knock. Only two people would be so crude to enter as such, those being your mother, whom had always done that to be fair, or…

“Brother.” Taking off the helmet of his protection suit, Magnus walks into the room, dragging mud as he walks inside.

“You could have made the effort to clean up, captain.” You state with venom in your words at the title.

“I am sorry, I’m not sitting in an air-conditioned office. I am far too busy with nothing more than four men under my command ensuring your safety.” He states with equal annoyance. For once, you cannot blame him, father taking away the rest of the corps had certainly made it that much harder to properly train and even find appropriate recruits in the first place.

“And what have you found ?”

“Traces of something big. The traitors are organising something. Not sure what exactly, but with dad gone, I have no doubt they think that they’ll have the best chance to ever come to pull off an attack.”

>>6278933

You put down the tablets before you and close your eyes, your mind racing. What could be their target ? Assassination ? No, father will come back and enact such fiery vengeance that it would be suicide. Kidnapping ? Has potential. If they were to target anyone, it would be Aurora, she’s the weakest and the easiest to kidnap. They could also target the reactor, or the factory, cripple weapons production without endangering the populace.

You open your eyes. “I have a few potential targets in mind, I will send you the list as well as the ministers. Keep an eye out, captain.”

“Will you stop already ?” With frustration, Magnus spits out, taking a seat on the couch.

“Stop what ?”

“The way you say my rank. It’s pissing me off.”

“You know why ?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Well. When father first appointed me to the army, I had seen how ineffective everything was, and I decided to change it. And you know what he did then ? He told me about hierarchy, the importance of following orders and the like, a well-oiled machine functioning with all parts working as they should. And then he goes and just appoints you captain out of nowhere, and for what, that you almost died ? That saving your life was such a priority that it ended in the recon corps getting gutted ? For that you deserved a promotion.”

“Oh shut the fuck up you salty asshole.” With anger in his voice and reddening of his face, Magnus jumps up from the couch. “Father spent all his time educating you ! You got far more attention from him than I ever had. Oh, mister heir, the perfect son, fuck the backup, just leave him be ! You’re not the only that has tough shit going on in his life !”

“How about you go and deal with rebel problem.” You say through gritted teeth.

“That’s what I’ve been doing this whole time. Were it up to me, I would have just purged everyone. I’ve no idea why father ever bothered with those stupid trials.”

“And that’s why I am the heir, and you are not.” You take a hint of satisfaction, looking at how Magnus clenches his fists.

“Shove it up yours.” He finally states, putting on his helmet and departing the room.

Leaning back in your chair, you turn it around and watch through the window as the rain is starting to pick back up again. With father gone, it is up to you to solver the various issues facing you. Currently, the two main problems rearing their ugly heads would be noble dissatisfaction and the threat posed by democratic rebels. Both have the potential at greatly destabilizing the situation, but with the authority vested in you and the resources at hand, there’s only so much you can do, so you must prioritise, and in the worst-case scenario, buy enough time for father’s return.

>>6278934


>Summon the nobles, you might be able to appease them with enough wining and dining. Make a few promises, shake a few hands, and they’ll be yours.

>Get the militia up and running, some informants, a few bribes, a few threats. You will find how to deal with the rebels soon enough.

Rolled 35 (1d100)

>>6278923
>>Accept the deal.
Its miniscule so why not

>Were it up to me, I would have just purged everyone
I swear our boys get their bloodthirst from their mother

>>6278935
>Get the militia up and running, some informants, a few bribes, a few threats. You will find how to deal with the rebels soon enough.
Reward for militia members for capturing rebels alive. Half of the reward in the event of dead rebel.

Placate the nobles with promises after we done with rebels, we can move forward with definitions of noble duties and privileges and we would reward those who help us with crushing the rebels.

Rolled 2 (1d100)

>>6278923
If it is on top of the other treaty, then
>Accept the deal.

>>6278933
>>6278935

>Get the militia up and running, some informants, a few bribes, a few threats. You will find how to deal with the rebels soon enough.

Well fuck. Very...interesting perspectives from John and Magnus. While I don't think much better of John, I am questioning Magnus's competency as well.

Hopefully we won't be seeing any truly bad consequences from either of their bad temperaments/mindsets. But I feel like this rebellion won't be pretty...

Genuinely want empathy training for both of them when David comes back. Not even necessarily because of the 'philosophy king' ideal, but rather that their lack of people perspective is hampering their ruling abilities.

>>6278956
...What crit system were we using again?

>>6278962
Bo3

And only 1 and 100

>>6278965
>>6278966
Thank fucking Christ. I was having flashbacks to the original Broken Empire quest and Proenza's suicidal charge and just wanted to be sure.

>>6278956
>I am questioning Magnus's competency as well.
My ego is demanding that I say this at least once, I told you so.


I get their point of views when it come their bickering.
John see our actions as hypocrisy and that little bro was give his postion without merit which is true at least partly hovever I feel he did not internalize what we meant and that him leading a company was not the problem but fact we were in peace and during times of chaos and war then it will does that can lead who will lead reckless of the rank. Like Magnus did in chaoting situaltion which should be rewarded but maybe not with captain position in the future.

And Magnus is really showing why I didnt like vengeful. Him wanting to purge everyone is not a good start. Magnus being bitter about John getting more time with us is very understandable, what child would not be.

>>6278979
>Told you so
fair enough. I will concede.
Although, it didn't really show John to be the best leader either.

The inability for John to let go of small social equalities due to his superiority complex is going to cause trouble later. And while John rebuked Magnus's point about purging everyone, I read that more as a retort to spite Magnus rather than because he actually believes otherwise.

John did argue truthfully on some points. I will give him brownie points for that. But honestly, I'm more in a state of believing neither to be ready to take the role of Edel. At least without both/either of them putting our government right back to the same square one morally compared to the nobles in the Unbroken Empire.

Rolled 42 (1d100)

>>6278933
diceroll

>>6278923
>Accept the deal
Start of something glorious, with chance of enlargement whenever they're ready.
>Write-In
I do want a trade of a batch of railguns suitable for our station. We'll give livestock animals if that's what it takes.

>>6278935
>Summon the nobles, you might be able to appease them with enough wining and dining. Make a few promises, shake a few hands, and they’ll be yours.
Getting John into leadership practice. He clearly needs it, even if he screws it up.

Rolled 13 (1d100)

>>6278933
Roll

>>6278923
>Accept the deal.

>>6278935
>Get the militia up and running, some informants, a few bribes, a few threats. You will find how to deal with the rebels soon enough.

That's a lot of red text.