R P G: Stríð Karla

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Forum)The High Councilor shook his head in horror. "You do not let your people know how much danger they are in!?" He wondered for a moment if a sociopath had designed their nation and then shook off his horror. "The foundation is a private organization operating without government regulation. I hardly call that a proper defense against anything. Maybe a wet paper bag. Maybe. Regardless, you do not even hint to anyone...tell them to lock their doors...about your findings. I see no reason to trust you with something this important." The High Councilor was now regarding the Ambassador and the Foundation's agent with a look most reserved for spiders.

Edited June 10, 2012 by Basilisk

[Lara White]

IC: By now the ambassador was beginning to lose his diplomatic cool. "Let's see...civil unrest and panic in the streets, protestors outside the police station and politicians hindering search efforts or a semblance of normalcy? That's not even a choice.""You will excuse us if up until now we were more concerned with terrestrial offensives using these artifacts." The Foundation man said. "And as I keep telling you: we are offering our research and containment expertise, not combat prowess. Perhaps you should listen instead of shutting your ears to something so foreign."

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Forum)The High Councilor had lost his long ago. "You speak as if the people are something to be feared. As if they were something to be controlled and herded. I..." He was at a loss for words, utterly at a loss for words. He felt he was drowning in some abyss. He spoke up again after a few seconds. "As I keep telling you, you have done nothing to earn our trust. Nothing. You have done plenty to abuse the trust of the nations here gathered however. I say again that we cannot trust such matters to a shadowy organization that seems to operate on the principle of keeping all others in the dark even when their lives are in danger. These are not the people I would choose to conduct important research. I advise that the nations here assembled instead use trustworthy researchers from accredited organizations." His voice was quiet, as if he was staring into some horrible sight that demanded his full attention.OOC: Mix in many radically different societies and approaches to law enforcement, add in a possible alien invasion and some frayed nerves and stir thoroughly. Seems to be the recipe for this meeting.

Edited June 10, 2012 by Basilisk

[Lara White]

IC: "The people are the source of governing authority. The mob is to be feared." The ambassador said. "Now, please, remain calm or I will motion to have you removed from this conference. You are becoming disruptive."The SCP man stated, "I insist that even now are lives are not yet in danger. I am merely offering our assistance in preparing for when they are. So unless you want your own civilians to die! perhaps you should consider our assistance."

Edited June 10, 2012 by Lloyd: the White Wolf

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Forum)He bit back an insult. The government of Aquileon was, by his standards, an enemy of it's own people. "This will get us nowhere. This has been nothing put us both repeating the same arguments with neither side really responding. I see no reason this purposed organization, the investigative agency that started this argument, should operate by the standards of Aquileon, by the same token, I see no reason it should be held to Bylantium standards. What is moral common sense to us, is utter insanity to you, and what is common sense to you is a great crime to us. I propose this council formulate a set of standards acceptable to all present for this organization to operate by. I should have suggested it sooner and perhaps I am stating the obvious, but moral debates will get us nowhere. I have made the standards of my nation clear I think. But I and my counterpart have been talking for quite awhile...while the others remain silent. Does anyone else have any suggestions?"

Edited June 10, 2012 by Basilisk

[Lara White]

IC: The SCP man took offense. "We do what is necessary to ensure the safety of the Aquileonese people, and now we offer to extend our aegis to the rest of Earth." He said in a stage whisper.The ambassador had some ideas, but he would let others speak, in the interest of no longer monopolizing the floor.Meanwhile, the authorities of the Forum were taking notes: the rules of the Forum would need to be revised.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

IC(Forum): "With all due respect, you are overreacting. Spit on the help that is offered to you, if you will, but please, do so privately, so the rest of us may enjoy the use of all resources available to us. The issue of espionage may be addressed when other, more pressing matters have been dealt with."

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Forum)The Ambassador did not respond to the SCP agent. Any further debate would just serve to highlight the extreme differences between their two cultures. He did not trust the SCP and he never would, and he suspected the SCP would be just as insistent about getting into the proposed organization as he was about keeping them out. It would be an impasse that would never end until one side caused an incident and so, he remained silent. He inclined his head to the representative speaking. "I apologize. I was unprepared for such a revelation when I arrived at this forum. Next time I will be prepared."

Edited June 10, 2012 by Basilisk

[Alex Humva]

IC [Forum]"If you two are done sparring," the Stan ambassador said with a raised eyebrow. "We can get back to business. First, the name. UNSC... it just doesn't have the right ring to it, and why United Nations? I'd suggest something like... Forum Space Control, Forum Space Agency, Forum Space Warfare. Better to name it after the organization that started it, in my opinion. Second, the Fillonese. I am somewhat disappointed to hear that you hid your findings from us, though I cannot say our own intelligence agency would not do the same. Third, the international colony may indeed work, though I fear infiltration and deceit will come into play. All are welcome in the colony; even the Waalrusaans, as I might remind you. What if they should attempt to capture specimens to conduct new warfare on us? Or if one of our less tasteful neighbors? The Black Crescent Empire, while oddly silent, is still a dangerous if somewhat offbeat force."[Royal Academy]Probably much to their surprise, the pod door opened once more, the same creature coming out, though this time a scientist was in position to look inside of the pod, and spot three other creatures inside, sitting down at a dim panel and looking out. The creature crossed the shimmering field, looked at the assembled scientists, and garbled what was, to the scientists, complete and utter gibberish.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

IC(Royal Academy): Within minutes, a linguist was brought down into the room. Attempts began at walking the alien through the Varangian language - and vice versa - in the hopes that one party or another would figure out the language they had just been introduced to.Given the thousands of years of isolation in which the languages of Earth had developed, and thus the lack of any non-coincidental similarity between the languages, the linguist had high hopes. It helped that, by the sound of it, the alien had vocal cords.

[thelonewander]

IC: Another ship was spotted off the coast of Sarvanhall(E4), and a team was sent to the major port there.

[Alex Humva]

IC [Royal Academy]The creature appeared rather confused, eventually retreating to its vessel and returning with a small handheld device. It tapped the screen a few times, then stared blankly at the linguists. Maybe it was sleeping, maybe it was waiting; the best bet was probably to continue talking.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

IC(Royal Academy): The linguist continued trying to guide the alien through the basics of the Varangian language, though its lack of effort was frustrating.

[Alex Humva]

IC [Royal Academy]Eventually, right before the linguist reached the ends of his/her patience, the handheld device beeped a few times, the creature looking at it then punching something in. A mechanical sounding voice emitted from it in Varangian."Speak."OOCUniversal translators don't work instantly.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

IC(Royal Academy): The linguist had been halfway through an explanation of verb tenses when the electronic device spoke, and, considering the vagueness of the command, he just plowed right on with the explanation.

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

OOC: I'm not sure I said five hundred of them or not, could you point me to where I said that?Also, I wouldn't have troops moving in until after the gas was washed away, obviously.

OOC: Sure, it was hereAnd how exactly can you was a gas away?

And don't assume a lack of knowledge about an environment these people have never in history encountered means they're incompetent. That's like assuming that all of Waalrusaan High Command are omnicidal maniacs for firing a single bioweapon.

I've been trying to leave that ambiguous, actually. The Church could be a benevolent force that genuinely wants the best for the Waalrusaan or it could be a cadre of wrinkled old men who want to cling to power or it could be a shadowy Big Brother-esque organisation depending on how you interpret their actions. You get more organic responses from people that way. So hey, you want to see them as omnicidal maniacs I'm not going to stop you

OOC: There's still the issue that it's really highly unlikely that your Donnermakkers have anything close to the power that real lightning has, or even the power of modern artificial lightning.

I would have thought in a game where we have sonic cannons and infantry with gauss rifles despite it being the 80s I could be given a little leeway. You start imposing mass realism now, in the midst of an interaction with an alien vessel, you may be here a while

Aircraft, helicopters included, use their chassis as a grounding. The thing is, this weapon couldn't possibly hit any aircraft, grounded or not, because electricity can't arc unless it completes a circuit. The aircraft, as far as outside artifical electricity is concerned, doesn't exist.

A.) It is a circuit, you said so yourselfB.) That would mean aircraft would never ever be hit by lightning. They are. Should I be concerned about your stepdad's qualifications? :PIC: The Waalrusaan believed that, with the refineries being targeted, the rigs would be next, so continued creating decoys of those. To replace the refineries destroyed though, they started converting pre-existing factories. They already had the space and power, all they needed was the equipment being brought in. And with equipment being transported to and from factories on a regular basis anyway, a few of the cargo's being changed wouldn't cause concern amongst the coalition. They chose mainly metal-working plants as those also had ways of dealing with the pollution cause by such processesOOC: Waalrusaan industry reportProvincesAivukus (V19)-Super Province-80 IP-100 BattalionsValenticaas (U19)-Super Province-80 IP-100 BattalionsPontolis (W19)-Super Province-80 IP-100 BattalionsGomphotaa (V20)-Super Province-80 IP-100 BattalionsOriensarctuu (W20)-Super Province-80 IP-100 BattalionsSeeshgaad (U20)-Super Province-80 IP-100 BattalionsTotal IP: 400Constructions60 Laanstreiker tanks: -12 IP6 Sturmackker: -6 IP2 Saastuusk-1: -48 IP 50 Sturmstreikkers: -10 IP6 Iishglemmer: -9 IP 10 Sturmstreikkers: -10 IP (Complete Jun 15)10 Laanstreiker: -10 (Complete Jun 12)4 Iishglemmer: -30 (Complete Jun 13)Refinery conversion: -50 IPTotal Deductions: 179Free IP: 221OtherMilitary Outpost T24 Edited June 11, 2012 by Man with the Hex

[Kothra]

OOC:

Aircraft, helicopters included, use their chassis as a grounding. The thing is, this weapon couldn't possibly hit any aircraft, grounded or not, because electricity can't arc unless it completes a circuit. The aircraft, as far as outside artifical electricity is concerned, doesn't exist.

A.) It is a circuit, you said so yourselfB.) That would mean aircraft would never ever be hit by lightning. They are. Should I be concerned about your stepdad's qualifications?

Aircraft get struck by lightning because they are in the middle of the circuit between the clouds and the ground. The lightning gun could possibly hit an aircraft if their was a sufficient charge difference between it and something in the sky or something, but that would be unlikely (if it would even work) and you wouldn't really be able to control where it would go. Edited June 10, 2012 by Kothra

[Xomeron]

OOC: Back at home, wooPower: Lightning behaves differently from artificial electricity thanks to the enormous power behind it and other unique factors, and also because of what Koth said. Essentially your guns can't hit Aerial targets except by luck and being placed higher.I'm not sure if a circuit would be completed here. It really depends on if there's any plastics or other insulating materials in the way. Since I said not, I'll stick with that. And thus, the electricity would behave like electricity always does, and take the fastest route down; through the arc, down through the helicopter's hull, through the cable, and into the hull of the hovercraft, where it would either be absorbed by the hovercraft's grounding, or continue into the surrounding saltwater. In any case, between that and the fact that the helicopter's electronics are bound to have surge protectors, plus the fact that your electricity weapons are all but impossible in the first place, the helicopter would go entirely unharmed, and if anything, this hovercraft would have the problems.IC: Forum"How about 'Space Patrol'?" The Astarian representative asked. "Simple, to the point, easy to translate."

O-8: Super Province(100)N-7: Super Province(100)O-9: Super Province(100)O-7: Super Province(100)P-8: Super Province (100)O-11: Large State(40)[19/21]N-12: Small State(20)[17/21]O-12: Medium Territory(5)[10/14]O-13: Land Claim(0)M-10: Land Claim(0)M-11: Land Claim(0)N-10: Land Claim(0)N-6: Military Base, space launch facility[To be placed under Space Patrol ownership]Q-10: Military BaseF-2: Military BaseTotal IP: 565Projects:Harinech(120)[7/10]P-15 Herald(10)[4/5]P-15 Herald(10)[4/5]DCI(50)[14/28]Helbrecht(50)[4/7]Helbrecht(50)[4/7]IP Use: 290Standing Military:5 Crusader Helicopters(5)3 Helbrecht-Class Destroyers(30)2 Merinka Class Cruisers(32)60 Python MBTs(12)1 Mitrosa Class Microcarrier(26)93 squads worth of Red Dragoon forces(10)80 Boa Transports(10)100 Ruin Riders(1)23 P-19 Shadowbolt Bs(58)2 Heralds(2)IP Use: 186Total IP Use: 521/565

Edited June 10, 2012 by cardworkMagician

[Kothra]

OOC: You can keep your lightning guns as far as I care, but they won't be any good against aircraft.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

OOC: It should also be noted that we do not have infantry with Gauss rifles, mainly because giving Gauss rifles to infantry would be stupid.

[Xomeron]

OOC: Does recoil happen on Gauss rifles? It's pushing some mass out very fast, but it's also using magnetic pushing rather than mechanical, so Iunno. Do you Rover?

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

OOC: Yes, magnetic-propulsion weapons do have recoil.

[Alex Humva]

OOC"I would have thought in a game where we have sonic cannons and infantry with gauss rifles despite it being the 80s I could be given a little leeway. You start imposing mass realism now, in the midst of an interaction with an alien vessel, you may be here a while"~Sonic cannons do infact exist in real life. They're horribly impractical and waste huge amounts of energy, which you're free to use against Xom in a fight. I know I will if it ever comes to that.~One. The infantry don't have gauss rifles. Two. Rover obtained them by the research mechanic. It's completely silly, but it's an established mechanic, used since the dawn of the game, which ties to the below.~The alien vessel is part of my "bend physics when it serves the plot" rule, much like the immortality drug or fridge rocks that everyone promptly forgot about. I as a rule try not to bend physics in a biased fashion; the only time I can think of that I did was with Silvan and his super glowstick lasers, but with his physics bendery came prices, like his infantry lasers being unreliable and his larger antiarmor lasers being huge and impractical in most cases. Just because we're currently dealing with an alien vessel does not give anyone the right to go bending with established physics, like electricity working in the fashion that it does IRL.Your lighting guns are a great anti infantry weapon. They really do have a purpose. They just aren't great as anti aircraft. It's like shooting an anti-tank missile at an F-22 and complaining when it doesn't do anything. It just doesn't work like that.Also, as per advising by players, I'm going ask that you put at least 10 IP into converting your factories. It doesn't come cheap after all.Now, back to silly alien stuff.IC [Royal Academy]After a few more minutes of talking, the creature tapped a few more word into its device."Where is this?" Came the mechanical voice.

Edited June 10, 2012 by Programmer Alex Humva

[Lara White]

OOC: All actions have an equal and opposite reaction.I crunched a few numbers, and I found myself with a lot of extra IP. So...30 IP into developing a holo-table for commanders to overview tactical or strategic layouts. It's something I've wanted to do for a while and fairly simple: Spray a mist over the table and use a projector to make an illusion of 3D. Silvan has agreed to help me with it but I'll let him decide how much IP he wants to allot.40 IP into improving emergency medical services, esp. things that can save a soldier's life on the battlefield. I don't know exactly what this entails, so I'm unable to be more specific.Also, Humva, Gmail.

Edited June 10, 2012 by Lloyd: the White Wolf

[Xomeron]

http://electronicdesign.com/article/embedded/focus-sound-just-like-a-laser-beam5535That sort of thing, using ultrasonic waves to shape the focus of sound, cutting down on energy use and making a focused beam, was, I thought, understood as part of the sonic weapons' design. Is it? I wouldn't have used them without it.If not, I'll throw some IP at it. I have plenty to spare.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

IC(Royal Academy): The linguist was rather taken aback by the sudden progression from no speech at all to the asking of questions, and, as always, rather annoyed by the alien's lack of interest in just going ahead and learning the language."You're in the Royal Academy of Sciences, on the island of Mellantillslandet, in the nation-state of Varangia, on the planet Terra. Now, as I was saying, the preterite tense is somewhat more complicated in its conjugation."The linguist would, it seemed, rattle on with his explanation for as long as he was allowed to do so.

[Xomeron]

OOC: Emergency medical services, the main thing is training and having more medics on the front lines and giving them better gear; field surgery kits, antiseptics, and morphine are the most important.

[Lara White]

OOC: Well, whatever it is I'm paying for it'll reduce my casualties in combat.

[Xomeron]

OOC: The majority of in-combat casualties are either killed in seconds, or killed before they can be gotten to a medic. More medics should cut down on the second one, but you need to look at armor for the first.Also this doesn't work as well if the offending army targets your medics, like the Japanese did in WW2.

[Lara White]

OOC: We should pass some treaty to ban that too...I'll get armor once my medical stuff is done. I have some other stuff on the list as well.

[Alex Humva]

IC [Royal Academy]The linguist rattled on for some twenty minutes before until the alien did its specie's equivalent of rolling their eyebrows and tapped something in."Ship. Location."OOCI feel eternal shame for these short ICs. I'll get to responding to the refinery stuff later tonight.

Edited June 11, 2012 by Programmer Alex Humva

[Toast of Awesomeness]

OOC: I leave at 830 in the morning for a camp until Friday. I will have no Internet access. I leave control in Alex's hands, if anyone needs anything, speak now or 'til Friday hold your peace.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

IC(Royal Academy): The linguist was not amused."There's a large vessel crashed far north of here, so that's most likely the ship you're talking about. Anyway, have you been listening to me at all?"

[Alex Humva]

IC [Royal Academy]The creature looked at its pad, then at the Varangian, and shrugged, saying something in gibberish before punching into the pad."Speech incompatible." It punched something else in. "Power low in escape pod. What power is here?"[Aquileon/Standast]The Waalrusaan efforts did not go unnoticed.While the satellite could only take a few pictures on each orbit, it could take enough. Even though metal factories did indeed have pollution standards, they still emitted smoke. With a refinery, it'd emit even more. Of course, this would be hard to tell by satellite; it wouldn't be noticeable until much later, when the oil crisis was not present in Actungaad, and the Coalition intelligence services realized what was up, at which point they'd have to bomb the factories too.The problem that the Waalrusaans would face though, was that their metal working plants were being converted over to refineries. Even one factory being gone meant a dip in the supplies. While unlikely to effect the military, the populace would have to endure yet another hardship of war.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

IC(Royal Academy): The linguist gave up. Fortunately, one of the engineers was present, and rather more patient."We probably have spare Hydrogen cells, but the probability of them being compatible is... well it's pretty unlikely. Still," she said, turning to one of the technicians that had gathered around the pod, "the worst that could happen is it just doesn't work. Fetch one of the cells from the Mjölnir prototype."

[Alex Humva]

IC [Royal Academy]Upon receiving the fuel cell, the creature stroked it's long fingers on it, then pulled the wires coming out and walked back to its ship. A few minutes later there was a large zapping sound, then the lights on the outside of the ship began to glow brighter. Some excited gibberish was heard from within the pod, and the creature walked out again, punching into its device."Power good. Open location needed." The device beeped, and it spat some gibberish. "Vocabulary low. Phrases needed. Book."[THE WORLD]Space observatories picked up their second strange object of the year; a flash of relativity bending blue shifted light appearing for an instant. The Luminous telescope, amongst many an Earth observatory, was turned to look at it, and it found a smaller craft, though still rather massive at 150m across. It fired thrusters, slowing down as it was taken into a descent orbit, aimed directly for where the signal showed the escape pod would be. In this case, the Varangian-Astarian border in Europa. It was going be one **** of a day for the local guardsmen.

Edited June 11, 2012 by Programmer Alex Humva

[Xomeron]

IC:The telescopes couldn't miss it. The ASA, as it was, were initially confused and thought the light was merely some sort of ultraviolet blast, but when it redshifted down to normal they realized what they were dealing with.No half-measures this time. And Infantry Battalion and the First Tank Battalion were hidden in the wilderness. Notably, the Varangians were also notified, and it was made very clear that this was the reason the troops were there; not some ill-advised invasion.

Edited June 11, 2012 by cardworkMagician

[Havelock Vetinari]

IC (Bylantium)Many words were spoken in Bylan facilities as they detected the objects descent, most of them were not fit to be mentioned in polite company. The air-force was scrambled as a precaution and the military put on stand by. Desperate messages were sent to the forces near the crash site and to the representative at the forum. This was beyond what they had expected in such a short time, the Bylan were completely caught off guard.IC (Forum)A man rushed into the room, pale in the face and eyes wide with horror. "Sir! Sir! Another craft is approaching!"

Edited June 11, 2012 by Basilisk

[Xomeron]

IC:An Astarian runner arrived just after the Bylant, in time to see her news came too late. The Astarian representative scowled, setting down her drink. "Well this can only be good..." She said, clearly not meaning it at all.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

IC(P-12): The colonial guardsmen were put on alert, while the local command center pinged radio signals off of the alien spacecraft, intending, mainly, to demonstrate to the craft that the Varangians were aware of it.IC(Royal Academy): With an explanation from the linguist as to what was going on, the engineers set to work on wheeling the pod out onto the surface. Given the Varangian climate, warm blankets were provided to the aliens - again, with an explanation as to their purpose.Along the way, someone passed a book detailing the history of Varangia's four main religions to one of the aliens.IC(Forum): At the moment, if she'd had any on her, the Varangian delegate would have rescinded her vote on the banning of liquor."If I might make a suggestion, I think we should delay firing upon this craft until its intentions are made clear. While the creatures the teams encountered in the wreck were undoubtedly hostile, they were also, from the reports, quite savage - from their disposition when they were found, it is not unreasonable to assume that they were cargo and not crew."The delegate had received news of the pod's opening, but, for now, was not inclined to disclose this information to the Forum at large.