Thin Red Line
Xenos?! They got nothin' on this ship. They may be bigger but we are MEANER, out guns chew through xenos faster than a Thulunian goes through soap.
-Steel Song fighter pilotCouncil, there is much that calls for your attention. This cycle has seen our first true military action and, while it has been one-sided in the extreme, Fleet Admiral Ghans believes that these probes are simply the beginning to a large
Sidtrax attack. Fleet Admiral Ghans has requested that she be allowed to brief you on the military situation, and I will yield the floor to her at the appropriate time.
There are matters of state to attend to first. While they may not be as titillating as military matters, they are every bit as pressing and require due consideration.
Summary of actions
At Delegate
En1gma's call, a renewed emphasis has been placed on strengthening the economies of our planets. A concerted effort has been made to establish at least basic trade facilities on every planet and larger planets are being called on to contribute more of their mineral wealth to the Empire as a whole. This was not devised as a way to undermine Javatian authority, merely as a measure that will improve the health and stability of our Empire as a whole.
To that end, the following facilities have been constructed:
- Javat Prime completed an Exchange and two additional mining facilities.
- Aurelius Prime completed a factory complex.
- Steel Prima completed a mining facility.
- Salveria completed a spice den.
- Galantia completed a habitation unit as well as a factory complex.
- Thulun Prime upgraded its two remaining habitation units to their more advanced, mark 2 variant.
- Tennath upgraded one of its habitation units and constructed a spice den as well as a mining complex.
- Leiwin completed a habitation unit, a mining complex and an FDF garrison as well as upgrading its existing habitation unit to a mark 2 variant.
As you can see, a focused effort has taken place to solidify the planets on which our Empire relies on. The general focus on economic health has allowed our Empire to grow without undue economic stress.
Research has also continued at a brisk pace, we have fully researched three additional technologies which will allow us to continue putting up a stiff resistance against the
Sidtrax. Since I am not well versed in military strategy, I will leave the explanations of those more military technologies to Fleet Admiral Ghans. I can go into detail about one of our technological discoveries,
Faction Politics 3 has unlocked the potential to negotiate
Trade Treaties across the houses, greatly increasing the amount of income derived from our exchanges. It has also allowed for improved exchanges to be constructed, increasing their economic potential drastically.
And that, lords and ladies, is as far as state affairs brings us. I shall now cede the floor to Fleet Admiral Ghans for her report.
Military Report
Council members, the campaign to hold the front against the
Sidtrax is proceeding well. I've overseen the positioning of our limited fleet assets in the space surrounding
Leiwin and
Northpines. The addition of the
Steel Song colony has allowed me to consolidate defensive strength in the area, effectively creating a bridge of friendly space covering the two planets and allowing any fleet to refuel and rearm while providing defensive coverage across a wide front of space. Additionally, this large area of friendly space allows us to have a good staging area against the
Sidtrax when offensive action is called for.
The
Sidtraxian Front[/i] has seen sporadic action over the cycle and our fleet has engaged and destroyed three additional
Sidtrax colony ships and a single mass driver ship. I would like to stress that while these probes have been easily repelled, stronger mobile fleet assets should be strongly considered as a reserve force. While the
Sidtraxian Front is relatively secure, the rest of our space is completely open to possible enemy incursion.
It also bears mentioning that a second
Sidtrax colony has been spotted on the edge of the
Sidtraxian Front. It is my humble opinion that the empire should prioritize developing techniques for planetary invasion as this would allow us to begin a campaign of extermination against the
Sidtrax.
If you will direct your attention to the screen, Delegates, I shall display some images of our holding action against the
Sidtrax.
Here you can see the general disposition of our fleet as well as their assigned orbits. I've opted to split the fleet between our two planets, as this will maximize the defensive scree and hopefully prevent any enemy ships from penetrating to the colonies themselves.
S.S. Sparrow was tasked with engaging the
Sidtrax colonizer with both
T.F. Shalun’s Shield and
T.F. Shalun’s Sword providing torpedo support.
The
Sidtrax feigned an attack with an offensive warship, a mass driver equipped cruiser, in the hopes that their newly constructed Colonizer will survive.
This is the current status on the Sidtraxian FrontAs of this cycle, the current fleet assets are as follows;
- S.S. Sparrow *
- H.T. Swallow *
- T.F. Shalun’s Sword *
- T.F. Shalun’s Shield **
- T.F. The Prophet’s Eyes
You may notice the symbols after the vessels' names, those are a creation of mine. I felt that it would be good for fleet morale to instill a little competition in the ranks, and each symbol represents a single confirmed kill on the ship's behalf.
Now, to move onto military technologies recovered this cycle. On Delegate
En1gma's wise request, the military technologies related to both
Fighters 1 and
Capital Ships 1 have been unlocked. This opens up improved options for warfare on our fighter and cruiser class hulls. Our technicians have worked hard to provide you with a separate, technical briefing on all of our weapons and defensive systems.
Unclaimed Planets and Anomalies
1 -
Restfallen Minerals 2-20 / Quality 2-20
2 -
Rinze Settlement Minerals 2-20 / Quality 2-20
3 -
Outer Reach Minerals 2-20 / Quality 7-25
4 -
Kaflenge Minerals 2-20 / Quality 6-24
5 -
Nasrah Outpost Minerals 11-29 / Quality 7-17
6 -
Ali’s Star Minerals 2-20 / Quality 2-20
7 -
Ursae Outpost Minerals 2-20 / Quality 5-23
8 -
Jahant 6 Minerals 4-12 / Quality 5-23
9 -
Fletcher’s Cross Minerals 2-20 / Quality 2-20
10 -
Baza City Minerals 10-28 / Quality 2-20
11 -
Rift Trade World Minerals 7-15 / Quality 6-24
12 -
Galantia Minerals 2-20 / Quality 6-24
13 -
Chalicstine Minerals 2-20 / Quality 2-20
14 -
Ogvidissio Minerals 7-17 / Quality 4-16
15 -
Leiwin Minerals 4-12 / Quality 7-25
16 -
Hell’s Razor Minerals 2-20 / Quality 2-20
17 -
Kinngot Minerals 2-20 / Quality 6-24
18 -
Cellet Minerals 2-20 / Quality 2-20
19 -
Northpines Minerals 2-20 / Quality 2-20
Unclaimed Anomalies = 4
Possible Avenues of Research
Delegates, our avenues for further research are largely the same as they were last cycle. We can continue more into military technologies or we can focus on economic ends.
Honor to the Council!