Extract of log by First Minister Jenna Casey
The ascension project has been running for quite a while now and there hasn’t been any change in our circumstances, we are still behind both the Torians and the Yor. We need to make decisive action otherwise who knows what the consequences will be. Although we haven’t started it yet, our current research capabilities mean that the technological solution should be in easy reach, we should even be able to complete it before the other races have collected enough particles. It will take many weeks however, and may draw unwanted attention and given the unstable climate we may be in for some rough times.
Our spy network is now very substantial, we have the Yor and Arceans under total surveillance and we’ve placed another agent in the Dregin society. The Altarians asked for help again, I released a small amount of funds which we can easily spare at the moment, however I don’t see things going well for them if things continue as they are.
Of grave concern though is a new contagion that has infected all of the races, it doesn’t kill people or cause them harm but it does make them feel very apathetic. Myself and my staff were immediately put into a secure environment so it hasn’t affected us, but we have already seen a major drop in the approval polls. For the first time they have dropped below half, to 41%. The upcoming election could prove disaterous for us if a cure isn’t found. Fortunately we already have the Xeno Medicene technology, all the researchers have to do is perfom a few tests on the disease, I’m told it should take about six weeks.
Extract of log by secretary to the First Minister, Falksis Grent
The election didn’t go as badly as Ms. Casey had feared, whilst the extreme apathy currently being felt did affect the voting, it also affected the other parties. The Universalists suffered record losses but still managed to keep a hold on power.
We also recieved a rather unfriendly message from the Yor Collective, we knew we couldn’t avoid conflict for long but we didn’t think it would arrive in this fashion. The Diplomatic Division however decided that paying the demand was the best strategy, it represents only 10% of the amount in our treasury and should provide a good stalling measure giving us time to construct a military force.
It seems this ultimatum came at the same point as a shift in our society, a steep drop in influence has affected our borders quite badly. Maybe paying off the Yor also affected our reputation?
Extract of log by Admiral Taver
I’ve finally been called on to construct a military force, I wish I could say I was happy about it. I’ve been analysing information we have on the ships owned by other races, we don’t have much information on anyone but the Arceans. Although it’s the Yor that threatened us I also believe that the Arceans may attack us at some point in the future, and since that’s all we know it is what I have based the our new ship design on.
I’ve decided to keep things simple for the moment and have come up with a single design that should be capable of anything we need doing. Our primary concern is defence, and that may also include some interception missions. Therefore I’ve made engine capacity one of the focus’, our technology is in-line with the other races but unfortunately not in excess, so I’ve added two engines. Having no information on the defence technology we may be up against, I’ve gone for two simple lasers, we don’t have any advanced technology in this field. Defence however is much better shape, the Arceans use lasers on their ships and deflectors are the best defence against beam weapons so I’ve added that to the plans. I also added telepathic defence, just in case any of the other races use missle technology.
I presented the Lexington class starship design to the First Minister and she gave contruction the go ahead. There wasn’t enough room for some of the extras I would have preffered but it should suit us well. The first ship has been rushed into action, just incase it is needed, the rest will take about tweleve weeks each, but the First Minister has promised some extra funding to speed some of them up. The finances took a bit of rebalancing but things should be on target without affecting our researching capabilities. I have requested that more technology be developed but don’t hold out much hope.
Extract of log by First Minister Jenna Casey
Now that we are building up our military forces our rating has started to increase. We now have a rating of 48, not quite the ideal 100 and a long way off the Arceans but it’s a start. Our technology and economic ratings remain very strong and now that we have cured the disease that was spreading through our worlds our approval rating has returned to normal. The Torians also managed to reach a peace agreement with the Yor.
The first Lexington class starship has been transferred to Blisstonia, this is our most forward colony and it provides easy access to all the Meatbag worlds. I have started recieving ‘posing’ calls from various leaders, showing off what they are currently working on, given our technological rating you wonder why they bother. Chances are we already have what they are developing and if not we can have it within a few short weeks.
Extract of log by secretary to the First Minister, Falksis Grent
Our military power has seen such a leap that we are now only outmatched by three of the other races. Strangely the Korx still don’t have any military forces, perhaps they’ve been following a similar strategy to us and laying low. Still, I’m not sure how much longer they will manage to keep that up. Blisstonia has seen falling support for the government, despite any actions taken to rectify the situation. The First Minister has been asking for suggestions but I’m not sure what to say, as the population of a planet increases, their happiness decreases. There may be nothing we can do about it.
I recieved a memo from the research division outlining the stages that will bring us total technological superiority, just four simple projects. Each of the projects is a mammoth task on their own, the current one will take 19 weeks to research. Even if our research division is good enough to keep up this rate there’s no telling how the other races will react, they could decide the only way to stop us is to destroy us. There was a recent discovery that may give a boost to our defence capabilities.
A ‘Ranger’ class starship was discovered in a remote area of one of the Meatbag worlds, I’d never heard of a ship of this type but it is apparently very powerful.
The specs say, six highly advanced Mass driver cannons, three layers of an unknown metal that is supposed to be stronger than anything our current metallurgy can create, plus several ancilliary modules. Where it came from nobody knows, but it is certainly a welcome gift in the current climate.
Extract of log by Ranjeev Singh, Head of the Diplomatic Division
The web gets more complicated every week, keeping track of all the myriad relationships is taking up the time of all our staff. The Torians and the Arceans are the worst off, both fighting two conflicts. We’ve stopped getting requests from the other races, whether that means they are doing well on their own or have simply taken the hint that we don’t wish to intefer I don’t know.
We won a very nice contract from the United Planets Council, they wanted to setup a welcome centre on one of the worlds to help involve the general population. Due to our massive voting power we won easily despite two of the races voting the same. It was interesting going over the results, you would have thought that everyone would have voted for themselves but several voted for others without getting a similar vote in return. This welcome centre will have a very positive impact on our influence.
Extract of log by First Minister Jenna Casey
The approval polls have been on a continuous slide, some worlds are perfectly content whereas others are very dissatified and I couldn’t find a difference between the two. For several weeks I have been tinkering, repurposing planetary facilitites, juggling the tax rate but it doesn’t seemed to have made much difference. In lighter news our military capabilites now outrank even the Arceans, I didn’t think we had created that many vessels, but it is certainly welcome. I do not plan to use this military force, but it should act as a great deterrant. We have the funds to rush the construction of several more ships so any aggressors would be at a distinct disadvantage.
Hmm…several of our trades routes have ceased, maybe the conflict has hit them as well as the forces involved in the fighting. Wait…oh dear no.
The poor Torians. I can’t say I wasn’t expecting some news of this kind but it’s still a shock. I find it quite strange that they surrendered to the Korx, maybe they felt they were the only safe bet. Evil has had a victory today, it won’t have anymore if I have anything to say about it.
Status of the galaxy, end of Saturday:
