Turn 32 - Summer 2182/3032
WCDC Defense Council:
[] Operation Market Garden: active
Time: 3 turns, Chance of success: 65%
Roll 1 of 3, Roll 1d100: 98 - Crit Success
Roll 2 of 3, Roll 1d100: 48 - Success
Roll 3 of 3, Roll 1d100: 82 - Success
Combined: 76 - Success
Over the course of summer, most unrest could be put down, largely with the help of non-lethal weapons, with the informants and ring leaders put into custody to await the trail by the interim military government of Circinus. To help this, a military tribunal was formed of various legal officers to ensure due progress for the resulting criminal suits.
The 2nd WCDC Expeditionary Regiment arrived in mid Summer, together with the replacement of men and material lost during the invasion of Circinus, reinforcing the troops. This allowed the military government to put some troops into other settlements, with the general order being to support the local civilian population wherever possible in a 'Hearts and Minds' operation to create good will and an attempt not to be regarded as an occupation force.
Additionally, civilian personnel arrived in the same convoy, largely bureaucrats and other governmental workers, to help and bring the local Circinus government up to a more democratic standard, in an attempt to build a better nation, one that could be released into 'the wild' and possible become a WCDC member.
However, the possible creation of a Pirate Haven in a nearby system was considered a problem, and General Tiast Kerod Ildunt requested the permission to deal with it.
In late Summer, a jump ship, arrived in Circinus, carrying Cranston Snord's Irregulars. Since they had been in the general area, they had been asked to investigate the Circinus situation and the supposed 'invasion of periphery primitives'. Snord himself was not with the Irregulars, as he, and Wolf, were on the way to Tharkad to report on the WCDC to the Archon.
Snord's daughter Ronda was in command of the operation and surprised about the relative ease the WCDC had when invading the world, noting most people hated pirates and would be coming around to the WCDC, if they reduced the number of pirates, contrary to the information Comstar was spreading at the moment.
Reward: Destruction of the Mercenary/pirate Forces at Circinus, Comstar overplaying the invasion, additional contact ti Snord's Irregulars
[] Operation Mekong Delta: active
Time: 3 turns, Chance of success: 65%
Roll 1 of 3, Roll 1d100: 75 - Success
Roll 2 of 3, Roll 1d100: 57 - Success
Roll 3 of 3, Roll 1d100: 44 - Success
Combined: 59 - Success
Diplomatically, the Patrol Routes were a boon for the WCDC, with all patrolled worlds willing to support the patrols by supplying the crews of the patrol squadrons with food and other supplies, as well as limited opportunities for R&R.
On the military end of Operation Mekong Delta, the WCDC military formed ten Patrol Squadrons and assigned them fixed routes, though the commanders were open to choose how rapidly they would take those routes over a deployment time of six months before the crews were to get a longer vacation.
By the end of summer, the ten squadrons began their operation, though it was noted extending an ansible network with surveillance satellites at least in the 60 ly zone would allow for an accelerated quicker response time.
Reward: Permanent Patrol Routes through the 60ly Zone and part of the 90ly zone, 25% chance of a pirat attack being intercepeted by a patrol, +5 on diplomacy for the worlds in the 60 and 90ly areas
WCDC Survey Office:
[] Deep Cover Intelligence: active
Time: 10 turns, Chance of Success: 60%
Roll 1 of 10, Roll 1d100: 93+10 = 103 - Success (Permanent Squadrons)
Roll 2 of 10, Roll 1d100: 62+10 = 73 - Success
Roll 3 of 10, Roll 1d100: 69+10 = 79 - Success
Roll 4 of 10, Roll 1d100: 20+10 = 30 - Failure
Roll 5 of 10, Roll 1d100: 37+10 = 47 - Success
Roll 6 of 10, Roll 1d100: 61+10 = 71 - Success
Roll 7 of 10, Roll 1d100: 31+10 = 41 - Success
Roll 8 of 10, Roll 1d100: 21+10 = 31 - Failure
For the second time on the trip, the A Ship With A View had a jump drive casualty, during which the jumpship was stranded in the Gienah system, close to the border of the Lyran Commonwealth to the Free Worlds League. Again, the work on the casualty needed several weeks, during which the dropships landed on Gienah, where they were able to purchase several examples of Inner Sphere combat vehicles from the local Gienah Automotive.
active for 2 more turns
[] Marian Intelligence: active
Time: 4 turns, Chance of success: 50%
Roll 1 of 4, Roll 1d100: 33+10 = 43 - Failure
Roll 2 of 4, Roll 1d100: 4+10 = 14 - Failure
Roll 3 of 4, Roll 1d100: 15+10 = 25 - Failure
Roll 4 of 4, Roll 1d100: 86+10 = 96 - Success
Combined: 44 - Failure
Finally, after the successful invasion of Circinus, the eye of the Survey Office can turn towards the Marian Hegemony, and even make some headway with the governmental structure and possible military assets, but the lack of any success in the previous quarters makes the project in its current form a failure.
There is little in actual intelligence that could be gained, thanks to the pre-occupation with Circinus, and so the Marians remain a potential future problem.
Result: Marian Intelligence is a failure for the time being and cannot be attempted or 2 more turns
Deep Space Signal Intelligence Network
[] Real Time Deep Space Signal Intelligence: active
Time: 5 turns, Chance of success: 40%
Roll 1 of 5, Roll 1d100: 92 - Success
Roll 2 of 5, Roll 1d100: 5 - Failure
Roll 3 of 5, Roll 1d100: 61 - Success
Roll 4 of 5, Roll 1d100: 89 - Success
Slowly the real time communication links of the DSSIN were extended outside for the Circinus Federation and into the Lothan League and the Illyrian Palatinate, while an additional redundant communication link was placed from FOB Pine Gap over Ammann to Espilon Eridani, where it connected directly back into the main Ansible Network.
The government of Amann was asked for permission to emplace a network node, just like previously the government of Craigh had been asked during the initial stages of Operation Market Garden.
active for 1 more turn
WCDC Diplomatic Corps:
[] Long Range Diplomacy - Illyrian Palatinate: active
Time: 6 turns, Chance of success: 50%
Roll 1 of 6, Roll 1d100: 51 - Success
Roll 2 of 6, Roll 1d100: 20 - Failure
Roll 3 of 6, Roll 1d100: 87 - Success
Roll 4 of 6, Roll 1d100: 77 - Success
Even in the aftermath of the successful invasion of Circinus, the diplomatic contact with the Illyrian Palatinate remained on the high status it had been during its initial stages.
There are some talks about supporting the education sector of Illyria as well as offering some mining knowledge, considering that the worlds of the Palatinate are heavily dependent of mining and selling of ores. During the talks it is mentioned the WCDC could offer some advanced technologies to refine and separate the ores without needing to build furnaces, providing the Palatinate with a way to relatively easily create high quality metals and even alloys.
active for 2 more turns
[] Circinus Uplift: - 5 votes
Time: 4 turns, Chance of Success: 60%
Roll 1 of 4, Roll 1d100: 80 - Success
While Operation Market Garden was still on going, the status of the world itself was a cause for some deliberation in the diplomatic community. With orders from General Tiast Kerod Ildunt to do 'Hearts and Minds' work to his soldiers, it was decided that humanitarian aid to the world to uplift it technologically and hopefully sociologically, would go a long way to get on the positive side of the planetary population.
To this end, the Prometheus Foundation was asked to provide their expertise to help with the uplift program, while diplomats and governmental workers and advisors were sent to Circinus to begin the work to set up a working governmental structure to replace the former more dictatorial government.
active for 3 more turns[/i]
WCDC Trade Organization:
[] MBT & Battemech Development active
Time: 3 turns, Chance of success: 70%
Roll 1 of 3, Roll 1d100: 31 - Success
Roll 2 of 3, Roll 1d100: 89 - Success
Roll 3 of 3, Roll 1d100: 31 - Success
Combined: 50 - Success
The final designs were entered into the design contest and several prototypes tested over about two weeks, following the official end of the RFP phase.
It was a hard contest, with the final selection being judged largely on the quality of the vehicles in question, as well as the ability to be used by the other species of the WCDC, as they were very close in performance.
The new standard tank would be the Krauss-Maffei Wegmann Karakal II Main Battle Tank, which won out over the Oshkosh M5 and the Norinco Type 122. This MBT had been primarily designed to be fast on and off-road, even with a mass of 70 tonnes it could move with a speed of up to 100 km/h off-road in suitable terrain, with the targeting systems able to act at such a speed and fire at a target. Equipped with a remote controlled turret, the base model was equipped with a 125 mm Helical Rail Gun, a Hex Cell Reloadable Missile Launcher, a 5MW Laser AMS and a more conventional .50cal Gauss Gun. Variants could be equipped with a 100MW Pulse Laser, a 75GeV Wakefield Particle Beam Projector, or a heavy missile battery. Protected by 16.5 tonnes of Advanced Composite Arnor, it was hoped the loss rate, compared to combat on Circinus, would be reduced.
The first natively designed and built Battlemech, however, was the original Fusilier, as designed by the Design Team, of the failed BattleMech Program. Designed to be a medium-sized support Battlemech, the M1 Fusiliers' design differed from Inner Sphere Mechs, largely on account of the deeper knowledge of adaptive motive algorithms, which eliminated the need for an oversized gyroscope as well as neural helmets. Additionally, the cockpit was designed to be comparable to attack helicopters to house a pilot and a commander, with the pilot responsible for control, while the commander dealt with the mech's weapons and the command of the vehicle. Massing 55 tonnes, it would support the Karakal II with its 75 mm Helical Raingun, two Hex Cell Reloadable Missile Launcher, a 5MW Laser AMS mounted in the machine's arms, while a 20MW Laser and two conventional .50cal Gauss Gun was mounted in a chin turret mounted beneath the helicopter like, heavily armored cockpit.
It was hoped these weapon systems would provide the firepower needed to fight longer campaigns against possible Inner Sphere aggressors.
Reward: New MBT & Battlemech designs, +5 to ground combat
[] Combat Landing Craft: active
Time: 3 turns, Chance of success: 65%
Roll 1 of 3, Roll 1d100: 90 - Success
Roll 3 of 3, Roll 1d100: 53 - Success
Many of the designs for the Combat Landing Craft that came in, based on the RFP, were not designed to take the marginal comfort of the troops to be transported into account. As such, only a few of the designs were actually taken into further consideration over the initial phase of the design contest, though the Military did allow the designers of the other space craft to update their designs to be more comfortable.
The RFP did not seek luxury liner levels of comfort, but more a level that up to a thousand people could remain in close proximity over several months during transit.
active for 1 more eturns
WCDC Office for Science and Development:
[] Hypercom III: active
Time: 4 turns, Chance of success: 70%
Roll 1 of 4, Roll 1d100: 60+10 = 70 - Success (Research Center Sol)
Roll 2 of 4, Roll 1d100: 25+10+10 = 45 - Success (Research Center Sol, Interstellar Communication Network)
Roll 3 of 4, Roll 1d100: 41+10+10 = 61 - Success
Roll 4 of 4, Roll 1d100: 21-10+10 = 41 - Success
Combined: 54 - Success
Com System: HPG - even, Black Box - odd, Roll 1d6: 2 - HPG
Continued work on the HPG lead to the security problems to be solved to the general satisfaction to the researchers, the Military and the Surveillance Office, while the Hyperwave Communication System needed a lot more work on the security front.
As the project slowly wound down, the researchers had developed an Enhanced Range Secure HPG, capable of transmitting over a distance of up to 75 lightyears, with measures in place to reduce the HPG Radio Backscatter as much as possible. This had been solved largely by almost eliminating the capacity of univertantly creating an EMP like effect at the target point of the HPG, as the conventional version was capable of doing. Additional quantum based encryption shemes for the transmission further reduced the likelyhood of the weak Backscatter being useful for someone listening. And while making use of the Ansible Packet Protocol APP will make the ERSHPG incompatible with the conventional Comstar HPG network, this was seen as worthwile.
Reward: Enhanced Range (75ly) Secure HPG developed and ready to be implemented
[] Advanced Dropship Collar: active
Time: 4 turns, Chance of success: 55%
Roll 1 of 4, Roll 1d100: 97+10 = 107 - Crit Success (Research Center Sol)
Roll 2 of 4, Roll 1d100: 37+10+10 = 57 - Success (Research Center Sol, Interstellar Communication Network)
Roll 3 of 4, Roll 1d100: 55+10+10 = 75 - Success
Roll 4 of 4, Roll 1d100: 52+10+10 = 72 - Success
Combined: 78 - Success
The final Advanced Dropship Collar was considered a logical development from the conventional one that was in use over centuries within the Inner Sphere, by the researchers responsible to design it and even test it, using the Size Isn't Everything Experimental Jump Ship as test platform, and both a Sleipnir and a Leopard Dropship as vehicles to test the carrying capacity.
Weighting only 500 tonnes, compared to the original's 1000 tonnes, one advanced dropship collar could be added to a jump capable spacecraft for every 20000 tonnes of vehicle mass, which was believed to be the lowest that could be achieved without completely redesigning the basics of the Dropship Collar and forgoing downwards compatibility.
For the development of new jump capable ships this meant that to carry an entire squadron of conventional combat space craft, a jump ship would have to mass at least 400000 tonnes.
Merely for the intellectual challenge, the research team responsible for the development, had designed a plan to possibly equip SLS Belisarius with twenty Advanced Docking Collars, space so it could carry a full squadron of Drashy, as the need would arise.
Reward: Advanced Dropship Collar
Deep Space Signal Intelligence Network Report:
Lothian League:
Following the previous offer to connect the entire Lothian League into the Caldran Ansible Network, even through a low bandwidth channel, is taken up by Grand Mistress Logan. While there would be a central communication link into the Network per planet out of necessity, the Ansible installation is largely an automated one, and faults are directly transmitted to the Network Operations Center in Beta Hydri and in most cases can be dealt with by remote access.
This is a far cry from Comstar, who would demand a substantial compound and installation for an HPG, followed by apparent proselytizing about 'Saint Blake', and additionally a real time link to the other worlds, allowing Grand Mistress Logan and her cabinet to be much better informed about the other worlds and deal with problems as they appear, though it is believed it's largely to allow the various mercenary groups in the employ of the Lothan League to deal with pirate attacks.
On a sidenote, this allows us to officially set up a real time surveillance link into the Lothian systems.
Illyrian Palatinate:
There is little of note to say, aside from the setup of a small Ansible network for real time surveillance.
Circinus Federation:
By now, at least one pirate band has arrived at Clayborne II and landed on the planet and apparently terrorize the small population.
Marian Hegemony:
Preparations are nade to set up a real time Ansible link towards the Marian Hegemony to tie the surveillance satellites into the Ansible Network.
Inner Sphere:
Lyran Commonwealth:
Preparations are made to set up Ansible Links to the surveillancce satellites in the obrder regions of the Lyran Commonwealth. Outside of this, not much out of the ordinary is happening.
Federated Suns:
Nothing out of the ordinary as far as can be decerned.
Draconis Combine:
Nothing out of the ordinary as far as can be decerned.
Free Worlds League:
Preparations are made to set up Ansible Links to the surveillance satellites in the border regions of the Free Worlds League.
There are reports of probing raids into the Dutchy of Andurien, against Shiro III, Ryerson and several of the former Capelland systems of Pella II, Jasmine and Campertown.
Dutchy of Andurien:
Following the probing raids, it appears that the Dutchy of Andurien is having talks with Candance Liao, the Dutchess of St. Ives, and by extension with the Federated Suns. As there is little in the way of knowledge concerning the deeper political situation of the Inner Sphere at the moment, it is unknown whether this would lead to a request for support against the Free Worlds League, or not.
Either way, there appear several medium sized mercenary companies that have taken up contracts with the Dutchy of Andurien to improve the defense, after being let go of by the Federated Suns.
Comstar:
Comstar appears to step up its propaganda in the border worlds concerning the 'periphery primitives' that have invaded Circinus, persisting in trying to entice panic and rash reactions, as seen with the appearance of Snord's Irregulars over Circinus, something that was fostered by Comstar, it appears.
Expansion and Suggestions:
There appear to be several smaller single system polities in the operational area that should be put under surveillance, New St. Andrews and Niops.
Random Event - Nothing happens